| Product Summary | | Label: Sony | | UPC: 00828767901923 | | Release Date: 9/12/2006 | | Buy.com Sku: 202893862 | | Item#: M357HH | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 26588 | Format:  CD |
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(C) (P) 2006 Aware Records LLC
| | "With any trilogy," says John Mayer, "the third in the series blows it open."
On Continuum the singer/songwriter/guitar slinger meets that challenge head-on. Mayer's third studio album marks his first turn as producer. It is his most soulful, cohesive collection yet and he says it's no accident that this project is where all of his efforts, his potential, and his disparate influences fully come together. He has collaborated with icons and contemporaries alike - Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Herbie Hancock, as well as Kanye West and Alicia Keys. In doing so, Mayer says his own interests have grown and his perspectives expanded.
Mayer also credits his collaboration with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino (collectively known as the John Mayer Trio) with helping to recalibrate his musical priorities. “If it wasn't for the Trio, Continuum would have been less accessible. It let me settle up with my needs as a musician, and get to a point somewhere between the Trio record and Room For Squares - and that's a really good place to be."
Ultimately, Continuum represents maturity, both musically and thematically, for John Mayer – a concept that he wasn't comfortable with until now. "A lot of these songs are about coming to terms with getting older," he says.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: John Mayer (vocals); John Mayer (guitar); Pino Palladino (vocals, electric bass, background vocals); Steve Jordan (vocals, drums, percussion); Sandy Vongdasy, Harley Pasternak, Maggie Slavonic, Ricky Cytonbaum, Scotty Crowe, Kristen Moss (vocals); Ben Harper (guitar); Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar); Willie Weeks (electric bass); Steve Jordan (drums, percussion, background vocals); Manolo Badrena (percussion); Chalmers "Spanky" Alford, James Valentine (guitar); Lannie McMIllian (tenor saxophone); Jim Mahorn (baritone saxophone); Ben Carley (trumpet); Jack Hale (trombone); Roy Hargrove (horns); Ricky Peterson (piano, keyboards); Lester Snell (Fender Rhodes piano, organ); Larry Goldings (organ, keyboards); Jamie Muhoberac (keyboards). | | Audio Mixers: Manny Marroquin; Michael Brauer. | | Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY; Right Track Recording, New York, NY; Royal Studios, Memphis; The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA. | | Photographers: John Mayer ; Sam Erickson; Mark Seliger; Chad Franscoviak. | | John Mayer's progression as an artist has been an intriguing one. The move from his acoustic folk debut INSIDE WANTS OUT to the electric pop of his breakthroughs, ROOM FOR SQUARES and HEAVIER THINGS, showed him to be a singer, guitarist, and songwriter of range as well as commercial durability. Mayer then confounded the critics who dismissed him as a Dave Matthews clone when he released a raw, rootsy, blues-based live album with a trio that featured ace session musicians. | | The horizons of Mayer's musical world continued to expand with 2006's CONTINUUM. Mellow and soulful, yet textured and sophisticated in execution, CONTINUUM incorporates all the elements of the artist's previous releases while raising the bar on craft, musicianship, and tunesmithery. Classic blues, R&B, and soul are the major touchstones here, but Mayer doesn't merely ape his influences; instead he assimilates them into a personal singer-songwriter mode that is as affecting as it is understated. Mid-tempo and downtempo grooves dominate, but the man still has a way with a lilting, folk-tinged melody (as on the lovely "The Heart of Life"). Mayer's deft guitar work and increasingly nuanced singing take center stage on first listen, but it is his heartfelt, beautifully written songs that truly make CONTINUUM shine. |
Producer: John Mayer; Steve Jordan; John Mayer; Steve Jordan |
Engineer: Dave O'Donnell; Joe Ferla; John Alagia; Willie Mitchell; Chad Franscoviak |
Musical Guests | | Ben Harper | | Charlie Hunter | | Roy Hargrove | | Ricky Peterson | | Steve Jordan | | Larry Goldings |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Continuum - John Mayer - CD By: Tom Johnson - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 12/18/2006 5:21 PM | | The album is certainly aimed at the mainstream, and, aside from a few tracks, wisely (for the mainstream, that is) steers clear of the blues that were Try!'s centerpieces....read the full review |
| | Artist Overview | | John Mayer emerged in 2001 as the fresh young face for a new generation of earnest singer-songwriters. While Mayer's work is as confessional, intimate, and acoustic-guitar-based as that of old-schoolers like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, his approach is considerably updated. His rhythmic, often jazzy guitar and vocal style borrow more from Dave Matthews than from any baby-boomer types, and his geek-next-door image made him instantly appealing to teenagers the world over. |
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| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 09/12/2006 | | Original Release Date : 2006 | | Catalog ID : 79019 | | Label : Aware Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00828767901923 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.81)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "His breathy vocals are firmly at the album's center, and the R&B tradition he's mining lends weight to his pop flourishes."Rolling Stone (p.103)
- Ranked #11 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[A] breezy pop-rock record..." Entertainment Weekly (p.71)
- "[A] John Mayer record par excellence: taut, melodic, well sung, impeccably played..." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.108)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "Mayer has written worthy songs of protest, affirmation and hope." Rolling Stone 8 of 10
"Who did you think I was?" John Mayer asked on the opening track of Try!, the live album he released last year as one-third of the John Mayer Trio. He's answered the question eloquently on Continuum, a smart, breezy album that deftly fuses his love for old-school blues and R&B with his natural gift for sharp melodies and well-constructed songs. - Anthony Decurtis
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| | Bio | | | Mayer grew up in Connecticut, learning to play guitar at the age of 13 and graduating to performing at local blues bars. He briefly attended Berklee College Of Music before choosing to strike out in a folk duo. After the rapid demise of this act, Mayer relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where he soon became a regular at songwriters' hangouts such as Eddie's Attic. In 1999, he self-released his debut album Inside Wants Out, a predominantly acoustic collection of his own material. Many of these songs were rerecorded for Room For Squares, including "Back To You", "No Such Thing", the brilliantly ironic "My Stupid Mouth" and "Neon". (Note: This album was reissued in 2002 and charted at 22 on Billboard). Mayer's melodic folk rock drew comparisons to the highly popular Dave Matthews Band, and as a result he was approached by several major labels. He signed a recording contract with the Columbia Records offshoot Aware and began work on his second album with producer John Alagía. Mayer was joined on this full-band recording by David LaBruyere (bass) and Nir Zidkiyahu (drums). Room For Squares proved to be a sleeper hit, and was re-released on the back of Mayer's national tour and the radio success of the single "No Such Thing". The assured quality of this album, both lyrically and musically indicated an artist of considerable talent and promise. A live CD and DVD, Any Given Thursday, consolidated Mayer's growing popularity, and the artist enjoyed further commercial success when the follow-up studio album, Heavier Things, debuted at the top of the US charts in September 2003. It confirmed that Mayer was no passing fancy and is now a major force in the new age of the singer-songwriter genre. At the Grammys in 2005 he won the best song award for "Daughters", an evocative song about parenthood.
Mayer, still a young man, seems to have both maturity and great humour in his songs. Both Eric Clapton and John Scofield have already recognised his talent as a guitarist. In particular, Mayer's lead vocal on "I Don't Need No Doctor' as part of Scofield's tribute to Ray Charles (2005"s That's What I Say) was of particular note, in addition to the fine guitar duel with Scofield on the same track. He also guested on recordings by B.B. King, Herbie Hancock and Buddy Guy; such is Mayer's position with his peers. He debuted the John Mayer Trio in 2005, featuring Pino Palladino (bass) and Steve Jordan (drums). Do not be fooled, this artist is a remarkable talent.
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