{"id":41798,"date":"2009-11-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/battle-studies\/"},"modified":"2009-11-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-25T00:00:00","slug":"battle-studies","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/battle-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Mayer has taken a break from Twittering and serial dating celebrities to release his follow-up to 2006\u2019s critically-acclaimed Continuum<\/i>. While that disc was a hard-won effort for Mayer, lending him blues credibility after years of creating palatable but flimsy pop-rock, Battle Studies <\/i>tempers that sense of urgency (and his fiery guitar-work).\u00a0 Though it\u2019s still a solid album, chock full of hopelessly relatable romantic sentiment, there is the overriding sense that something\u2019s missing, a flatness not evident in the rich, evocative tracks that filled Continuum <\/i>from start to finish.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Still, Mayer can craft some excellent hooks, and this album is one that unfolds upon repeated listening, showing its deep, wounded heart. Aside from a smooth, swaggering cover of Cream\u2019s \u201cCrossroads\u201d and the fuzzy, pot-clouded \u201cWho Says,\u201d these are all basically love songs \u2013 or, to be more precise, heartbreak songs. Opener \u201cHeartbreak Warfare\u201d (which probably should\u2019ve been the leadoff single instead of \u201cWho Says\u201d) is quietly lovely, with twinkling guitars, muted drums, and some bitterly evocative lyrics: \u201cClouds of sulphur in the air \/ Bombs are falling everywhere\u2026If you want more love, why didn\u2019t you say so?\u201d The tension and vigor of Continuum <\/i>has been somewhat smoothed over, but it\u2019s like the calm before the storm. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Mayer\u2019s songs could be cheesy if they didn\u2019t have his heart behind them, seeping through every lyric and chord. On \u201cAll We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye,\u201d he\u2019s pained but resilient, backed by shimmering instrumentation that slowly rises to a crescendo of harmonies, while \u201cHalf Of My Heart\u201d has a swerving groove and captures well that feeling of being perpetually divided. There are a couple of less than stellar moments here, though. Aforementioned single \u201cWho Says\u201d has none of the intensity of \u201cWaiting On The World To Change\u201d or even the shameless catchiness of Mayer\u2019s earlier pop-oriented hits, while \u201cWar Of My Life\u201d is a bit meandering for such overwrought sentiment, and penultimate cut \u201cDo You Know Me\u201d is also somewhat of a repetitive throwaway. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Those low spots aside, Mayer also hits some great points. \u201cPerfectly Lonely\u201d is full of bluesy charm, seamless vocals, and that defiantly empty-hearted hook: \u201cI\u2019m perfectly lonely \/ \u2018Cause I don\u2019t belong to anyone \/ Nobody belongs to me.\u201d Meanwhile, \u201cAssassin\u201d puts a nice spin on the otherwise clich\u00e9 idea of players loving and leaving, with Mayer playing some fierce solos (a standout on an album that luxuriates more in feeling rather than showy instrumentation).\u00a0 And though \u201cCrossroads\u201d is a bit out of place, it\u2019s still a respectful nod to Mayer\u2019s roots and the guitar gods that came before him, full of loose energy and confidence.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Battle Studies <\/i>comes to a close with \u201cFriends, Lovers or Nothing,\u201d which, despite the overtness of its title, has a smooth flow to it, aided by Mayer\u2019s buttery vocals and the subtle guitar threaded through. \u201cAnything other than yes is no \/ Anything other than stay is go \/ Anything less than I love you is lies,\u201d Mayer croons as the song winds to its end, a soulful yet decisive finishing to an equally heartfelt album.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When it comes to innovation, Battle Studies <\/i>is a bit of a step back from Continuum<\/i>, particularly since there was a three-year gap between studio releases. Nevertheless, there\u2019s a lot to like on this disc, the sounds of a man who is surprisingly graceful in revealing his heartbreak.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6814],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41798","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-mayer","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41798"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}