It’s sometimes hard to remember that John Mayer is a musician. His constant flings with “A-list” celebrities are a tabloid favorite and tend to cast a large shadow over his music.
His most recent relationship with Jennifer Aniston projected him into the limelight and made every headline while his music fell to the back-burner.
But while his last few years have seen the worst of the “relationship blues,” Mayer reminds us with Battle Studies what he does best, and that’s making music, not headlines.
As the title of the album implies, Battle Studies is a healing process and an attempt for Mayer to showcase his failed attempts at love. The album is a journey and a snapshot into the life of John Mayer and all that surrounds it.
The album opens with “Heartbreak Warfare,” a song that showcases his bitterness and angst on a certain past relationship (cough, cough, Jennifer Aniston).
“Drop his name,” sings Mayer. “Push it in and twist the knife again. Watch my face as I pretend to feel no pain, pain, pain.”
Wearing his heart on his sleeve and holding nothing back, Mayer continues the album with “Half of My Heart,” a duet with the country-pop icon Taylor Swift.
“But, I can’t stop loving you,” Swift and Mayer sing back and forth. “But, I can’t stop loving you with half of my heart.”
Songs such as “Assassin” and “War of My Life” carry on in the same manner as the earlier tracks as they deal with the whole emotional spectrum concerning love and the single life.
The song “Who Says” will raise some eyebrows and probably motivate some students to ponder the same questions Mayer is asking.
“Who says I can’t get stoned?” sings Mayer. “Turn off the lights and the telephone. Me in my house alone… Who says I can’t get stoned?”
One of the most notable aspects of Battle Studies is the musical progression it shows for the artist. Nearly all the songs show no resemblance to his first two albums, Room for Squares and Heavier Things.
Instead, a warm feeling of blues/soft-rock is a theme of Battle Studies that makes it the most vulnerable album he has ever released.
But don’t be alarmed, loyal fans, the trademark falsetto choruses and intimate lyrics, which have made Mayer the icon that he is today, are still present on the album.
Battle Studies is a glimpse into the life of John Mayer the human, musician and celebrity. It shows that even someone as iconic as himself can be hurt, let down and left alone.
Maybe we do have something common with him after all.