My Amazon Reviews: John Mayer "Battle Studies"

Heart Scars  
4 Out Of 5 Stars

John Mayer is making mature music these days, which is to say that "Battle Studies" is an adult album that plays it easy. Having jumped off the hot-shot guitarist train, he now sounds more like the Eric Clapton of "Unplugged" than the EC of "Slowhand." Or more to the point, Mayer now sounds like he's intent on being the new Phil Collins.

Not that being Collins is a bad thing, as Phil's best work in the 80's still sounds terrific. The lead track, "Heartbreak Warfare" is almost the kind of divorce song Collins specialized in for his first two solo albums, minus the landmine sounding drums. Having Taylor Swift on "Half Of My Heart" is the equivalent of Collin's duets like "Separate Lives." The finale, "Friends, Lovers or Nothing," is one of the songs that merits the Clapton comparisons, and that's in a good way. Although Mayer brings these comparisons on himself by pulling readily identifiable covers out of the box, like the way he funkifies "Crossroads." While the song belongs to Robert Johnson, its most recognizable version was EC's (who even had a box set under that title, fer crying out loud).

Mayer made himself into his own performer with the albums "Try" and "Continuum," which makes "Battle Studies" a slight step back. "Assassin" is the most individualistic song here, delivered with guitar firepower and subdued voice, and is the one song that sounds like it came in from the "Continuum" sessions. "All We Ever Do is Say Goodbye" is a terrific radio record, but someone should have told Mayer that "Who Says" is the kind of novelty that wears out quickly. He's long past the point in his career where trifles like that should be on solid albums; if Mayer wants to keep holding himself to the standards of Clapton, BB King and other guitar greats he claims he wants to emulate, he needs to study their battles more in depth.

"Battle Studies" is a sturdy album, ultimately. It sounds like a sharp left from the the more intense previous album, with Mayer aiming for adult-pop without getting mired in the saccharine. He still needs to concentrate on being John Mayer as opposed to a composite of his heroes. While he loves to rub shoulders with the greats and does so with much skill, he will ultimately need to decide if he wants to rub against the great ones or stand alongside of them as an equally talented artist.