John Mayer’s fourth studio album, Battle Studies was released about a month ago, and I’ve been giving it a thorough listen.
The first impression of Battle Studies is that it’s a very clean record. The entire album is polished, but not in a sterile way. It’s plain that the material was not recorded quickly, and that care was put into making each and every song sound as good as it can. The end result is an album that sounds like a lost classic from the 80’s. This sonic them is best exemplified in the could’ve been a mega-hit in 1986 Half of My Heart – a duet with the reigning pop princess Taylor Swift. Furthering the 80’s motif is a cover of the Springsteen song I’m on Fire from the Born in the USA album, that is available as bonus track from iTunes – sad because I’d enjoy hearing that. While the fuzzed out, funky rendition of the Robert Johnson classic Crossroads might not bring Trapper Keepers to mind, but it does let Mayer flex his guitar god muscles.
The problem is the album is stuck in one gear, mid-tempo jams revolving around the troubles of the heart. They might really well put together mid-tempo jams, but the sameness drags the entire album down. One of the reasons Crossroads stands out so much, apart from being a good song, is that it simply sounds different from everything else.
I can’t really call Battle Stations a setback for Mayer, because his musicianship is as strong as ever, and there are songs on the record that I do enjoy. That being said, I can’t shake the feeling that the album is at best a lateral move. Instead of pushing the envelope, it seems that Mayer chose instead to refine his studio chops. While such a decision will undoubtedly pay dividends down the road; it leaves me with an album that I can’t help but find disappointing.