I've had a bit of a penchant for giving an unpopular opinion when it comes to John Mayer's music, and that's something I'm quite fine with. In 2009, when Battle Studies, Mayer's fourth studio album, came out, I loved it. I really did. And overall, it wasn't an overly popular album with the masses.
However, I still listen to it quite a lot, and I think it strikes me because the subject matter rings true; it seems to me like a rising self-awareness on Mayer's part about his struggles with relationships and commitment. My favorite on that album is a tie between Assassin and Edge of Desire.
Then in 2012 Born and Raised, a follow-up to Battle Studies, came out.
This album follows a three-four year disappearance on Mayer's part (I'll refrain from discussing his disappearance - we all know why he fled the public eye for a bit). Once more Born and Raised sings to me, though in a very different way than Battle Studies. It represents a change in tone for Mayer, in more than just musical style. It shows his awareness that the time has come for him to grow up, and speaks a lot to the dissonance that comes with becoming a more adult person and passing out of the "college/frat/young guy" phase of life. The crowning achievement of that album is, in my opinion, Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey, which sums up that dissonance in one four minute span.
I listen to both Battle Studies and Born and Raised on a regular basis, though when I'm looking for two different things. Battle Studies is my college and nostalgia album. It's what I listen to when I'm emotional and looking for something that validates my feelings: Yeah man! Right on, brother! However, Born and Raised, I can listen to when I'm feeling emotional/nostalgic or when I'm simply feeling mellow, and the feeling is the same: a dusky sense of growing up and moving on. Born and Raised is a "time to step forward," album, an assertive and honest look at life. Battle Studies is the holding back album. Both have their purposes and both are useful at different times. If I'm totally honest, I prefer Born and Raised to Battle Studies.
And now in 2013, sooner than I would have expected, comes Paradise Valley. It's strange to me, because Amanda and I are going to a concert in the Born and Raised Tour at SPAC on the 30th, yet this album breaks on the 20th. I spent all of yesterday day listening to this album, while my family and I crossed over into Acadia National Park on our Mainecation.
To me, Paradise Valley feels much more like a "follow-up" to Born and Raised than Born and Raised does to Battle Studies. In musical style, it sounds a lot like Born and Raised, which is a first in my memory, given that John Mayer's style has seemed to shift from album to album. And, while it does shift a bit in tone, it is still quite similar to the feeling that B and R evokes. Where Born and Raised felt to me like an album about growing up and moving on, Paradise Valley is a "grown up" album.
Paradise Valley is the music of a John Mayer at peace, both with himself and with the world. The album is calm, mellow and positive, with quiet, softly lilting tunes making up the majority of the track listing. Continuing with his Americana feel, Mayer gives us a sense of uplifting calm. This is a happy John Mayer; something not even present in Born and Raised, which is all about the struggling of becoming a better and more mature person. Though some of his tunes, such as Dear Marie and Paper Doll are written like letters to past loves (Paper Doll a not-so-veiled jab at Taylor Swift and her song Dear John), those songs are not written with the same regretful mourning that a Battle Studies Mayer might have written. Rather, they give the sense of detached regret that someone who has moved on and is glancing back from afar might have. This is particularly noticeable in Dear Marie.
There are also moments in this album (seen in Dear Marie, actually), where Mayer is looking back at his past and is realizing some of the things he has sacrificed to get to where he is in his life. The lyrics that sing this feeling come out straight in Dear Marie, when he says: "Yeah I've got my dream, but you've got a family." Moreover, in this letter to "Marie," he asks her: "And if you’re further up the road can you show me what I still can’t see?" It's an acknowledgement that, though he's grown up quite a bit, he still has a ways to go, and he - like everyone else - doesn't know what lies ahead, even though this childhood love of his is certainly farther ahead than he. It's a remarkable self-awareness that Mayer is in possession of, both here and throughout Paradise Valley.
A large number of songs proved themselves difficult to resist the temptation (and sometimes I didn't resist) to rewind back to the beginning. I wanted to give each song a fair shake, but there are a good few of them that are so catchy that I want to hear again from the beginning. The two top ones were, without a doubt I Will Be Found (Lost at Sea), and You're No One Until Someone Lets You Down. Both of the songs are powerful and poignant, with I Will Be Found representing the floating place in life that I personally feel I am in, while You're No One Until Someone Lets You Down represents a very strong truth about the state of happiness and is cheerful in its honesty.
The only song that falls flat for me is Who You Love, which features Mayer and Katy Perry in a duet. Unfortunately, the song just isn't that interesting to me, though the lyrics are nice. It's just a little too slow and lilty for me. I couldn't get into it at all.
Other than Who You Love, I really enjoy this album. It is nice to see a continuing trend of a more mature John Mayer - one who writes about more thoughtful material. Given I have had an obsession with the Metropolis soundtrack for over a week now, it is a good sign to me that Paradise Valley was able to pull me out of that obsession. If you're looking for an "edgier" sound from Mayer, this album is not the one to listen to, but I don't think that that's a bad thing.
The remixing is also quite good - nothing overpowers anything else. I get a little picky about this because sometimes the instrumentals, mainly the percussion, are remixed to overpower everything else. When you don't get a good musical balance and can't hear all of the parts evenly, the experience is that much less enriching. Luckily, with Paradise, everything is balanced and even and I can hear the full spectrum of sound.
I approve.
-Tom
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