Born & Raised: A Non-Review Revisited

I mentioned in yesterdays post that I had something entirely different written but couldn't bring myself to post it. 

But after receiving a few requests to read what I had originally wrote and after rolling the idea of posting it around in my head, I've decided to just go for.

Here's the deal......it's not entirely about Mayer's new album. I mean it is, but it isn't.

Music is one of the most important things in my world. When it comes to music I am bitchy. Catty. Judgmental. Opinionated. Obsessive. Passionate.

I can't play an instrument (well) to save my life. I sing out of tune. And will never be a musician.

But I love it. It feeds my soul. It lifts me up when I am down. It brings me tears when I can't shed them on my own. It provides the soundtrack to my life. It's a part of who I am and no matter how crazy I sound when I talk about it, for better or for worse it helps to define who I am.

So there is your disclaimer. Proceed at your own risk I suppose.

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I absolutely adore Born and Raised but I don't feel like it's an album for the masses.

One of my biggest frustrations with the music industry is that there is no (little) room for experimentation. Once you have a hit, that's it! That's your role. You churn out what helped you succeed and heaven help you if you try to grow as an artist or try sometime new. The music industry doesn't have time for new or innovative. We are consumers seeking instant gratification and are onto the next best thing before an artist is able to establish their roots (i.e. a fan base). I know this doesn't apply to every musician, band, performer, but seriously--turn on the radio and tell me how many established artists are in rotation. 

Leading up to today, I avoided all reviews, press, reviews, interviews and even discussions with friends about the album. I didn't want my first listen to be clouded by what anyone else thought of the album or what anyone thought of his intentions or motivations for the songs. I didn't want to read how this album may or may not be like his previous releases or that he was channeling his inner Bob Dylan or that the sappy love songs (i.e. Your Body Is A Wonderlandish song) were missing or whatever.  I just wanted to experience the album in my own space on my own terms. 

It seems like an odd choice, but my first listen to the album was during my morning run but for me, it was the perfect environment--just me, the music and an open road and not a single distraction in sight. Perfection.

Of all his albums, this one is the most honest. The most introspective album yet--gone (or at least seems to be gone) are the songs/lyrics of an angry/frustrated young man trying to fight his way through a (love) life where the rules are constantly changing with the tides of public opinion. There is a maturity in not only the lyrics but also musically.

On the surface though, none of that really comes through. It doesn't sound like "Mayer". It doesn't sound or feel like any of his previous albums. This is album you have to digest. You need to listen to the words, to what he is really saying for it to sink in. It's raw and simplistic in the most complicated of ways. This album showcases his talents as a songwriter. As a storyteller.  It's absolutely amazing.

The Age of Worry literally stopped my in my tracks. Besides feeling a little bit an anthem, it  was like a punch to the gut. A reminder that sometimes you're stronger than you give yourself credit for and that this life is your own. You have to find peace within yourself for yourself. No one else (nothing else) is going to do that for you. 

That feeling stayed with me through the whole album. 

Born & Raised, the title track from the album brought me to tears--this, unlike any other song (for me at least) seemed to put Mayer's life into perspective and I don't know that I've ever recover from that. Walter Grace's Submarine Test: January 1967 reminded me of my favorite poem by William Carlos Williams and absolutely broke my heart. Speak For Me kind of sums up in three minutes and forty-five seconds how I feel about the music industry and made me giggle. Sometime Like Olivia made me smile because I think we are all in one way or another searching for our own version of Olivia.

Born & Raised: A Non-Review

 

Leave it to John Mayer to send me into tears first thing this morning while running.

Today was album release day. A very exciting day for those of us awaiting the release of Mayer's new album Born & Raised.

I had this whole giant "Gosh darnit I love this album!" post ready to go but then couldn't pull the trigger to post it. *sigh* Ridiculous, I know.

Here's the thing. I listened to this album all day. I listened to it on my run this morning. All day at work. And now all evening at home, trying to figure how to put in my own words what I think about Mayer's new release. And all I keep coming up with are over enthusiastic, single words with lots of exclamation points to describe the dang thing: Amazing. Refreshing. Brilliant. Moving. Honest. Pure. Genius. I could go on but I won't for fear that I end up sounding like a thesaurus.

I can say this.....The Age of Worry brought me to tears on my run as did the title track Born & Raised. Walter Grace's Submarine Test: January 1967 broke my heart. Speak For Me made me giggle and Sometime Like Olivia made me smile.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sometimes music strikes a chord (no pun intended) and hits you at just the right time. That's how I feel about this album. And for the life of me, I can't explain why. I'm sure part of it has been the overwhelming feelings of "being lost" lately and so many of these songs (at least to me) are about searching for something, searching for yourself, who you are and who you thought you were/supposed to be. This album seems to speaks to those feelings from start to finish. Say what you will, but Mayer has a way with words, cliche as sometimes they may seem. He is able to put together lyrics that resonate with me and how I am feeling. I feel like I could hand someone his words and say "This! This is what I want you to know!" and they'd get it. I know that makes little to no sense at all, but sometimes the music speaks for me. And that's what this album is for me. A voice for a soul searching for something that is barely out of reach.

So line on up, and take your place And show your face to the morning Cause one of these days you'll be born and raised And it all comes on without warning.......

Music Monday: Shadow Days

I have done absolutely EVERYTHING I can to avoid any talk, review and/or preview of John Mayer's new album, Born & Raised which comes out tomorrow(!!!!!!!).

Why when all I have done for the last two years is complain that he needs to put out new music?

I'm a big believer that albums are meant to be listened to all the way through as a whole. Not broken up my singles that are ready made for radio or individual songs that were just thrown in for filler. And whether or not that's how he produces his albums, for me, that's how Mayer's albums listen. They tell a story from beginning to end. A progression of life lessons.

Tomorrow morning when I queue the album up for my run, when I listen to it for the first time, I don't want anyone elses thoughts about it in my head. I don't want to know that a song doesn't resonate with someone else or that he's channeling another artist or that this album is a big departure from his previous releases or whatever anyone else is saying about it. It's just unnecessary noise that I don't want in my head.

So, in honor of tomorrow release of Born and Raised, I leave with his this first single off the album Shadow Days. It took a while for this song to grow on me, but grow on me it has, even sending me into tears a time or two.