John Mayer

Battle Studies

From acoustic rock heartthrob to young blues guitar god to well, I'm not sure. Mayer warned that he was going to experiment a bit on this album, and the results are a mixed bag.

Perfectly Lonely and Edge of Desire have some natty lyrics, and he does soft well in Do You Know Me, with his old John Mayer Trio mates Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino providing perfectly judged backing.

However, Assassin is a soft-funk number that sounds like something left over from a Miami Vice soundtrack, while the U2-ish Heartbreak Warfare calls to mind a video in black and white, shot in the desert, and he turns the blues tap back on for an insipid cover of the classic Crossroads.

It's almost as if Mayer feels torn between being a commercial soft rocker and an edgy balladeer, and he shows little of the humour that has made him an interesting media personality.

Singing about getting stoned in the folky Who Says may give him a modicum of street cred, but it sits uncomfortably alongside overtly commercial songs like Half of My Heart and Friends, Lovers or Nothing.

Best tracks: Who Says, Perfectly Lonely

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