Continuum (album)
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Continuum is the third major label studio album from John Mayer and was officially released in the United States on September 12, 2006. It marked a change in Mayer's musical style, and incorporated blues and rhythm and blues elements more heavily than before. He was heavily involved in the production of the album, along with fellow musician Steve Jordan.
Continuum was played live and broadcast on radio several times prior to its release. The album reached the top ten of the charts in several countries, and remained on the Billboard 200 in the US for more than a year, eventually reaching double platinum certification in that country. Critical response to the album was largely positive and helped to solidify Mayer's standing as a leading guitarist of his generation. The album garnered three 2007 Grammy Award nominations, and won two: Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the single, "Waiting on the World to Change". The single "Belief" was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Awards in the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category.
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[edit] Background and production
[edit] Album
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With any trilogy, the third in the series blows it open.
—John Mayer, 2006[2]
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Mayer made the decision to name his third album Continuum at least a year before the album was released. In his column in the April 2005 issue of Esquire, Mayer wrote, "I'm obsessed with time lately, constantly crunching the numbers to get some sense of where I stand in the continuum."[3] In his column in the September 2005 issue of Esquire he confirmed the title, writing, "I've never experienced anything like the recording process involved in making Continuum, my third-album-to-be.[4]
The album features mainly new songs, though "Gravity" and "Vultures" are available in live versions from John Mayer Trio's Try!, and "Bold as Love", which is a Jimi Hendrix cover: the first Hendrix cover that Mayer has ever recorded as a studio release (although Mayer has recorded other Hendrix songs over time in live settings such as "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Wait Until Tomorrow"). (Mayer had played "Bold as Love" live many times prior to the release of Continuum such as on the televised Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope which aired on January 15, 2005.) The album contains a collaboration between Mayer and 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter on the tune "In Repair". The song "Stop this Train" was written during a time of, what Mayer calls, "solitary refinement;" He was in bed suffering from double kidney stones, and living in a hotel while finding a new residence.[5]
[edit] Cover art
The word "Continuum" is showcased across the center. The typography for the title was customized to give the letters "C" and "o" the appearance of an infinity symbol: ∞. Many of the following letters touching in some way. The second "u"'s right vertical line leading as the left vertical line of the "m" in the title.
The album has been released several times with slight differences in the artwork. The three major releases are of a photo of Mayer, a silver cover with a white title, and a Local 83 only version (which included a silver bag), respectively. The first features a dark grayscale photograph of Mayer with the title near the top; another is identical except for "featured" centered across the top. Some versions feature only a CD. In these cases, the album features Mayer on the cover. When the album is packaged with a jewel casing, the inside cover is all white with the "Continuum" logo printed very faintly onto it. The basic CD is white with off-white letters that slides into a slipcase of a deep gray with lettering in light gray and blue/green. During the pre-order, it appeared as though there would be a different variation of said artwork on a special edition version, and it turned out that the "special packaging" was a shiny silver bag which held inside it the CD and the pre-order bonuses. All artworks were designed by Mayer along with Smog Design, Inc. The inside of the CD sleeve includes photographs, some taken by Mayer, such as of the studio (where Mayer's handwriting is seen displaying "*this is what my heart looks like*"), of a Ferris wheel where the photograph has Mayer's handwriting imposed over the top featuring the lyrics to his songs. There is also a photograph of Mayer with Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan (the three who comprise the John Mayer Trio) on a beach. The CD sleeve features the lyrics to all of Continuum's songs. With both Heavier Things and Room for Squares, there were incongruencies with the lyrics in the sleeves when compared with the albums; however, the Continuum lyrics are all printed exactly as recorded on the album.
The UK version of Continuum features a photograph of Mayer on the cover. This cover was used for promotional releases, such as when Mayer performed live on Australian television program Rove Live, the alternate cover was presented for television by the show's host Rove McManus.
In November 2007, a special edition of Continuum was released. The cover for the special edition features a grey off-white colour in the background and silver text for the title, worth the Columbia Records logo in black instead of white, however the line "Music by John Mayer" remains in the same teal colour as from the regular release. The layout of the cover is the same.
[edit] Promotion and release
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By the time of release, Mayer had performed almost all of the songs live at least once, either with a full band or alone in an acoustic set during the Hotel Cafe shows from the previous winter. On August 23, 2006, the entire Continuum album was played on Los Angeles radio station STAR 98.7, with the segment hosted by Mayer himself.[6] He repeated the event for different media outlets several more times before the album's September release, such as "Sneak Peek" through Clear Channel Music; he also performed three songs live for Sessions@AOL.[7] Subsequently, the album was made available for streaming on Clear Channel Music website and for pre-purchase on iTunes, all prior to the album's official release. The iTunes pre-release included the exclusive bonus track, "Can't Take That Plane".
A limited edition EP of "Waiting on the World to Change" was released featuring the album version of the song. The EP includes a bonus acoustic version which features Ben Harper, as well as a studio recording of "Good Love is on the Way", a live version of which was released on the John Mayer Trio's Try!. The Ben Harper version of "Waiting on the World to Change" and an alternative acoustic-only version of "Good Love is on the Way" are also available on Mayer's subsequent release, the EP The Village Sessions.
The first single, "Waiting on the World to Change," was released on July 11, 2006. The music video for the song was directed by Philip Andelman and features Mayer walking along the East River while graffiti artists Futura, Tats Cru, and Daze graffiti messages on New York City billboards displaying messages relating to the song's content. On February 22, 2007, Continuum's second single, "Gravity", entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #71, joining the already charting "Waiting on the World to Change", making for two Continuum singles on the Hot 100 at the same time. It was featured in the soundtrack for the television series House in 2008. "Waiting" entered the Billboard's Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart at #63. It has sold 68,115 in digital downloads since its release. Mayer performed the single at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards with fellow musicians Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend. "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" is the third official single release from Continuum, and was released for ads at Hot AC and Triple A radio on July 9, 2007.
On November 20, 2007, a special edition of Continuum was released that included a bonus disc of six live tracks and a 20-page booklet containing photos from the tour. Five of the songs are live versions of tracks from Continuum, including all of its singles. A sixth song, "I Don't Need No Doctor", was originally performed by Ray Charles; Mayer previously performed the song as part of his set with the John Mayer Trio. The single "Say" (from The Bucket List soundtrack) was also made available on the CD through an online download unlock function.[8] The tracks were produced by Mayer's engineer Chad Franscoviak.
The album was reissued on Columbia Records on April 8, 2008, with the single "Say" being added directly on the disc.[9] A vinyl lp version of this reissue was also released, on two 180-gram discs.
[edit] Reception
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[edit] Critical
Critical response to the album was generally favorable, and the album received a Metacritic rating of 67. Matt Collar, with Allmusic, remarked, "Continuum is a gorgeously produced, brilliantly stripped-to-basics album that incorporates blues, soft-funk, R&B, folk and pop in a sound that is totally owned by Mayer."[10] Rolling Stone magazine called the album "a smart, breezy album that deftly fuses his love for old-school blues and R&B with his natural gift for sharp melodies and well-constructed songs."[11] The magazine also selected Continuum as the eleventh best album of 2006 in its February 2007 issue.[12] Less glowingly, Stylus Magazine said that Mayer "calmly circles the same career themes with the same warmed-over, palatable guitar weavings."[13] Much critique was directed towards Mayer's change in musical direction; praising the effort, Bryan Borzykowski with NOW magazine remarked, "[Mayer's] melodic voice, warm production, complex riffs and thoughtful lyrics should cure the violent reactions Mayer's name used to evoke."[14] However, Jeff Vrabel, with Billboard, felt differently, saying, "It's still hard to tell if [Mayer's] a bluesman in a soft-rocker's body or vice versa, and Continuum is the sound of him trying to figure it out, too."[15]
The album contributed to Mayer's reputation in the music community as one of the rising guitar stars of his generation. Allmusic said, "It's no stretch when trying to describe the sound of Continuum to color it in the light of work by such legends as Sting, Eric Clapton, Sade, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Steve Winwood." Mayer began appearing on lists of top guitar players. He was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone's "New Guitar Gods" issue in February 2007, along with John Frusciante and Derek Trucks, and the magazine nicknamed him "Slowhand, Jr.," a reference to Eric Clapton. He was among those featured in Q's August 2007 article, "Guitar Heroes."
[edit] Commercial
Continuum debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #2 with 300,186 copies sold.[16] It never reached #1, impeded by the Justin Timberlake album FutureSex/LoveSounds, which was released at the same time. To date,[when?] Continuum has sold 2,272,747 copies [17] in the U.S. and is Mayer's third consecutive multi-platinum selling studio album. It stayed in the top 100 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for 50 weeks (37 of those weeks were in the top 50).
Worldwide, it has moved more than 3 million copies.[citation needed] In Canada, the album debuted at #2 on the official Albums Chart and is certified platinum for sales of 100,000 copies. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Continuum was the fourth best selling digital album for 2006 in Canada. With no lead single in Australia, Continuum debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart at #12,[18] his lowest debut in Australia to date (Room for Squares debuted at #5 and Heavier Things at #4). Continuum was the ninety-eighth best selling album for 2006 on the ARIA (ARIA) Albums Chart. It has been certified gold by ARIA for sales of 35,000 copies and had stayed on ARIA's Top 100 Albums chart for 34 weeks before exiting the chart. Continuum held the record for the most album downloads in history with over 326,000 copies downloaded until June 29, 2008, when it was surpassed by the Coldplay album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.
On February 22, 2007, the lead single, "Waiting on the World to Change", peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, where it stayed for a forty-one weeks.[19] To date in the U.S., the single has sold 1,632,137 in digital downloads, and was certified platinum by the RIAA when it crossed the one-million mark in sales. After a month of release, the single peaked at #17 on the Australian ARIA Top 40 Digital Track Chart on November 19, 2006.
[edit] Charts and certifications
| Chart (2006) | Providers | Peak position |
Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard 200 Albums Chart (U.S.) | Billboard | 2[16] | 2x Platinum | 2,272,747 |
| Billboard Comprehensive Albums (U.S.) | Billboard | 2[20] | ||
| Billboard Digital Albums (U.S.) | Billboard | 1[21] | 326,000 | |
| Billboard Internet Albums (U.S.) | Billboard | 3[22] | 326,000 | |
| Billboard Top Rock Albums (U.S.) | Billboard | 1[23] | ||
| Australian Albums Chart | ARIA | 12 | Gold | 35,000+ |
| Canadian Albums Chart | Nielsen SoundScan | 2[24] | Platinum | 100,000+ |
| UK Albums Chart | BBC | 47[25] | 20,000+ | |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | RIANZ | 9 | Gold | 7,500+ |
| Denmark Top 40 Albums Chart | IFPI Danmark & ACNielsen | 24 | ||
| Netherlands Top 100 Albums Chart | GfK Mega Charts | 12 |
[edit] Track listing
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
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| 1. | "Waiting on the World to Change" | John Mayer | 3:21 | ||||||
| 2. | "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" | Mayer | 4:52 | ||||||
| 3. | "Belief" | Mayer | 4:02 | ||||||
| 4. | "Gravity" | Mayer | 4:05 | ||||||
| 5. | "The Heart of Life" | Mayer | 3:19 | ||||||
| 6. | "Vultures" | Mayer, Steve Jordan, Pino Palladino | 4:11 | ||||||
| 7. | "Stop This Train" | Mayer | 4:45 | ||||||
| 8. | "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" | Mayer | 4:02 | ||||||
| 9. | "Bold As Love" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover) | Jimi Hendrix | 4:18 | ||||||
| 10. | "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" | Mayer | 4:07 | ||||||
| 11. | "In Repair" | Mayer, Charlie Hunter | 6:09 | ||||||
| 12. | "I'm Gonna Find Another You" | Mayer | 2:43 | ||||||
| 50:00 | |||||||||
| 2008 reissue | |||||||||
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| # | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Say" | Mayer | 3:49 | ||||||
| 53:51 | |||||||||
| 2007 edition bonus disc | |||||||||
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| # | Title | Writer(s) | Live details | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Vultures" | Mayer, Jordan, Palladino | Charter One Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, June 28, 2007 | 5:40 | |||||
| 2. | "Belief" | Mayer | U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 26, 2007 | 6:04 | |||||
| 3. | "Waiting on the World to Change" | Mayer | Verizon Center, Washington, D.C., July 25, 2007 | 3:39 | |||||
| 4. | "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" | Mayer | Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California, June 10, 2007 | 4:15 | |||||
| 5. | "I Don't Need No Doctor" (Ray Charles cover) | Joseph Armstead, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson | Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa, June 18, 2007 | 5:54 | |||||
| 6. | "Gravity" | Mayer | Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, July 1, 2007 | 10:20 | |||||
| 36:43 | |||||||||
[edit] Personnel
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[edit] Awards and recognition
On December 7, 2006, Continuum was nominated for three Grammys. Including these, Mayer earned five nominations, in total – one nomination for Best Rock Album for Try! with the John Mayer Trio and another for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Route 66" from the Cars motion picture soundtrack. The album's lead single, "Waiting on the World to Change", was nominated and won in the category for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Continuum won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album.
| Year | Award | Category |
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| 2007 | Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards |
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| 49th annual Grammy Awards |
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| Preceded by Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson |
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album 2007 |
Succeeded by Back to Black by Amy Winehouse |
[edit] References
- ^ John Mayer and Steve Jordan discuss the writing and recording process.
- ^ "John Mayer Biography". John Mayer Official Website. http://www.johnmayer.com/bio. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
- ^ No byline (2005). "Mayer hints at the album title" Esquire.com (prior to the title's announcement) (accessed March 16, 2007)
- ^ Mayer writes in his Esquire Column that he intends to name his third album Continuum.
- ^ Mahoney, Lesley (October 24, 2008) "John Mayer: Converting Information to Inspiration", Berkley.edu (Retrieved 2008-11-02)
- ^ Mayer, John (2006-08-04). "Continuum First Listen". John Mayer Official Blog. http://www.johnmayer.com/blog#83. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
- ^ "John Mayer World Premiere of Continuum". Star 98.7 FM. http://www.star987.com/pages/as_heard_on_star.html?feed=128743&article=643225#. Retrieved 2006-08-25.
- ^ JohnMayer.org staff (November 14, 2007). ("CONTINUUM (SPECIAL EDITION) TO BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 20; INCLUDES 6 LIVE TRACKS AND NEW SINGLE, "SAY"" JohnMayer.com Retrieved 2007-11-19
- ^ John Mayer Continuum Reissue, news.jamradio.org, March 26, 2008, Retrieved March 27, 2008
- ^ Collar Matt (2007). "Review" Allmusic (accessed August 14, 2007)
- ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (September 21, 2006). "Album Reviews" Rolling Stone volume unknown:81
- ^ No byline (2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2006" Rolling Stone (accessed March 16, 2007)
- ^ McGarvey, Evan (2006-09-25). "Continuum"
- ^ Borzykowski, Bryan (September 14-20, 2006). "Reviews" NOW 26:2
- ^ Vrabel, Jeff (2006). "Continuum" Billboard.com (accessed August 14, 2007)
- ^ a b "The Billboard 200". Billboard Magazine. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=The+Billboard+200.
- ^ www.soundscan.com
- ^ "ARIA Album Charts". http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1A50. Retrieved 2006-09-25.
- ^ "The Hot 100". Billboard Magazine. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=The+Billboard+Hot+100.
- ^ Billboard.com Top Comprehensive Albums 2006-09-21
- ^ Billboard.com Top Digital Albums 2006-09-21
- ^ Billboard.com Top Internet Albums 2006-09-21
- ^ Billboard.com Top R&B/Hip-HopAlbums 2006-09-21
- ^ "Gold & Platinum". Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). April 2007. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0407_g.php. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ Yahoo Charts
[edit] External links
- John Mayer Trio Returns to The Village Recorder, from ZioShow.com
- Continuum at Metacritic
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