I’m in his target market (white, upper middle class, college students), but I’m appalled by the hordes of people jumping on this guy’s bandwagon. Damnit, is he a horrible musician. Uninspired and clichéd harmonies, bad singing voice, weak stage presence (he looks ill), and banal, boring subject matter: 20-something angst. Who the hell wants to hear some rich boy, Berkely student who can barely handle a guitar rasp about how tough it is to live the good life. What a jackass.
Kids today will listen to anything. There is no incentive for record labels to even make an attempt at living up to the music of the last 50 years. Goodbye John Lennon, hello John Mayer. ::massive groan::
Yeah, I can’t figure out what this guy did to deserve the massive media push that he’s getting. I guess I’m glad to see more singer/songwriters get time on MTV, but surely there are more worthy individuals. He’s kind of like Dave Matthews, but without the distinctive voice and exotic instrumentation.
I’ll totally back you up here–John Mayer is terrible. I thought I’d give him a chance, even though I hated that song about running through my high school screaming that the real world was a lie (oookay.) So I listened to a bunch of his other stuff and it all sucks.
Snooooopy’s right. There are a ton more singer songwriters who deserve more accolades than weak-ass John Mayer. David Gray (who needs to come out with a new album), David Garza, Badly Drawn Boy, etc.
Hey I like him. I only know the one song- Real World, is that what it’s called, but I like listening to it. It’s no different from any of the other songs on the radio, but it’s fun, IMHO. The good life is a lot harder than it looks, man.
No doubt people living the good life have their problems, but can’t they keep their complaints to themselves? There is poverty, hunger, and oppression home and abroad and this guy is whining that its tough turning 25 when you’re rich and white, and not even doing it well.
As for it sounding like any other song on the radio, should that be considered a good thing? What ever happened to artistic integrity, creativity, and talent?
yeah I know, I know. Guilty pleasure, I guess. I don’t know, I guess I was just asking why this song in particular, it seems pretty innocuous. Or does Mr. Mayer just appear a lot worse when you hear other songs of his in concert?
He is actually a pretty fair guitarist (I’ve seen him live). That goofy raspy whisper that is his voice is not good. (I guess they say that about Dylan too, but at least he’s a lyrical and musical force).
i was going to check out his album, cause i like that song “No such thing” but haven’t heard anything else. maybe i shouldn’t now, since the things im reading here make sense.
David Grey’s music sounds like GayDisco, so if you think Mayer is worse than him, that is a bad thing indeed.
OK, it’s 14 years later and he’s playing in Dead and Co., doing a fine job, IMHO. Was never a fan of his own stuff, but as a Deadhead, I find that he’s killing it with the boys. Opinions?
Whenever I hear his stuff I can’t help remember the Dave Chappell skit where he shows how White People really can “groove”-- you only need to play the right kind of music-- and he brings John Mayer’s music into a corporate board room. Grooving ensues! Throw in a little Snow Patrol, and who knows what can happen!!
So tell us cainxinth, Who’s on the top of your list?
Mayer’s done a good job fooling people who don’t know talent. That Clapton guy’s been fooled twice inviting Mayer to perform at his Crossroads Festivals.
Mayer unfortunately got stuck with the “pop” label after his High School song got chart numbers. If I can fault him for anything it’s that he didn’t try hard enough to shed that image. He looked like a teen heartthrob which probably put pressure on him from his producers. Because of that he seems to try to dance a line between pop and serious guitar work. He should have picked one or the other. I wish he had chucked the pop and stuck with journeyman guitar themes.
I can understand somebody not liking his style given his indecision on which crowd he wants to please but when you say he’s a bad musician I can only assume you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
Agreed. I’ve always had a distaste for his own music, but I saw him at Citifield with Dead and Co this weekend and he did a great job with the Dead material.
Agree too. Just saw him for the first time last week near Philly. I’d watch him play Dead tunes any day. I found myself wishing he would sing more. He might have a nicer voice than Bobby for some of the Jerry songs.
(I must confess, though, that I don’t know his own music very well.)
