After several wordless months while recovering from throat surgery, I thought John Mayer would have had plenty of time to focus on writing some of his best music yet. After listening to his latest album, Paradise Valley, however, I’m not sure that’s what he did. I’ve always been a fan of Mayer strictly for his guitar playing– I feel that he’s one of the best natural blues guitarists out there. Some of his classic blues songs such as “Gravity” and “Neon” really show his unreal amount of talent and intangible funk on the frets.
Recently however, Mayer has made a drastic transformation in his style of music. He went from writing mainly bluesy, laid back hybrids to more of a country, spring-in-your-step style. Elements of country, such as the slide guitar, are evident in some of his latest songs such as “You’re No One ‘Til Someone Has Let You Down” and “On The Way Home.” I personally feel that his new style takes away from Mayer being able to get his funk on and showcase his unreal ability to tear up the frets while still maintaining a relatively laid back style.
Nevertheless, the Paradise Valley album has seen respectable success since hitting the market. “Wildfire,” by far the most popular song on this album, has already made it to Mayer’s “top 5 songs” list according to iTunes. It’s a playful, catchy song, and clearly shows Mayer’s newfound country style. I also expect Mayer’s song “Who You Love,” featuring his girlfriend Katy Perry, to be a hit amongst pop fans. It’s a smooth love song– not something I would want to listen to, but pop radio loves smooth love songs.
My favorite song on the album isn’t even an original song by Mayer; in fact, it’s Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Call Me the Breeze,” and Mayer decided to include it in his album as a tribute to JJ Cale, the writer of the song, who passed away in July. To me, this song is the closest thing to “Vintage Mayer” you can find in this album; it has a bluesy feel, a jazzy guitar solo, and a catchy swing to it.
I personally thought most of the songs on this album were average– none of them blew me away, nor did they make my ears bleed– but I think Mayer could expand his creativity if he went back to his roots.
3/5 stars
