John Mayer will have his first concert at the Mall of Asia grounds later today so to prepare for this show, I decided to give a listen to his latest CD, 'Battle Studies'. I am familiar with most of his hits so if I knew maybe a little of his new material, I would enjoy the show more! Well, two singles have been released from this album. 'Heartbreak Warfare' and 'Half of My Heart', and both reached the Top 40 in the US. And I really like both singles, and not only are they radio-friendly, their lyrics also evoke the pain that John may have felt when he was making this CD.
Now, I am going to go through five of my other favorite singles in this CD, which I don't think will be released anymore, and they will be presented from my most favorite and so on.
1. Assassin - this is my Download of the Week and my most favorite song from this album. It's not a very easy listen in the beginning since it has no sing-along chorus but I love it since the song builds up from its curious voice-over beginning to a heartfelt realization.
2. Crossroads - this is a groovy blues song which showcases John's excellent guitar skills. I like its heavy guitar riffs and although I'm sure it's not commercially viable as a single, it's one of the more adventurous tracks in this album
3. War of My Life - the song sounds upbeat and is totally out of sync with the gravitas of its title. You can also hear John sing with earnestness here 'I am in the war of my life'. I like the contrast here, between the upbeat melody and the gloomy lyrics.
4. Friends, Lovers Or Nothing - this could've been a good third single from this album, and the first ballad. It's another sad song about breaking up, but I like the guitar riff in the first part of the song. I also like how John sings the ultimatum in the chorus 'Friends, lovers or nothing' - 'there'll never be an in between so give it up'.
5. Perfectly Lonely - this is another possible fourth single release from this album. It sounds commercially viable, and like some of the tracks in this album, the upbeat melody contrasts with the sad nature of the song's lyrics. Vintage John Mayer!
I've also enjoyed the other songs in this album, like 'Do You Know Me' and the funny 'Who Says'. This is very good material from John and although most critics don't really like this work, I, on the other hand, really love it!
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