JOHN MAYER

BATTLE STUDIES

2009-12-07

This relatively stripped down affair finds John Mayer keeping his hot-wired guitar skills in check and focusing on the abject misery of lost love and the self-recrimination that accompanies the realization that it is him, not them, that is to blame for his resulting loneliness. While on paper this sounds like a blues disc most of the cuts putter along in an all too tasteful, mid-tempo adult contemporary vein. Hints of the rock power of Mayer and his back up crew (Steve Jordan on drums, Pino Palladino on bass and Ian McLagan on keys) creep only into "Assassin" and the Robert Johnson classic, "Crossroads". "Who Says" also has a bit of life to it. This might be a great disc in Cougar-town where the quest for a reflective man who is willing to take the blame for a failed relationship is the Holy Grail of finds. Everywhere else, it’s the soundtrack to an elevator or dentist’s lobby. Smitty

More reviews tagged #Rock

  • reviewed 08/2004

    Ian Moore
    Luminaria

  • reviewed 02/2011

    NEW YORK DOLLS
    DANCING BACKWARD IN HIGH HEELS

  • reviewed 02/2008

    SONS & DAUGHTERS
    This Gift

  • reviewed 12/1969

    THE PRETENDERS
    Break Up The Concrete

  • reviewed 03/2013

    UNA
    The Laughing Man

  • reviewed 01/2006

    DANIEL LANOIS
    Belladonna

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.