A piano introduction to "Dreaming With A Broken Heart" at first brings to mind a less classy version of Norah Jones, and when Mayer chimes in sans guitar I started to wonder what, exactly, he was up to. I need not have worried, as it turned out, as his skills as a vocalist rescue what might have been a mushy oddity of a song; it's an intriguing departure from much of the rest of the album. While the Coldplay-ish "In Repair" is blandly pleasing, the final track, "I'm Gonna Find Another You," ends the disc well with another vintage-sounding, carefully-crafted performance featuring Mayer and a delightfully jazzy brass section; the ending is classic, with his last words dying out over a few simple guitar chords: there's magic to be found in that.
What is notable about Continuum is not that every song impresses; quite a few do not, as should be evident from the above, though this fact is hardly extraordinary among albums in general. Rather, the thrill of hearing — and, in concert, watching — Mr. Mayer do what he so obviously loves, and do it so well, blots out the rough spots with the glint of the studio lights reflecting off his guitar as he strums it feverishly. When Continuum succeeds, it does so spectacularly. That is enough to make it a worthy continuation of Mr. Mayer's musical career and, more significantly, among the best albums released this year.
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1 - The Con (DWD)
I must sincerely disagree with every negative word written about this album. I am not some little girl or some college guy with a guitar trying to get girls, that has been following John around for years now, I am, however, someone who has stumbled upon this album and fell in love. Flipping through the channels one day I saw a preview concert that he did in New York. I couldn't help but immediately download the songs i could emember. I loved them. The songs led me to downloading more new songs and more new songs, and every song i downloaded took me by surprise. Such a sincere artist in the world today deserves respect, and I think that, honestly, anybody could realte to a good majority of the songs on this album, so give it a try.