Brilliant Discovery (Heavier Things - John Mayer)

Member Name: blonde_girl774

Product:	Heavier Things - John Mayer
Date:	22/03/07 (721 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great range of tracks, brilliant lyrics, seductive voice.

Disadvantages: None really!

John Mayer is quite an established artist in America but it’s not a name I’d heard of before my friend introduced me to his album at Christmas. It seems to be quite a growing trend that many artists who are successful in America find only limited success over in the UK. John Mayer is currently most famous for dating American beauty and singer Jessica Simpson; their relationship began back in August 2006. Heavier Things is Mayer’s third album although it’s only the second to be released in the UK. His third album was released back in 2006 although I’d yet to get my hands on a copy of it.

So who is he? He’s a 29 year old American artist, both singer and guitarist, who has in the past won Grammy Awards for his contributions to music. His sound is largely advertised as being acoustic rock although don’t let that put you off, I’d argue against this and say although there are some light rock sounding tracks the majority of the album is much mellower and there’s even a few pop like sounding tracks. His rock sound could be compared to something similar to Bon Jovi’s lighter, softer tracks while his voice contains a raspy, sexy sound similar to that of Gavin DeGraw or Howie Day.

The album contains 10 tracks which may leave you feeling a little short changed, I do tend to expect 12-14 tracks on the average album these days. However the quality of these tracks quite easily makes up for that. It was released back in September 2003 and found quite large success in America although never really reached the charts in the UK. For those of you that know his previous album then this one has a more sophisticated yet not totally dissimilar sound that’ll definitely make it a hit with you.

1. “Clarity” is the first track on the album and it opens with soft melodic piano chords which create an instantly relaxing atmosphere. Mayer’s voice initially is very soft, almost like Jack Johnson but with much more sex appeal to it somehow. There are some elegant melodies in this track that will warm you to it straightaway, the pace remains quite similar throughout with the soft backing music suiting his voice ideally. The track itself is quite simply about gaining clarity and how very often we worry and can’t quite see or understand what’s going on, yet at certain times everything seems to fall into place and become a lot clearer, “By the time I recognize this moment, this moment will be gone, but I will bend the light pretend, that it somehow lingered on.”

2. “Bigger than my body” contrasts nicely with the opening track in that it’s got a much more energised and upbeat feel to it as well as having a more rock image as well. His voice sounds much stronger and almost more mature than it did in the previous track with his raspy voice managing the lyrics effortlessly. Towards the chorus there’s a great crescendo which almost makes your skin tingle and will certainly have you singing along in a matter of minutes. The song itself is about how in a sense, mentally you’re bigger than your body, you possess much more knowledge than your body alone suggests, “Why is it not the time, what is there more to learn, I’ve shed this skin I’ve been tripping in, and I’ve never quite returned.”

3. “Something’s Missing” is the third track on the album and is much more relaxed than the previous track and somehow more pessimistic than the opening track. It’s got a very calm atmosphere with quite strong chords in the backing music. It’s the first track on the album that really seems to focus on love, although it could quite easily be interpreted as being about friendship or something similar. Although there are depressing elements in the music and his voice seems to have taken on a negative mood, the track itself won’t make you want to curl up and cry by any means. The song focuses on how sometimes when we loose something we often feel that we’re missing something, or sometimes how we just get that feeling that there must be more to a situation than what is there, “Something’s missing, and I don’t know how to fix it, something’s missing, and I don’t know what it is.”

4. “New Deep” has quite a surreal feel to it with a jumpy opening and then some solid guitar sounds coming through. The beat is quite slow throughout the track with the pace never really picking up except slightly at the chorus. The chorus itself is probably the catchiest on the album so far and I find it impossible not to sing along to, especially as the lyrics have quite a nice meaning. The song itself has quite a light meaning to it, it talks about how if you don’t take things to seriously or try and analyse things too deeply life in general will be easier, “Cause ever since I’ve tried, trying not to find, every little meaning in my life, it’s been fine, I’ve been cool, with my new golden rule.”

5. “Come back to bed” is the slowest track so far on the album and the one that also sounds the most like a soft Bon Jovi love song. It’s arguably the first track on the album that really focuses on the emotion of love which is a refreshing change to most albums I’ve heard recently. The track itself is almost verging on a smoky blues ballad with soft lyrics while his raspy voice soars over the music, sounding strong throughout. This is one of my favourite tracks on the album, possibly his most mature sounding track so far and definitely the most soothing. The come back to bed idea is quite simply a metaphor for getting over an argument and making up, “What will this fix, you know you’re not a quick forgive, and I won’t sleep through this, I survive on the breath you are finished with.”

6. “Home Life” marks the half way point through the album which is almost disappointing in a way as I feel like I could listen to his songs for hours. This track is the first one on the album that I don’t absolutely love, although it’s not a bad track and it is quite catchy it’s just a little drab feeling. His voice is particularly depressing and almost cold on this track while the music is slightly hypnotic but in quite a bad way almost. The track itself is about how he basically wants a home life and quite simply a happy family life, “I wanna see the end game, I wanna learn her last name, finish on a Friday, and sit in traffic on the highway.”

7. “Split Screen Sadness” is rather ominously titled and the music is quite ominous sounding, there’s what sounds like a church organ playing the same chord repeatedly in the background for the first minute or so which gives the track quite an eerie feel. This is the only backing music along with a gentle beat for the first verse which gives a hollow feel to the track. Suddenly there’s a crescendo and much warmer feeling music as we move towards the chorus which creates a great contrast in this track. I personally love this track, it’s about the end of a relationship really and how that can create sadness but happiness of a sort at the same time, “And I don’t know where you went when you left me but, it says here in the water you must be gone by now, I can tell somehow.”

8. “Daughters” is the eighth track on the album and it is a slightly odd song really. I’m not quite sure what the inspiration behind this track was but despite it being a little odd it’s sung beautifully with very mellow backing music. The song itself, from what I can tell from the chorus is about how a daughter should be kind to her mother as one day she will be the mother. However this notion doesn’t seem to flow throughout the track as the opening lyrics show, “I know a girl, she puts the colour inside of my world, she’s just like a maze, where all of the walls all continually changes.”

9. “Only Heart” is the penultimate track on the album and it’s a slightly upbeat number. It’s quite different to any of the other songs and almost has an indie feel to the opening as if it could quite easily slot into a Razorlight album. On the other hand there’s also quite a soft rock feel to this track in parts with some great backing music, especially to the chorus which just seems to give the song a completely new burst of energy. The song itself has quite a warm feel to it and it’s about how he’s completely smitten with a girl, so much so that she now has his only heart, “It’s so hard to be so far out, living our separate lives, your phone was really broken, I tried your number twice.”

10. “Wheel” is the final track on the album and it’s a very mellow, soft track to finish on. I really like this song as a final memory of the album as it seems to sum up the whole album quite succinctly with his voice alternating between soft and raspy sounding. The title of the track is actually used as a metaphor of movement almost, as the function of a wheel is quite simply to move and in a sense this song talks about how we have to move on from things in the past, “And airports see it all the time, when someone’s last goodbye, blends in with someone’s sigh, cause someone’s coming home.”

All in all I’d recommend this album to absolutely anyone – if you like artists such as Bon Jovi, Howie Day or Ben Jelen then it’ll certainly be up your street. Basically if you like relaxing, somewhat raspy sounding lyrics with a backdrop of energetic or mellow music then this should be in your music collection! His vocals for the whole are rich and textured in a sense which adds feeling to the album. The songs are quite emotive without being so emotionally charged that they bring tears to your eyes and for once there’s not a complete focus on the emotion of love with this album. There is an element of soul searching which is evident through the lyrics but this only serves to inspire me in a sense. Mayer addresses a range of topics through his songs including clarity, the future and various relationships. It would be ideal listening while driving or simply relaxing at home as it’s not overly down or upbeat.

www.amazon.co.uk £10.98
www.play.com £7.29


Thanks for reading.

Summary: The second UK album from American singer John Mayer.