So I've gotten to listen to the full album. Here's my breakdown, track by track. For the general intro, read the post just before this one.
Clarity: A great leading track. Happy, contemplative, relaxed. Recommended.
Bigger Than My Body: Probably my favorite track. Very optimistic, loud and bold. A telling sign of a new style for Mayer, but it's a good move. Recommended.
Something's Missing: Good stuff. Sounds exactly the same as the live version heard on Any Given Thursday, for anyone who's heard that. Still recommended.
New Deep: A self-described sarcastic song, the lyrics are a quality attack on modern superficiality. But musically I have no clue what the hell's going on. Skip it.
Come Back to Bed: Ballad, all the way: slow tempo, 3/4 time; this song is junior high slow dance Mayer-style. The song's floated around the 'net for a while and is insanely popular with the ladies. If you can tolerate the sound and the stupid trumpet accents (which I blame on producer Jack Joseph Puig), it's a goodie. Recommended.
Home Life: This song's growing on me. I had the same problem as
New Deep at first: good lyrics, poor music. The lyrics are still good (but still kind of oddball) and the music involves way too much keyboard/synth work and not enough guitar. The jury's out, but if you skip it you won't miss a classic.
Split Screen Sadness: A great song. This song is the sad sequel to Back to You - but instead of giving it a chance again and again, it's a song about mutual sadness over a breakup. The phrase "two wrongs make it all alright tonight" repeats early on in the song and sets the tone for a second verse that is probably some of the most beautiful writing Mayer has ever done. I can personally relate, which is always a good thing, but even if you haven't had the kind of breakup he sings about, you'll still feel like you know exactly what he's singing. Recommended.
Daughters: Another popular live song brought into the studio, Daughters is a small surprise. While the only version I'd heard in the past is an electric solo, this one switches the clean electrified sound for an acoustic and throws in some light percussion and a touch of piano. Makes it a little more lighthearted and overall just as fun. Recommended.
Only Heart: Sadly, fans of Mayer's Stevie Ray Vaughn inspired electric solo work will be massively dissapointed with this album, as this is the only song that's anywhere near that whole realm of Mayer's playing style. And sadly, this song fails at that. While electric and jazzy, the song sounds like it came straight out of the 80s, and that's a bad thing. Fans of Neon and City Love should skip this track, and so should basically anyone who likes it when Mayer puts the right kind of music to his words. Stay away, at least until Mayer refines the solo and plays a better version live.
Wheel: Whoever decides on the track order for Mayer's CDs has again hit the nail on the head with closing a solid album with a bittersweet song. I'm partial to this song because I've heard it performed live in person and it's truly an amazing musical experience. But now that I have the lyric sheet in front of me, I've fallen in love with the song in a whole new way. This is a song that really anyone can connect with on a personal level, and that's what critics everywhere find enjoyable about a lot of Mayer's music. And the song's closing couldn't be any more beautiful. If you listen to only one song this year, make it Wheel.
It's easy to be disappointed with this album if you come from the John Mayer School of Music. All the album's flaws I choose to blame on Puig since I can trace his more subtle trademarks to bands he's produced in the past. It's not the same sound that got Mayer to his multi-platinum status. The album will sell millions of copies for its refined pop sound, but the hardest of hardcore fans will end up feeling cheated out of Mayer's musical subtleties. In the end, though, Mayer's songwriting creativity pulls through, if muffled somewhat by the overflow of extra instruments. The quality of the better songs on the album definitely outweighs the problems with the album. If
Room for Squares was a perfect ten out of ten, this album rates a solid nine. I've gotten my JM fix for the forseeable future and I'm satisfied. But if Puig produces Mayer's next record, I'm gonna be pissed.
Result: Grab it!
