25 Records of Christmas, Day 9: John Mayer

I’ve been a fan of John Mayer since Continuum, even though he’s had albums before that. I feel like I’m just another band wagon jumper as a fan, but in all honesty, his best album was Continuum. Go ahead, argue with me. I’ll show you that most of his hits and fans are from that record, and the subsequent live album that came with it. But we’re two albums past that, and it’s time to talk about Born & Raised.

What I do have to say for Born & Raised is that Mayer seems to not be taking himself very seriously anymore, which works to his favor. Back in the Continuum and even Battle Studies days, his songwriting had a twinge of needing to prove himself. It might be from the more pop-flavored two albums before Continuum, and his transition into more blues and rock focused music. Born & Raised certainly has a laid back element to it, but not in the sense of Mayer being lazy. You can just tell through his songwriting that he’s content with where he is. There’s a lot more southern sounds throughout this album as well. It almost feels like a solid Americana record this time around.

“Queen of California” is a definite staple here, with the pop sensibility and infectious chorus, along with Mayer’s acoustic ability. “Something Like Olivia” is reminiscent of the down-home blues mixed with some R&B, making for a solid love song (complete with Mayer on electric). I like “Shadow Days” but I don’t know if it works as a single more than some of the other tracks I’ve mentioned. I was honestly surprised they used it to promote the album originally. It’s somewhat out of place when it comes to the rest of the album. One drawback I can see is that on a few tracks, the fade out seems to come a little early, shortening songs to radio-friendly length. I feel like we’re missing some studio work that the label may have chosen to cut out, making songs more applicable for radio, and I leave feeling cheated.



I've include a video from Mayer's Vevo acoustic sessions, for one major reason. The songs as he does them acoustically tend to be shorter, and faster paced than the album cuts. It makes me wonder if the album sounds the way it does because it's more of a full-band effort, and Mayer writes originally using just acoustic. Just a thought. I like the fact that he's versatile in that way: his acoustic sets and band sets are quite different, giving him two styles to choose from.

I found the title track to be one of the best songs out of the new cuts, simply because it’s such a full, simple song. Gang vocals abound, on the title track and on most of the songs, showing that Mayer is relying more on his band and studio musicians, making for a much different, yet inspiring feel to the record. Born & Raised is turning out to be one of those records that you can pull out when you’re sitting on the porch with a glass of iced tea, enjoying the stillness. A soundtrack to the country is probably the best way to put it. It’ll take you back to an easier time, when life wasn’t so complicated.