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I’ve had my copy of John Mayer’s new album, “Battle Studies,” for a week now, so I thought I’d share my thoughts. First, a little disclosure: I love John Mayer, and would probably be willing to modify my personal anatomy if he asked me to be the bearer of his golden children. Also, I’m not a professional critic, I just like music. Anyway, my thoughts:

• First hearing: it sounds like John had been listening to a bunch of music, and occasionally said “Wow, that’s a great song, I want to write a song like that.” The first track, “Heartbreak Warfare,” is so similar to U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name” that it’s hard to decide if it’s an homage or just a ripoff. I can only assume he wrote “Half Of My Heart” and “War Of My Life” immediately after multiple listenings of Jackson Browne’s album, “Alive” (a wildly spectacular CD, by the way). “Who Says” is…well, frankly it sounds just like “Stop This Train” from John’s last album, “Continuum.” “Crossroads” is a cover of the standard Cream song, and is remarkably original given that the band plays all the same notes as Eric, Bruce, and Ginger. Then you find something like “Assassin,” which is a fantastic rock song that I almost wish was sung by someone with an edgier voice. “Edge of Desire,” “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye,” and “Perfectly Lonely” are standard Mayer fare; soft guitars, gentle lyrics, sweet melodies. “Edge” stands out for its long musical exploration, almost evoking 19th-century-style symphonic development. (Was that a sufficiently douchey, pretentious comment to make this a proper music critique? Good.)

  
  In all, the first hearing rather left me cold. This should have warned me, since I’m pretty sure his “Continuum” and “Heavier Things” albums did exactly the same thing.



• Second hearing: Hmmm. These are good songs.


• Third hearing: OMG LULZ “Half Of My Heart” is the BEST SONG EVA WTF!!1!1!1!? It’s a pleasant “duet” with Taylor Swift, who continues to be the best thing happening in country music. I put duet in quotes because really she just serves as a backup singer, delivering a few solo lines to echo John late in the song. Possibly the best lyrics on the CD:
  

  Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring

  
  It seems kinda silly out of context, but trust me it is SO GOOD. I believe it’s going to be the second single, so if you were disappointed by “Who Says” (which is a decent song, but probably the 6th best one on the album), keep an ear out for it.

John Mayer consistently releases albums that kind of irk me at first listen, and then grow on me quicker than mold in your mom’s basement¹. I take this to mean one of two things. Either

1. John Mayer is consistently expanding his musical sensibilities, getting better with very album.


2. I love him so much that he could release a spoken word album of Muppets quotes and I’d post a glowing review.

I’m not ruling out either one.

Footnotes:

1 (She lives in filth, dude. Seriously, stage an intervention.)