Somewhere In Between

It's a common tale in the music business. An artist will have stellar debut album and then fall short on their second one. There can be a number of reasons why this is so. One could be that the high expectations cause a big distraction in the writing process. Another could be the artist’s sudden change in their music direction that causes fans to disapprove. This type of phenomenon is called the sopohmore slump. It could be many things why this is so, but one thing is for sure, a sophomore record can either help continue the success of the artist or put their career to a halt. Fortunately for Mr. John Mayer, this is not the case.

John Mayer is a popular singer-songwriter known for his blues influenced pop music, sensational guitar playing and his all-around good guy looks. In his debut album Room for Squares, John Mayer mainly played his own brand of pop music with an acoustic guitar. As he progressed in his career, his blues influence began to grow and he slowly incorporated it into his music. On his third record, Continuum, John Mayer has taken his music to a whole new level. Instead of the acoustic pop music he was known for from his debut album, he decided to fully concentrate on playing the blues on this album. Now you are probably wondering, “what about his second album?”

Remember what I mentioned earlier about sopohmore slumps? By the time John Mayer decided to write the follow up to Room For Squares, high expectations was already upon him especially after winning a Grammy for his hit single “Your Body Is A Wonderland”. There were some critics that felt his experimentation with the blues will draw away some of his fans while others doubted his ability as a musician and felt that he is just another one hit wonder. But despite all the criticism, John Mayer remained cool and confident in the following months of the recording process. Finally in the Fall of 2003, he released his second album entitled Heavier Things. This album is a personal favorite of mine and in my opinion did not suffer the infamous sophomore slump.

What makes Heavier Things such a special album and a personal favorite of mine is that it symbolizes the middle ground between Room For Squares and Continuum. It represents the transition point where John Mayer progresses from pop to blues. Where he was able to combine both genres beautifully to form one distinct sound. In this album, he was able to incorporate more instruments into the mix. Such notable instruments were the horns from the opening track “Clarity” and the organ from the song “Split Screen Sadness”. His guitar playing has also improved tremendously on this album. Just listen to tracks “Bigger Than My Body” and “Only Heart” and you will see (or should I say hear) what an amazing guitar player he really is. Now what is a John Mayer album without a little acoustic guitar? The acoustic guitar is still present on this record in tracks “Come Back To Bed” and “Daughters” with a hint of the blues added to the mix. Overall, the music on this album is absolutely brilliant.

John Mayer will go on to making more blues concentrated pop music (either in his group, the John Mayer Trio or on his current album Continuum), but I always catch myself going back to this record. The listening experience on this Heavier Things has a different appeal than his other works. If I were to remember John Mayer for any record, it would have to be this one. Not just because he was able to combine both the blues and pop so perfectly, but that it represents the evolution of John Mayer as an artist and a musician.