John Mayer, once an innocent-looking pop heart throb, has been on a quest for several years to change that image.
Striving to disassociate his style from radio hits such as "Your Body is a Wonderland" and "Bigger Than My Body," Mayer emphasized his passion for guitar in his last album, "Continuum," released in 2006.
"Battle Studies," Mayer's first completely self-produced album, brings him even further from that original image.
Throughout the production of the album, Mayer wrote updates, shared song lyrics and posted videos on a companion blog called, "Battle Studies: A Mid-Action Report."
Mayer wrote, "to evolve you have to dismantle, and that means accepting the idea that nothing you've created in the past matters anymore, except that it brought you here.
To pick up your new marching orders."
This album is unlike anything Mayer has recorded before. Just when fans thought they understood him, "Battle Studies" reveals yet another side of the complex artist.
Although "Battle Studies" is certainly a show of Mayer's musical dexterity, it is extremely understated and begs for attention to detail.
For fans who want instant gratification, this album may be disappointing when compared to Mayer's heavy blues style in "Continuum."
Mayer begins his "Battle Studies" with the moderate-tempo "Heartbreak Warfare," in which he describes a relationship on the brink of destruction with the analogy of warfare, saying, "clouds of sulfur in the air/bombs are falling everywhere."
He describes the relationship as a game, and the overall mood of the song is, well, heartbreaking.
The song is one of the more full ones instrumentally, with Mayer playing electric guitar throughout with several interesting effects and a rousing solo.
It is a fitting preview to the rest of the album, in which seven of the 11 songs are somber break-up tunes.
In "Half of my Heart," which features Taylor Swift, Mayer tells the story of a guy who is debating jumping full-on into a relationship rather than keeping his options open.
Although Mayer and Swift are not the most likely duo, the song is light, acoustic and easily one of the most radio-worthy songs on the record.
Its relatively upbeat tempo (compared with the rest of the album) and Swift's harmonies add some color to the dreary story that is "Battle Studies."
In "Who Says," which was released as a single before the album dropped, Mayer asks, "Who says I can't get stoned?"
A quiet declaration of Mayer's independence as an artist and a person, "Who Says" breaks up the relationship drama and allows listeners into Mayer's free-spirited mind.
"Friends, Lovers or Nothing" is strongly reminiscent of the style of "Continuum," displaying the same smooth, bluesy style featured in "I'm Gonna Find Another You" and "In Repair."
It is one of the few songs on the album in which Mayer brings back the Strat and lets his fingers speak.
The album documents the tumultuous events of a failing relationship, and this last track provides closure for the storyline and the musical progression of the album.
Mayer ends his "Battle Studies" by repeating, "Anything other than yes is no/anything other than stay is go/anything less than I love you is lying," while the music gradually fades into silence, bringing the album, and the "battle," to a close.
When comparing "Battle Studies" to Mayer's earlier work, it is sure to bring disappointment the first time around.
However, the genius of this album lies in the musical details rather than bold political statements or the shredding of the Strat.
Give it a chance and don't write it off simply because it is different. Mayer isn't done yet.
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