John Mayer singles poll

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I mean, she sings backup on three of the album's songs, so probably not that random.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 July 2021 15:16 (two years ago) link

I mean on the album generally (I guess she does love her 80s Mercedes…).

aging goth couple™ (morrisp), Friday, 16 July 2021 15:18 (two years ago) link

I was preparing a guy for his 'contemporary guitar' college audition about 10 years ago. All he wanted to do was John Mayer tunes.

Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 16 July 2021 15:33 (two years ago) link

which ones

making splashes at Dan Flashes (Neanderthal), Friday, 16 July 2021 15:44 (two years ago) link

I like this album, but the 80s-ness of it mostly begins and ends with Last Train.

However, Why You No Love Me instills me with a murderous rage.

Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:24 (two years ago) link

I skimmed thru it on my morning drive. His gtr is sort of Knopfler-esque on "Wild Blue," but mainly it just sounds like an album of bad John Mayer songs. (And as already pointed out, the melody of the final track is totally "I Want It That Way.")

aging goth couple™ (morrisp), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:31 (two years ago) link

He should have hired Hornsby to play on Shot in the Dark. It's clear the song is modeled on him, so not hearing his distinctive sound on it is a big letdown.

Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link

They're both in the Dead family, too.

aging goth couple™ (morrisp), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:48 (two years ago) link

"Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and "Come When I Call". There were a couple of things you were required to play as well but these were the 'own choice' tunes. He was really good. xps to Neanderthal

Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:49 (two years ago) link

He already knew these songs. I was helping more with the required pieces and theory/reading. I was just reminded of it by the 'guitar guy's discussion.

Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 16 July 2021 16:53 (two years ago) link

lol missed seeing this ad

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6HKGQ0WYAILHX4.jpg

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 July 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link

this guy is truly one of the dumbest fuckin lyricists in history

'm the boy in your other phone
Lighting up inside your drawer at home all alone
Pushing 40 in the friend zone

I mean...I dunno, the mimicry of a certain mid-to-late 80s Hornsby/Dire Straits/etc production style is impressive in a way but he just doesn't really have the goods in terms of songs

this feels like a 1988 album that would have had 2 singles that peaked at 28 and 32 on the Billboard charts then disappeared

Are we supposed to be believe that Mayer has a hard time getting laid? His penis's well documented white supremacy views aside

chr1sb3singer, Friday, 16 July 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link

I think the angst being expressed in these songs is that he gets laid all the time but not by The Right Girl.

aging goth couple™ (morrisp), Friday, 16 July 2021 18:22 (two years ago) link

"Wild Blue" stands out on the album because the lyrics are simple and the guitar noodling goes on a long time, and it's just good chill beach-and-bistro music.

I wish the album were as playful and funny as its ad campaign, but I do think he's thoroughly self-aware as a pop songwriter and not aiming for confession any more than Diane Warren is.

I think a lot about the post in the Ryan Adams thread a couple years ago that suggested the music industry invested in Adams to be what Mayer ended up becoming: a pop songwriter, connected to the lineage of those before him in fun ways (touring as part of The Dead), connected to pop culture beyond music (doing shows with Chappelle), and so on.

... (Eazy), Friday, 16 July 2021 19:54 (two years ago) link

honestly didn’t know he wrote his own songs, Dianne Warren analogy makes sense

brimstead, Friday, 16 July 2021 19:58 (two years ago) link

thats why all the guitar hero dad nerds love him - he writes his own stuff and has guitar chops and brings in a bunch of great studio cats to work with him

pure rim rest (Spottie), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:04 (two years ago) link

I've yet to hear any guitar work from him that seems the least bit compelling to me, but he definitely seems to get a lot of kudos in that world

think he says on record he just dumbs it down and keeps it simple

pure rim rest (Spottie), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:16 (two years ago) link

Continuum has most of it but honestly the most he shredded was on Chappelle's Show lmao

making splashes at Dan Flashes (Neanderthal), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:17 (two years ago) link

lots of 'tasteful' playing yeah

pure rim rest (Spottie), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:17 (two years ago) link

Yeah his studio stuff isn't really where to hear it. But I'm also not going to waste any energy trying to convince anyone on ilx that his playing with Dead & Co is occasionally worth hearing.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:18 (two years ago) link

this is his best work IMO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynq7pAEwp6Y

making splashes at Dan Flashes (Neanderthal), Friday, 16 July 2021 20:22 (two years ago) link

Given the period detail, will be funny if this is his New Jersey!

... (Eazy), Saturday, 17 July 2021 17:15 (two years ago) link

20 years deep in a steady career, it seems unlikely he'll ever have a New Jersey—unless his debut album counts. I imagine he shed some "Your Body..."-only fans/album buyers by the time of his next one.

Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 17 July 2021 21:31 (two years ago) link

I looked up his stats for the NJ thread, and, well, yeah he doesn't really qualify. Big debut, followed by several solid sellers albeit with ultimately diminishing #s, ala Pearl Jam.

It's not the same, but I do recall tons of copies of his Trio live album hitting used bins shortly after it came out.

“Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 17 July 2021 22:12 (two years ago) link

Something I made and posted elsewhere on ILM

https://frinkiac.com/video/S04E05/ZcxmdX47EyOkm0rfXgzDlPTKch4=.gif

“Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 17 July 2021 22:27 (two years ago) link

I've yet to hear any guitar work from him that seems the least bit compelling to me, but he definitely seems to get a lot of kudos in that world

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, July 16, 2021 3:08 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

think he says on record he just dumbs it down and keeps it simple

― pure rim rest (Spottie), Friday, July 16, 2021 3:16 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've said before I'd like to hear him stretch out on something, maybe take some risks, make mistakes. Even in the Dead & Co footage I've seen he plays it safer than I'd like, part of why I more enjoy Billy Strings with Billy and the Kids even though you could make a case for John Mayer as the "better" guitarist. Like Mayer is obviously a guitar wiz -- if you've ever seen his guitar tik toks where he breaks stuff down, he is undeniably brilliant. But there's something about him that just can't bear to allow any cracks in the perfect facade. Even this new record, the concept, the way it's marketed, the sound, really "nails" the aesthetic. Does it do anything else?

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 July 2021 19:33 (two years ago) link

Fwiw, part of the thing with Dead & Co, especially in the early tours, is that Bob Weir is the de facto leader and he can be weirdly risk averse for a guy who built is legacy with a band like that. There were several times I'd get really interested in what Mayer was playing during a jam, only to have Bobby ripcord and overpower him with the song's main riff to bring it back in. It's gotten a lot better in recent tours though.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 22 July 2021 19:40 (two years ago) link

"his legacy"

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 22 July 2021 19:40 (two years ago) link

MORE LIKE SAAB ROCK AMIRITE

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 July 2021 19:43 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

continuum: really good lowkey neo-soul record. so good that i look at most of what he's released since and think wtf happened to this guy

ivy (BradNelson), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:16 (ten months ago) link

otm. Continuum is his classic, and then he abandoned that and went back to mostly middling stuff

sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:18 (ten months ago) link

actually remember being surprised when I first heard "Vultures", as I hadn't heard anything of his after "Your Body is a Wonderland", and was like "this is THAT guy?"

sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:22 (ten months ago) link

"vultures" sounds like a freaking maxwell song, it is outrageously wonderful

ivy (BradNelson), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:24 (ten months ago) link

Surprised “vultures” was not released as a single, it’s one of his best songs and sounds to me very radio friendly.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:55 (ten months ago) link

I did have to endure an xgau panel paper where he went all-in on "Waiting for the World to Change."

the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:57 (ten months ago) link

But yes, agree that Continuum is his definitive album.

Great production, great musicianship and his songwriting improves a lot from previous efforts. It’s the one that best balances his pop, rock, blues, soul influences into a John Mayer cohesive style. This album and the live performances around the era showed and undeniable skill and knowledge, shame he wasn’t up to continue on this path.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:04 (ten months ago) link

i dont trust myself sounds like a dangelo song

Spottie, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:27 (ten months ago) link

that song was weird for me because I got into this album because the girl I was dating at the time was obsessed and both of us identified HEAVILY with "I Don't Trust Myself" lyrically at the time, but for different reasons.

was a beautiful bonding experience listening to the songs together.

sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:34 (ten months ago) link

best Mayer song is Back to You imo.

dc, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 17:06 (ten months ago) link


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