John Mayer - The Search for Everything (2017) Album • Page 4

First thoughts:

Moving On and Getting Over is great. The funky guitar and bass lines are vintage John Mayer but with a seemingly happy pop twist. The lyrics really hit home for me too, as someone just out of a four year relationship, and I can really see myself listening to this a lot in the coming weeks.

Changing started slowly, wasn't expecting a piano ballad, so when it kicked in I was very happy. The build on this one is patient and the solo felt rewarding. Need more time with this track but I see it becoming possibly my favourite.

Love on the Weekend is still great. I love the drum beat and the little guitar patterns that seem to come in and out of focus, mixed with the great production and the love struck lyrics and it definitely gives a real atmosphere. The melodies on this track are great too. A really good single and whilst it's poppier than some would have wanted, the vocals especially really shine on this.

You're Gonna Live Forever in Me is also good, but it sounds a little too close to Coldplay. Even the vocals in the first few lines sound scarily similar to Chris Martin. I do enjoy Coldplay though and this is another good track. The whistling could have sounded tacky with other artists but this works. The lyrics are good on this too, I liked the switch in the final stanza when he sings "And when the pastor asks the pews, for reasons he can't marry you, I'll keep my word and my seat."

 

I'm not necessarily blown away by any of these tracks--they're probably not going to go down as favorites in his catalog for me--but they're all quite enjoyable. On the whole, this EP kind of confirms what I expected from this project: he's going to go in a lot of different directions and give us all of the different sides of his sound. "Moving On" could be a Continuum b-side, "Love on the Weekend" sounds like Battle Studies, and "Changing" and "You're Gonna Live Forever in Me" both feel like extensions of his Born and Raised/Paradise Valley chapter. "You're Gonna Live Forever In Me" is probably my favorite after a couple listens.

 

Agreed, YGLFIM is definitely the strongest here imo. Not totally blown away but still a very good song.

 

Really? Still haven't listened but I'm shocked to see you say that

 

It's easily the worst group of songs I've heard from him. And I haven't listened to Paradise Valley in years. Disappointing, especially coming out with 4 songs a month ... and this was what he led with? Meh, not boding well for the year.

 

Yikes. Now I'm even more interested...

 

My expectations for Mayer are sky high ... these sound like songs he wrote 10 years ago and never got around to releasing. Not a fan of this on first listen at all. And not a fan of the 4 song release strategy. Disjointed, discombobulated, and oddly boring.

 

Haven't listened to this yet, but I have high hopes. John Mayer is probably the most influential musician of the past decade (followed closely by the 1975) for me personally, and unfortunately I haven't really been in love with an album of his since Continuum. I didn't love "Love on the Weekend" on first listen, and I was a bit worried, but after a couple of reasons it's really, really clicked with me, and now it's one of my favorites of his.

 

Yeah, I'm not sold at all on the release schedule, seems like almost an impossible thing to pull off. That said, if I like the songs I won't care as much.

 

I love the first three songs, not as into "Chris Martin writes a Pixar song" but even that's solid. I'll be very happy with the release schedule if we do get it every month.

 

I really like "Changing" a lot - the other 3 are fine.

 

Totally agree. I've been on a huge John Mayer kick this past week in anticipation of this, going through his entire discography several times. Paradise Valley still is kind of boring compared to the rest, and this new EP? Huge disappointment. Really dull.

 

I love all the songs. Moving on is my favorite. The solo on changing was rewarding. I think this batch was definitely a "safe" batch of songs, and we had love on the weekend for a few months now, so we really only got 3 songs. Looking forward to next month and some jams!

 

I did not think about Chris Martin at all during "Live Forever," haha. Interesting to me he's been brought up twice.

 

I fucking loved this.. ESPECIALLY the last song. It might be my favorite.

1. You're Gonna Live Forever in Me
2. Moving On and Getting Over (love what he did with the overdubbed vocals)
3. Love on the Weekend
4. Changing

Excited for the next batch

 

Really? I think he sounds almost identical at the beginning, even the melody sounds like something he'd write, especially the little thing he does at the end of "it all ends unfortunately".

 

There's a color to Chris Martin's voice that I just find very distinctly different from John's voice.

EDIT: That song did kind of remind me of Randy Newman, though, so I think you're actually more on track with the "Pixar song" bit. Haha

 

Yeah, you can still tell it's John but the way he's singing just reminds me a ton of Chris Martin. I think the melody may be adding to it though. I get a big Pixar vibe too, ha.

 

I'll have to listen again with Chris in mind. Just didn't make that particular connection the first few times through.

 

"did you just get my name wrong? Did you not see that I started this fire?"

 

I can see YGLFIM in the next Toy Story film, definitely feeling them Randy Newman vibes. Just wish I was into Changing as much as I was with this one.

 

I've heard Chris Martin in other JM songs as well. A face to call home definitely has Coldplay vibes.

 

Just trying to make sense of this. He's the most influential musician of the past decade for you, but you haven't loved an album of his since a decade ago?

 

This is just ok. The opener is pretty great, but the rest--aside from the solo in Changing--are sorta forgettable. Hoping it'll grow on me.