John Mayer - Battle Studies - Album Review

John Mayer's fourth studio album entitled, "Battle Studies," is a delightfully soulful collection of songs detailing a bit of a loner's perspective on the world while capturing the essence of the type of singularity felt by many artists while on the road.

The album starts with the second released single from the album, "Heartbreak Warfare," a slow moving, slightly poppy track meant for listening to on a weekend afternoon with nothing much to do. In fact, the whole album is rather slow and produces a smooth melodic tone that renders as perfect "chill music" for a lazy afternoon.

Continuing with the chill vibe is the fourth track, "Who Says," which actually was the first single to come out from this album. A rather short song, it captures a sort of rebellious and outsider's view of the world with it's opening lyrics, "Who says I can't get stoned, Turn off the lights and the telephone, Me in my house alone, Who says I can't get stoned." Although I am not one to venture into the usage of drugs, even I was feeling a little high and caught myself holding up a peace sign after listening to this song.

The best song I heard from the album both commercially and composition wise is, "Perfectly Lonely." A genuine Mayer comes through on this one and the melody will stick in your head for a while. Coming in as the next best song composition wise has to be "Crossroads." It just oozes funky, captures the perfect little blues riff and really displays Mayer's talents as one of the best folk artists today.

On the negative side, not a whole lot to dislike about the album. Those who are looking for a pop hit or dance groove are going to be disappointed, but they shouldn't be looking to Mayer for that anyway. Mayer has established himself in the music community and you are not going to hear anymore "Your Body is a Wonderland," anytime soon (a very good thing) because he doesn't need that pop exposure anymore. It is clear to see, Mayer is in a mature and soulful stage of his career and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Summary

"Battle Studies," is a collection of not great, but good folk/blues songs. Although nothing spectacular, fans that go out and get this album can't be disappointed.

I can definitely see Mayer going in the country/folk music direction in the future. It's going to be the best genre for his soulful voice and guitar melodies. He thankfully got off the pop Kool-Aid, and I expect to see the mature Mayer playing in the Grand Ole Opry sooner rather than later. "Battle Studies," is definitely a very good start in that direction. I give "Battle Studies," a 3.5 out 5.

John Mayer - Battle Studies - 3.5/5