Everyday i have the blues

Been listening to John Mayer’s Continuum these past few days. Found the CD on sale (for only 199 piso) at a record store in a mall near the office. It had been on display under discounted CDs for over a month. Recalled watching Mayer’s performance in this David Letterman show once. And there was that scratchy, gritty, heavier, more complex feel in the new sound. Quite different from the boyish, unabashedly pop-inspired tunes of the first studio albums. But what really clinched things for me though was reading somewhere about how Mayer had turned to the blues genre for inspiration. In the Continuum album sleeve, there’s an acknowledgment to Eric Clapton for staying “cool” despite knowing that Mayer has been borrowing some guitar riffs from him. But there’s a lot more in Continuum than being just another of those blues-influenced album. Waiting on the World to Change puts a nice cruising beat to a stylish Gen-Ex theme song that throws sharp jabs at war and misinformation in the media. Mayer’s husky voice really surfaces in Belief and sounds uncannily like Gordon Sumner’s. The poetic lyrics and haunting chords in Gravity pulls you down to emotional depths before releasing you in a cathartic daze. Contrast these with the steady rhythm and intensely reflective words of Stop This Train. There’s also this very competent cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Bold as Love. My favorites: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room and I’m Gonna Find Another You. Great work. In fact, thought there was a need to increase the dose a bit. So decided to buy the two-CD collection Where The Light Is (Live in Los Angeles) as well.  No more lonely nights.  Just the blues.