Amazon.co.uk Review
Heavier Things should surprise more than a few critics. John Mayer's big-label
debut was a multi-platinum breakthrough success whose sensual anthem "Your Body is a Wonderland" scored him an unlikely Grammy for Best Pop Vocal. That out-of-the-box success--and more than a few critics grousing that Mayer's muse was cloned from
Dave Matthews--primed him for the typical sophomore slump. Instead, Mayer delivers an album whose tone and title suggests a gentle, tongue-in-cheek rebuke to his naysayers. Propelled by the subtle ambitions of an expanded pop-jazz framework (largely courtesy of
Sheryl Crow/
No Doubt producer Jack Joseph Puig), Mayer's breathy vocal tack now suggests a detached, conflicted and significantly less precious incarnation of
Michael Franks. But the way he weds fluid pop hooks to lyrical concerns, whose self-obsessions are undercut by telling dollops of self-deprecation, should clearly draw listeners in, from the my-spirit's-too-smart-for-my-body laments of "Clarity", upbeat single "Bigger than My Body" and bluesy plea "Come Back to Bed" to the cautionary, melodically rich "Daughters" and even the anti-materialist agitpop of "Something's Missing".
--Jerry McCulley
CD Description
'Heavier Things' is the third album but only the second UK release for American singer/songwriter John Mayer. Produced by Jack Jospeh Puig (No Doubt, Black Crowes, Hole) the albumcontinues with the adult contemporary rock sound on previous work. The hook-laden single 'Bigger Than My Body' is also included.