I work part time at the music department in a B&N around me, and I have to say that by and large the people who have bought this John Mayer stuff are either really boring or *********************s. It's an interesting phenomenon.
the anger from hang <and many on BS> at all these singer/songwriters is amazing... what is the deal hang? what the hatred towards singer/songwriters/guitar playing musicians?
haha... no i like a lot of songwriters with guitars (Joe Pernice and Elvis Costello are two that are all over my collection)...its just that I think Mayer is a really watered down dave Matthews, its stale and unoriginal.
I still don't get why people rag on Mayer for sounding like Dave Matthews. It's impossible to grow up as a young acoustic guitar player in 90's and not be at least a little influenced by him. Look at all the other young up and coming musicians (Howie Day comes to mind) that have a little Dave feel to them. Only about 4 or 5 of his songs even have much of a Dave sound, mostly the 2 or three that have gone mainstream popular. Most of Mayer's stuff has a more jazzy/blues feel to it. No Such Thing, Your Body is a Wonderland, and 3x5 have a little Dave in them, but for the most part the chords and riffs that Mayer plays are vastly different than the sound you hear from Dave. Not too mention how vastly different their singing styles are. If you get a chance to hear the DVD, listen to Something's Missing, Lenny/Man on the Side, Covered in Rain, City Love, and Back to You. They all have the jazzy electric sound that Mayer has been using a lot more lately.
Richard, have you heard the DVD yet? Something's Missing is absolutely awesome, the whole song you can just feel the electric atmosphere in Birmingham.
call me rich nah, i have not seen the DVD yet but i do have a bunch of live cd's of his stuff from a friend of mine who trades music...
I really have no problem with John Mayer, though I've found most of his fans here are Greeks (very interesting phenomenon). I just don't listen to him because his music seems so bland to me. He's a good musician, decent at what he does, he's just kind of blah.
Saw him last year at Centennial Olympic Park in ATL. He's entertaining, but guitarwise, he's no Michael Hedges, no Leo Kottke, no Pat Metheny. I'll keep my ears open.
There's not a whole lot of Leo Kottke's out there, but personally I think he puts on a better show than either Methey or Kottke, haven't seen Hedges live, so I can't comment on him.
You won't see Hedges- he died a few years ago. I saw him at Vanderbilt in '91, solo show. He was great. I missed his tour with (bassist) Michael Manring, and I regret that to this day. I haven't seen Metheny or Kottke myself. I am constantly in awe of their (album) playing, tho.
I'm really not a big fan of the fingerpicking classical "Esteban" sound, so Kottke really doesn't impress me too much, he sure can play a lot of notes though. Mayer has some pretty amazing solo's in this DVD that really impressed me though, as good as anything Kottke or Metheny have done.
I hope you mean Birmingham, UK...I don't think I can handle the shame of that thing being recorded in my town. Michael Hedges...how I miss that guy. Saw him 7 times in concert. What a genius. His last few albums sucked (Taproot, Road to Return), but everything else was just genius.