The good thing about "Battle Studies," John Mayer's new album, is that fans will instantly love it. The bad thing? If his previous album "Continuum" (2006) failed to convert any remaining skeptics, "Battle Studies" won't get the job done either.
According to Mayer himself, "Battle Studies" was written in the style of '70s and '80s California rock/pop. It's a mellow mix of occasionally groovy and overall pleasant tracks that beg to be categorized as Easy Listening.
Whatever the genre, it will be hard for Mayer to top "Continuum," his third album, which garnered general approval. "Continuum" established Mayer as this generation's leading guitarist, and he holds that position solidly on "Battle Studies." He takes a considerable number of guitar solos across the album, but listeners will still find themselves wishing Mayer would sing less and play more.
While his songwriting is still strong, Mayer's lyrics are neither as cute nor as clever as they were on "Room For Squares" (2001). Instead, too many of the tracks on "Battle Studies" revert to the inane repetition that first annoyed listeners on the single "Say" (2007). The same problem will bother listeners on "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye," in which the title is repeated, without much variation, over 15 times throughout the course of the song. Fortunately, the new album's first single "Who Says" does have some refreshing lyrics, gently sticking it to The Man with the question, "Who says I can't get stoned?"
Also fortunate for Mayer is that the tone of his voice, which has been breathy and only slightly affected since his first album, is still naturally inoffensive. Although his voice has improved (he's finally figured out how to use his falsetto), his vocals are boring compared to what he's capable of getting his guitar to do.
Soft, blues-y guitar is now Mayer's clear preference — particularly for solos — on "Battle Studies." The most impressive aspect of Mayer's new album is the stylistic range he gets out of his instrument. In addition to his signature sound, Mayer also showcases a fuzzy, gritty guitar (the focus of "Crossroads," a funky deconstruction of Cream's version of Robert Johnson's 1937 "Cross Road Blues") and a fluttery acoustic guitar line in "Do You Know Me?"
These different styles are combined in "Assassin," one of the stronger tracks on the album. The song starts with a thumb piano, lots of reverb, and ethereal, layered backing vocals, elements that (somewhat surprisingly) recall Imogen Heap's latest work. The song is a haunting confessional with an impressive build that employs both Mayer's blues guitar and a harder rock sound.
Mayer is flexible both on the guitar and across musical genres: his discography includes pop, rock, jazz, soul, blues, R&B, funk, folk and lots of tracks that mix any and all of those styles. His sound has changed drastically since "Room For Squares," the poppy debut album that made him famous and remains his best-selling album to date.
With his subsequent albums, Mayer has brought his fans along with him as he's covered genre after genre and has proved his musicality to be greater than that of many of his pop contemporaries. After a few years of figuring his sound out, he has arrived at "Battle Studies." Though not nearly as impressive as some previous efforts, the album shows off Mayer's development as a guitarist and musician, while harking back to the simpler pop of his early work. Considering that the whole project was completed in about six months, it could be that Mayer is just riding his popularity and churning out music as fast as his fans will consume it, regardless of the quality.
Admirers of Mayer's work might be disappointed with "Battle Studies," as it does fail to meet the standard he set for himself with "Continuum." But if Mayer's biggest dilemma is how to be better than awesome, he's doing just fine.
