I've been listening to this album for about 5 months now and I knew from the minute I heard it that I’d have to share it with you all. But this album has so many layers and facets to it, that it’s taken me awhile to feel acquainted enough with this album to do it justice in a review.
John Mayer’s fourth album, Battle Studies was released in November 2009. It has 11 tracks and is only 46 minutes from start to finish. And in my humble opinion, it’s his best yet. Alright, I’ll admit that the only John Mayer I had on my iPod prior to this album were the big five (his old stuff that seems to always be floating around the airwaves), so I guess I don’t have a whole lot of authority on this subject. But this album is something new and different from Mayer and shows a musical maturation.
Although Mayer is known to be something of a womanizer and a jackass in general, the lyrics of this album show a depth of character I didn’t know existed. They tell the story of the ending of one relationship and the beginning of a new one. The album gives us a glimpse into the life of the main character as he begins a tumultuous quest to find himself again after a break-up. He dabbles in drugs and serial dating for several songs and has something of an epiphany at a crossroads and emerges throughout the rest of the album all healed and looking for love again.
A melancholy, almost numb feeling encompasses the entire album and the raw emotion that fueled it will peek through on occasion. Mayer incorporates new musical styles into this album along with his famous rock songs and guitar solos. The song "Crossroads" has a heavy Blues influence and "Assassin" begins with an electronic tribal drum thing that is completely entrancing.
But the innovation doesn’t end there. The music video for "Heartbreak Warfare" is the first augmented reality music video ever! And it was really cool . . .when I could get it to work. To view it, you need a copy of the “magic symbol” and you have to hold it in front of your webcam and voila! The music video starts. Don’t ask me how. I’m not the most tech-savvy girl out there. I ran into troubles early on. If you don’t hold the magic symbol in just the right spot, or completely still, it won’t work. And it was kind of hard to watch said video while I was holding a piece of paper up in front of my face. But I got it after three times and it blew my mind! Coolest thing I've ever seen! It was worth the trouble I went through to get it to play.
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If you’re a John Mayer fan or if you simply enjoy life (as my professor would say) then you need to buy this album.
Favorite Tracks: "Half of My Heart," "Heartbreak Warfare," and "Assassin."
-Ally
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