Like most John Mayer albums, there are a few singles here that make you hate yourself for liking them. Also like most Mayer albums, this is a fairly inconsistent collection (hence the album title?), but you take what you like and leave the rest. I'm not wild about Mayer's voice, but here he shows that he has some skills at pop songwriting, although he favors mid-tempo songs a little too much. Early in his career, he was compared to Dave Matthews, but here I'd compare him more to Sting or Steve Winwood. This CD received generally positive reviews (Metacritic rates it at 67) and earned Mayer a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Rolling Stone magazine named it the 11th best album of 2006 (in typical Rolling Stone fashion, Dylan tops that list):
- Continuum – John Mayer
- Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards – Tom Waits
- Blood Mountain – Mastodon
- Boys And Girls In America – The Hold Steady
- Hell Hath No Fury – Clipse
- The Greatest – Cat Power
- Fishscale – Ghostface Killah
- Return To Cookie Mountain – TV On The Radio
- Rather Ripped – Sonic Youth
- Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Modern Times – Bob Dylan
Around the time this CD was recorded, Mayer contributed to Herbie Hancock's Possibilities album with the song Stitched Up which, if he had included it here, would have been the best song on the album.
Side note: Mayer should fire his publicist, because his public image isn't impressive. My advice: don't kiss and tell, drop the stand-up comedy and focus on your music because the window for musical success is small and always closing.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2 (Sept 30, 2006)
Tracks: The keepers here are I Don't Trust Myself, Gravity, Vultures, Stop This Train, and beautifully simple Dreaming With A Broken Heart. I can't decide if I like the cover of Jimi Hendrix's Axis Bold As Love, although I like that it gives Mayer room to show off his considerable blues chops (In the liner notes, Mayer claims that "Eric Clapton knows I steal from him and is still cool with it").
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This was one of the first CDs I bought after moving to Nacogdoches in 2006. It reminds me of living solo at the Fredonia Hotel and staying up late trying to finish my dissertation, all while trying to transition to a new career. It was a fantastic time in my life.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles (2008)
Heavier Things (2003)
Side note: Mayer should fire his publicist, because his public image isn't impressive. My advice: don't kiss and tell, drop the stand-up comedy and focus on your music because the window for musical success is small and always closing.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2 (Sept 30, 2006)
Tracks: The keepers here are I Don't Trust Myself, Gravity, Vultures, Stop This Train, and beautifully simple Dreaming With A Broken Heart. I can't decide if I like the cover of Jimi Hendrix's Axis Bold As Love, although I like that it gives Mayer room to show off his considerable blues chops (In the liner notes, Mayer claims that "Eric Clapton knows I steal from him and is still cool with it").
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This was one of the first CDs I bought after moving to Nacogdoches in 2006. It reminds me of living solo at the Fredonia Hotel and staying up late trying to finish my dissertation, all while trying to transition to a new career. It was a fantastic time in my life.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles (2008)
Heavier Things (2003)
No comments:
Post a Comment