At one point in his career John Mayer was a great dichotomy. He soared to incredible mainstream popularity with a rogue smile, a holier-than-thou intellectual superiority, and catchy pop tunes. His virtuouso guitar playing was alluded to, but never really focused on, the press focus instead covering his lurid dating history.
In other words, one of Planet Earth’s Top 100 all-time guitarists was effectively hiding in plain sight. You were about 18x more likely to find a Top 10 list of his social life than a Top 10 list of his best guitar licks.
That’s changed over the past two decades following more artist-focused ventures like John Mayer Trio and Dead & Company, but there’s still a part of me that feels despite all of the success Mayer has had, he hasn’t really received the mainstream credit he deserves for how incredible his guitar playing really is.
2006’s Continuum might be his high-water mark. It is a relentlessly infectious pop album that grabs you at first listen and ages like a fine wine with repeated spins. Mayer blends universal lyrical themes, catch vocal hooks, and achingly gorgeous blues guitar licks to create a cohesive experience from front to back.
Mayer’s knack for simplifying complex chordal patterns and colorful licks into something that sounds effortless is a tremendous achievement, made doubly so considering the previously mentioned mainstream appeal this record continues to have to this day. This is pop music that appeals to suburban mothers just as much as it does to seasoned jazz musicians. And that’s truly a helluva thing.
Final note— “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” is the only clean tone to ever rival Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”. Simply undeniable.
Standout Songs: “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, “In Repair”, “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)”
