Battle Studies Review, Pt 3

Long after the love* between car-boyfriend and myself had dissolved into the oblivion where high school romances go to die, feelings between John and I had only continued to develop into deeper feelings of truest and purest love**.

Sometime towards the end of 2005, my friend Peter (who also was one of the members of the original cast of the katie tracy band) burned me a copy of John's Trio release "Try!" which was a bluesier, rockier project than John's previous work had been. It was a really strong contrast to basically everything on Heavier Things, with the exception of the tracks "Out of My Mind" and "Gravity," a mellow blues ballad, which went on to be re-released as a single on John's 2006 album, Continuum.

Continuum was the next major project of John's and was released in late 2006. I played this album pretty continuously in my '92 Honda Prelude for the majority of my late junior and senior year of high school (ironically, along with albums like Fall Out Boy's From Under the Cork Tree, The All-American Rejects Move Along, and anything by Blink 182 and Dashboard Confessional. For some reason, I reached this phase about 2 years after all my friends did). John brings his newly evolving blues style to this album as well, but keeps a lot of the pop sound from his earlier albums, which preserves a lot of the classic John we (I) know and love.

The best songs on this album, in my opinion, are "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room." Ironically, both tracks are descriptive of tragic break-ups, but in "Dreaming," John reminds us that he has not lost his ability to write lyrics that describe the very heart of the human condition (which is probably the thing I love about him as a musician, hands-down). "When you're dreaming with a broken heart, the waking up is the hardest part." This wistful song is enough to bring tears to the eyes of anyone who has felt loss in love and is so relieved to know that John has finally been able to voice the emotion that you could not find the words to describe. "Slow Dancing" is John's metaphor for his relationship falling apart at the seams, and his description of a love struggling to breathe is in perfect following with this same pattern of being able to capture human emotion--even when you know that you're doomed--still wanting your love to just suffer through "the storm before the calm." Mayer has had his share of failed relationships, but he is consistenly able to write music that proves he is not numb to these experiences--which is what we all really want to believe is true for us as well (because we aren't and it is).

Mayer released his Live album in July of 2008, which is lucky for me, because my birthday is in July, so I received this album (and the accompanying DVD (!) ) as birthday gifts promptly after their release. Mayer introduced two new acoustic singles on this album (which I think are comparable to my favorites of Mayer's early work), as well as acoustic versions of three previously recorded songs which were phenom. The new songs included a cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" which I believe (although I know I will receive staunch opposition to this stance) is better than the original. Whether this is because I am biased to the sound of John Mayer's music or because I am less accustomed to late-80s soft rock, I am not sure. It's just the way that I feel.

The other newly introduced acoustic song on this album is "In your Atmosphere," which has an intro guitar riff that will give any musician (or human) immediate goosebumps (there is no doubt in my mind that I played this song on repeat in my car with the volume up and the windows down for about a month and a half straight in the summer of 2008). This song also probably makes it at least into my top 10 of all-time JM songs, if not in the top 5. Absolutely brilliant, and with un-standard tuning, John further proves his absolute guitar prowress and leaves us with haunting memories of his riffs that no amateur could imitate but we die wanting more of. The rest of the album is performed either with the John Mayer Trio or with John's regular touring band, and with the exception of two previously unreleased covers, John plays familiar tunes. [anyone wanting to watch the DVD of this show with me at any time need only call and ask--it's really something to behold].

July 3rd, of 2008, just after John's release of "Where the Light Is" but right before I had it in my possession, I journeyed to St. Louis, MO to see John live for the first time. My sister, her boyfriend, my friend (and current roommate), her sister, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's sister bought the tickets and made the trip. Not being especially financially endowed at the time, we bought lawn tickets, and were quite a ways from the main stage. Despite these sub-par seats, the outdoor concert at the ampitheater in the summer evening was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It was unbelievable to be seeing live the man whose career I had been following for the last four years. Even in that moment, I knew I would go to the next show that I could--and would see the show from as close as I could get. (This sounds semi-stalkerish, but I promise it is instead more in fashion with the way you get to the football stadium four hours early to get seats in the front row---it just seems more real when you're up close and can read the expressions on their faces and the names on the backs of their jerseys. They stop seeming like TV characters and start feeling like people, which is all you really want them to be, anyway.)

Waiting from that day on to see an album or tour dates announced on the John Mayer site, my wish was finally granted this fall, when they announced his spring tour. With the upcoming release of his highly anticipated album Battle Studies (it had been 3 years since the release of his last studio album), I knew this was an opportunity I couldn't miss, and somehow convinced 18 friends (!) to buy tickets and share this experience with me.

When Battle Studies was finally released, the anticipation and my thoughts on his music that had built over the last years made me anxious to hear what John had finally produced. Was my recent financial investment in both the album and the pricey concert ticket worth the cost? Was this album the metaphorical " disappointing sequel" to the original excellent release? Was John able to continue to reach his fans in the way he had been able to when I first heard the chords to "Why Georgia" nearly five years ago?

I promise, I'll only write one more post about John Mayer (for now).


*some form of short-term teen infatuation
**actual love

Editor's Note: Happy New Year.