Essential Albums: Continuum

John Mayer's 2006 album Continuum is generally regarded as being his finest work to date. Though 2003's Heavier Things is my personal favourite, Continuum is a fantastically produced album, full of well crafted songs which not only demonstrate Mayer's flair for song writing, but also his undeniable talent for playing a guitar. Whereas Heavier Things touched upon blues in places (most notably on Come Back To Bed), the genre is present throughout on Continuum, backed up with elements of pop and soul.

The soul influence is evident on the politically driven Waiting On The World To Change, an upbeat song which made for a perfect lead single with it's catchy lyrics, complete with an even catchier middle 8 vocal breakdown and guitar solo.
The political theme is also present on Belief, one of the album's strongest tracks, which is powerful both instrumentally and lyrically. Wonderfully melodic guitar hooks are complimented with lines of "Belief is a beautiful armour / But makes for the heaviest sword / Like punching underwater / You never can hit who you're trying for".

Continuum features two tracks - Gravity and Vultures - which appear on Mayer's 2005 live album Try!, recorded as part of the John Mayer Trio (with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, who also feature here). The tracks were rerecorded for Continuum and both translate brilliantly as studio versions.
Gravity in particular is flawless - prior to hearing the final studio recording, I had heard lots of live versions of the song, many featuring amazing extended intros and guitar solos - and compared to how experimental and lengthy these versions often were, I honestly don't think he could have recorded a better studio version of Gravity than what appears on this album. Lyrically, I think Mayer himself does a great job of explaining the themes behind the song in an interview which appears on the Live From Abbey Road TV series: "Gravity is one of the most important song's I've ever written, and it's an experiment for me, in not explaining everything in a song. And that keeps it open for me, so I can address whatever I'm thinking about, on any day that I'm playing Gravity and I can really sing to it because no matter what happens in your life, Gravity is kind of the tune, It's kind of a really universal theme about not falling from whatever rung of grace you're on at the the moment, not losing the happiness, not losing the success.
Temptation, the darkness, all that stuff, that's just the human struggle."

I think Vultures is interesting in the way that it addresses similar issues to that of Gravity. It's a strong, defiant track which is very much reflected in it's instrumentation and lyrics - "Power is made, by power being taken / So I keep on running / To protect my situation". In an interview which took place around the time of the album's release, Mayer said the track was "not about the record business, it's just about everyone but you". However defiant Vultures is, there are lyrics throughout which portray the positive message of the song - "Then I'll come through / Like I do / When the world keeps / Testing me, testing me".

What is worth noting about Continuum, is that the lyrics and themes addressed aren't as optimistic as Heavier Things, or the 2001 debut Room For Squares.
Damaged relationships and heartbreak are a running theme throughout many of the tracks, in particular Dreaming With A Broken Heart and I'm Gonna Find Another You. The most obvious example of this however, is on the Clapton inspired Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, in which beautiful instrumentation compliment Mayer's haunting lyrics - "I'll make the most of all the sadness / You'll be a bitch because you can / You try to hit me just to hurt me / So you leave me feeling dirty / Because you can't understand".

"So scared of getting older / I'm only good at being young" sings Mayer on Stop This Train, an emotionally powerful track, in which he confronts the fear that time is moving forward with no option to stop or go back. With lines of "Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go / One generation's length away / From fighting life out on my own", Mayer's lyrics are hard hitting and unsettling, though the thoughts and anxieties addressed in the song are shared by many of us.

I consider Continuum an essential album as it is consistent throughout. The lyrics and production are solid on all the songs and I feel the track listing is suitably placed too, perfectly conveying the mood and atmosphere of the album as a whole. However, the real beauty in Continuum is how well it works when played live. I attended many of the shows in which Mayer toured with this album and each performance brought exciting live versions of the studio tracks. He experimented with extended intros and guitar solos which always brought a fresh sound to the songs. The setlists had variation too, so each show was always different (though Mayer has always been great with switching up the setlist and playing rare songs, it's still a great perk for hardcore fans who attend multiple shows. It's also refreshing, compared to so many bands who have a standard setlist which they stick to religiously throughout the duration of a tour).

One of my favourite tracks to hear live is I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You). I found the album version to be a grower of a tune, however this song really comes alive when played on tour. On his 2008 tour for example, he had a horn based extended intro, which totally enhanced the seductiveness of the track. Another live version of the track, from his 2007 Austin City Limits performance, features an extended guitar intro, which gradually evolves into the main body of the song.

These tracks have to be heard to be fully appreciated, so below I have included a selection of my favourite songs from Continuum. Some of the tracks are the studio recordings from the album, the rest are live versions taken from various performances.

(Videos after the jump)