Earlier this week John Mayer made a very vague but exciting post on his Instagram account about a single called "Love On The Weekend" that he will be releasing on November 17th, 2016 and all of the comments on his post express major excitement for what he has to bring, especially after keeping quiet ever since his last effort “Paradise Valley”. To build on the excitement for Mayer’s new music, let’s take a look back at two of his most popular albums, “Room for Squares” and “Continuum”. These two albums are extremely significant because they essentially lead John Mayer to become a household name for music fans globally.
If there were an album that screamed, “this is the epitome of 2000’s music and songwriting”, Mayer’s first release “Room for Squares” would have to be it. Some of his most popular songs like “No Such Thing” and “Neon” come right from that album. The instrumentals on this work are very poppy and feature acoustic guitars all throughout, a signature of popular music in the 2000’s; the songwriting is personable and sentimental; and of course, the breathy, sensual voice is really what differentiated Mayer from every other acoustic pop-rocker at the time. What makes this album so special is that it’s very personable and listeners can really relate to his lyrics. Being released in 2001, it was one of the albums to stick out when music was taking a very interesting turn. Just like the 70’s singer-songwriter’s who thrived after the chaos of the 60’s rock and roll, John Mayer was a part of that resurgence of personal, relatable music after the grunge/hard-rock spike in the 90’s. In fact, people will often call his music “Coffeehouse music” because of the overall calm, soothing nature of both his songwriting and his voice.
After “Room for Squares” and his second release “Heavier Things”, John Mayer was really given the chance to define what his sound was really all about. His third and most groundbreaking album “Continuum” did just that. It’s safe to say that everyone has heard at least one song on this album, like “Waiting On the World to Change”, “Vultures”, “Gravity”, or “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”. The instrumentals on this album are definitely much more inspired by blues and soul, and these qualities are especially emphasized in Mayer’s guitar work and songwriting. Another special aspect of this album is that the core of the music is comprised of Mayer, himself, and legendary musicians Steve Jordan on the drums and Pino Palladino on the bass. The lyrics are personal just like his other work, but the songwriting on “Continuum” is just so much more incredible and voluminous. It’s really one of those albums where every song sounds like a hit and it definitely paid off on Billboard’s charts. The album peaked number two on both Billboard 200 Albums Chart and Comprehensive Albums, it hit number three on Billboard Internet Albums, and soared to number one on Billboard Top Rock Albums and Digital Albums.
Since both of these albums, John Mayer has made some interesting turns in music like exploring collaboration with unexpected pop artists such as Katy Perry and Fran Ocean, and he's even tried dipping into the distant realms of country music. But, with the sneak-previews Mayer has been showcasing on his Instagram and Snapchat accounts, he is convincing us that he is coming back to his roots of blues and soul, more like “Continuum”. John Mayer fans all around the world are anticipating this release and it’ll be interesting to see what he has to bring to the table after keeping low for so long.
