Metallica is a WIMP rock band. And yes, I dismiss emo because I’ve heard it and it doesn’t appeal to me.
That’s pretty circular reasoning. It’s one thing not to care, it’s another thing not to care from ignorance. That’s what we’re here to fight, supposedly.
Fair enough, dropzone 
I am a fan of Mayer, although he can be hit and miss.
I think Room for Squares is still my favorite, for a couple of reasons. It seemed pretty fresh to me at the time, and infectious. He brought a lot of energy to it, and it’s always exciting to “discover” a new artist. The songs seemd different enough to catch my ear. He’s not Sgt. Pepper’s different, but within the realm of straight ahead pop, there was more ‘music’ in his stuff than most of what you hear. My picks on the disk are “No Such Thing”, “83”, and “St. Patrick’s Day”.
I think at the time I was most excited by the potential the guy had. He was like 25 years old, and was writing and playing on every song. I picked up a couple other tunes from iTunes (“3x5” and “Love Soon”) and was impressed. I thought, if he doesn’t flame out, and shows some growth, he could be **really ** good.
Next album, I was a little disappointed, but mostly that was just from high expectations. I felt he was indulging the bad aspects of his pop leanings. The guy is sooo earnest in his lyrics, and sometimes the schmatlz creeps in. But, it was clear he was trying new things, trying to grow. OK, “Daughters” is for the little girls, but the acoustic guitar work is quite nice, and the lyrics do have some substance to them. And he’s got Roy Hargrove as a guest (see “Clarity”)!
I skipped the Trio album, but the stuff I heard on the radio was quite different than what was expected. Again, impressed by his trying to stretch.
I just picked up the latest, Continuum, and I am warming to it. At first listen, it seemed a little sleepy. I was looking for that next fresh catchy pop tune, but what I got were a string of grooves. As stated earlier, he’s giving some airtime tohis blues chops. It’s a very credible cover of Hendrix on “Bold Love”, and "Repair’ has got some playing at the end. But so far I’m drawn more to the quieter tunes like “Stop This Train” and “Heart of Life”.
Bottom line, I’m sticking with the guy. I think he’s got talent coming out of his ears, but hasn’t quite found himself yet. Is he a songwriter on par with Paul Simon or a John Lennon? No, but he’s a good stretch above your typical “Ohh Baby, June swoon moon” hacks out there. He hasn’t moved in exactly the direction I wanted him too, but I’m still enjoying each of his albums.
Just to expand, though I don’t know why I’m bothering, I’m willing to compare my musical exploration with that of anybody else. It’s simply not usually aimed at current releases.
Actually, it’s more like, “I’m 52 with three daughters who are 17 and 21. Teenage angst is something I no longer experience firsthand and I experience it secondhand all too much without looking for it. OTOH, some of the crap I listen to is so wimpy as to make James Blount seem butch but my current taste in loud stuff leans toward music that can clear my sinuses.”
Oh, I hear you loud and clear. Emo isn’t my scene anymore, and hasn’t been for 5 or so years. But I was just trying to defend it from misconceptions.
And I also hear you on the loud music. We all need something to clear those damn sinuses.
And lastly, how did James Blunt get involved in this post? That guy makes me you know what pucker up to the size of a pencil point. Definitely (one of) the biggest disappointment(s) in the last few years.