So You Want To Soothe Your Soul?

Here is the way...

John Mayer

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the man who soothes soul with his beautiful voice and brilliant guitar skills

Let me introduce you to a man that will take away your troubles in four minutes of music.

(if you wanna skip the facts and just hear some really awesome music, scroll to the bottom of the post)

A BIT ABOUT THE MAN:

FULL NAME: John Clayton Mayer

DATE OF BIRTH: October 17, 1977

HOMETOWN: Bridgeport, Connecticut, United Status

MARITAL STATUS: Full time womaniser

JOB: Making beautiful sounds

YEARS ACTIVE: 1998 - present

LABELS: Arista, Aware & Columbia

Mayer has been around for a very long time and has had various different "sounds", varying from each album, of which he has made five (excluding one live album). The majority of his music is blues rock and it is clear he is heavily influenced by such legends as Jimi Hendrix (bless his soul), Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray.

It is incredibly rare to find a musician as good live as they are recorded. John Mayer is that person all over. In fact, I prefer his live music to his recorded music. BUT, more about that later.

He is also a well renowned player - dating (and breaking hearts) of Jennifer Anniston, Taylor Swift and most recently, Katy Perry. Now, lets be honest, although Mayer isn't ugly, he's hardly drop dead gorgeous... how do you think he managed to pull these ladies? Soul soothing.

Mayer and Swift

Mayer and Anniston

       

Mayer and Perry

Now, 'player' tendencies aside, Mayer is a talented musician that brings to the music industry what it's lacking - a musical innovator, someone with potential, ideas, thoughts and talent, someone that wants to be a new Hendrix and is heavily influenced by blues rock.

ALBUMS (in chronological order)

ROOM FOR SQUARES

Originally Released: June 5, 2001

Released: September 18, 2001

Label: Aware/Columbia

Bronte's Rating: 8/10

This was Mayer's debut album and was originally released by the independent label Aware and then was later re-released by Columbia Records. It peaked reaching number 9 in the Billboard 200 chart. As a whole, the album received generally postitive feedback and even got Mayer nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his song 'Your Body Is A Wonderland' which he later went on to win. 

Here is that song;

HEAVIER THINGS

Released: September 9, 2003

Label: Aware/Columbia

Bronte's Rating: 7/10

Heavier Things is the second recorded album by Mayer. The album debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 chart, selling a whopping 317,000 copies in first week alone. Despite reaching number one, there was some criticism of Mayer's songwriting. But who cares, they were probably just jealous or something... hahaha.

This is my favourite song from the album.. wowza.

CONTINUUM

Released: September 12, 2006

Label: Columbia/Aware

Bronte's Rating: 9.5/10

WHAT AN ALBUM. SERIOUSLY. This is most probably my favourite album of all time with some great tracks such as Slow Dancing In A Burning Room and a cover of Hendrix's Bold As Love. Amazingly, this album only made it to number two in the Billboard 200 chart when it definitely should have been number one. The album earned Mayer another grammy and also saw him have Rolling Stone magazine name the album eleventh best album in 2006. 

It was incredibly hard to pick to best song from this album as they are all SO GOOD. After hours of thought, I decided on this song;

BATTLE STUDIES

Released: November 17, 2009

Label: Columbia

Bronte's Rating: 6.5/10

Mayer's talent is obvious throughout every album but by 2009 - how should I phrase it? - he started to let the team down. In a live performance during 2009, Mayer said, "The album is called Battle Studies and that's because it incorporates a lot of the lessons, a lot of the observations, and a little bit of advice. Like a handbook, like a heartbreak handbook." And that does sum up the album pretty well - a bit too cheesy and lacking depth. It still produced some good songs as Mayer is a talented musician; here's on of the best:

BORN AND RAISED

Released: May 22, 2012

Label: Columbia

Bronte's Rating: 8/10

Now reviewing this album is a tricky one. Being Mayer's fifth studio album, it's obvious he wanted to explore something new in music - so this is kind of a Country Western Rock album, differing from my love of the blues rock Mayer plays so well. However, he chose this to be his new sound and it's quite good. It's not as electric as his third album but it's a good listen and it great to have as background music if you're working or falling asleep or have friends over. It's a shame Mayer didn't explore more of the blues rock sound because I think he could have really gone somewhere but y'know...

Here's a current favourite song of mine that is from Born and Raised:

NOW FOR THE BEST ALBUM OF THEM ALL (okay, so this isn't chronological, but it's a live album so it doesn't really count. Damn, I ruined the surprise)

WHERE THE LIGHT IS: LIVE IN LA

WHAT AN ALBUM.

Released: July 1, 2008

Label: Columbia

Bronte's Rating: 10/10

This is the album that extenuates Mayer at the VERY BEST of his career. It was all recorded during his gigs at the Nokia Theatre in LA and is just incredible. Recording took part of three nights, the first night Mayer played an acoustic night by himself, the second night with the John Mayer Trio featuring the highly acclaimed session musician Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan and the third night with Mayer's touring band.

I can't even say anything more about it except that this album is perfection... this album is what will soothe your soul.

LISTEN.

I strongly recommend you buy the Live In LA album. Put it before food. This album is better than food.