LC Meridian

Issue date: 11/1/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Columbia Records

John Mayer's 2006 studio album, Continuum, blends Soul, Blues, R&B, Soft Rock and Folk music to form a record that is both meaningful and pleasing to mature music listeners.

In his first single, "Waiting on the world to change," Mayer sings, "Me and all my friends/We're all misunderstood/ They say we stand for nothing/And there's no way we ever could/ Now, we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it/ We just feel like we don't have the means/ To rise above and beat it."

Mayer, 28, isn't the first to sing a song that consciously focuses on world issues. In "What's going on?" the late Marvin Gaye did the same. Yet Mayer's lyrics have relevance today, now that political leaders like Senator Hillary Clinton have criticized his generation for being apathetic and powerless because of their lack of interest towards political issues and voting. His curiosity about certain social and life issues has led him to search for the answers through his music.

This is the Grammy winner's third studio solo LP, since forming the John Mayer Trio, a blues group with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, with whom Mayer produced the entire Continuum album. Even so, some of his critics continue to view him as the typical bubblegum pop artist with a guitar. But while many of Mayer's musical peers are struggling to break free of that stereotype, Mayer has undoubtedly done so with Continuum.

His smooth, laid- back, raspy voice in songs like "I don't trust myself with loving you," and "Stop this train," a song about his worries of growing up, takes the listener on a personal voyage through life's most intricate phases. The album will suit you no matter what mood you're in. He's believable, his lyrics are sincere, and he isn't afraid to be vulnerable through them.

Media Credit: Columbia Records

"(I'm) so scared of getting older. I'm only good at being young," frets Mayer in one song. Lyrics like these make him relatable to his listeners. "Belief" is another funky, foot tapping, head bobbling song, that will get even the most reserved up on their feet. The soulful R&B songs "Vultures" and "Gravity" have reappeared from the John Mayer Trio's album Try! with a more refined sound.

Mayer also takes a big risk by covering the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix's "Bold as Love," but he succeeds with a worthwhile track that's sure to give the late Hendrix a few more young fans. Mayer cleverly ends the album with the bluesy "I'm gonna find another you," and his delivery is simply magical. The trumpet, trombone and saxophones take the listener on a journey back into time, when blues and soul legends like Buddy Guy and B.B King ruled the scene. What makes Continuum so great is its substance and simple approach to some of the most complex social issues and human thoughts.

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