Album: Born and Raised
Artist: John Mayer
Release Date: May 22nd 2012
Label: Columbia, Sony Music
Producer: John Mayer, Don Was
Rating: 4/5
Born and Raised is John Mayer’s fifth studio album, and delivers his well-known blues style, however this time with a folk twist. Opening track Queen of California is one of the stand-outs, and sets up the record beautifully, with acoustic guitars, a rich and warm vocal tone, and vocal harmonies reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. The album continues in a similar vein, with tracks such as The Age Of Worry, Speak For Me, and Fool To Love You holding an abundance of acoustic guitars, chanting backing vocals, simple structural patterns, and catchy choruses. Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey bridges the blues and folk gap excellently; it tells a story through well thought-out yet simple lyrics, and demonstrates a typical blues-style harmonica melody, whilst the music and instrumentation stays true to the folk leanings of the album.
The blues element of the record means that there is a place for tracks such as Shadow Days, the first single from Born and Raised. Shadow Days is true to John Mayer’s previous work, particularly that of albums Battle Studies, and Continuum. The title track has that blues twist that holds the essence of the album, whilst the reprise leans more towards the folk style, with magnificently arranged vocal harmonies.
The album as a whole explores both blues and folk styles, however Mayer always manages to find a way to stay true to his own style. Born and Raised is intricate and full of catchy melodies, soulful and smooth vocals, and virtuoso guitar work. The production values of the album are also outstanding; Mayer has proved himself in this respect, as well as behind the microphone and guitar. The vocal, guitar and drum sounds are rich, warm, clean and lively, and the balance of each individual track is very near to perfect. The only thing missing is a distinct lack of bass consistently throughout the album, however the richness in guitar, both in tone and in sheer number of tracks, does well to compensate. Overall, Born and Raised is definitely worth listening to, and fits into his genre and personal style right where it needs to.
Track Listing:
- Queen of California
- The Age of Worry
- Shadow Days
- Speak For Me
- Something Like Olivia
- Born and Raised
- If I Ever Get Around to Living
- Love Is A Verb
- Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967
- Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey
- A Face to Call Home
- Born and Raised (Reprise)
- Fool to Love You
