John Mayer: Sob Rock and a Pink Silver Sky

DrCornelius

I'm a big fan of Greg Koch, probably my favourite guitarist but I'd much rather listen to an album by John Mayer or Clapton as they write better songs, better hooks and dont rely on fretboard wizardry at the expense of a great tune.  I wonder if EC would have gone down that rabbit hole of becoming a better/more developed guitarist his songwriting would have suffered ?

Loobs

Mods: close this thread? 

dazzajl

TINMAN82 said:…….He arguably invented overdriven guitar tone…..

Clapton gets plenty of credit. Let Dave have that one

Offset

dazzajl said:

TINMAN82 said:…….He arguably invented overdriven guitar tone…..

Clapton gets plenty of credit. Let Dave have that one

Dave Davies invented distorted/overdriven guitar tone.  Just sayin' :-)

chrisj1602

People can have opinions of course, but I’d say it’s a fact that Clapton is an above average guitar player.

TINMAN82

chrisj1602 said:

People can have opinions of course, but I’d say it’s a fact that Clapton is an above average guitar player.

That’s my point. We all have preferences. Yeah you might prefer Gilmour or Van Halen. But some things are kind of irrefutable, like that.

Offset

Fair point.  I'll cease and desist.  I appear to be outgunned.

TINMAN82

DrCornelius said:

I'm a big fan of Greg Koch, probably my favourite guitarist but I'd much rather listen to an album by John Mayer or Clapton as they write better songs, better hooks and dont rely on fretboard wizardry at the expense of a great tune.  I wonder if EC would have gone down that rabbit hole of becoming a better/more developed guitarist his songwriting would have suffered ?

And thank goodness Clapton continued to play guitar in service to the music rather than veer off into stunt chicken picking infused with stand up comedy.

EricTheWeary

Offset said:

dazzajl said:

TINMAN82 said:…….He arguably invented overdriven guitar tone…..

Clapton gets plenty of credit. Let Dave have that one

Dave Davies invented distorted/overdriven guitar tone.  Just sayin' :-)

Several people years before Dave Davies including Link Wray and Johnny Burnette. Maybe Davies invented it in terms of the British pop audience. Certainly not Clapton. 

DrCornelius said:

I'm a big fan of Greg Koch, probably my favourite guitarist but I'd much rather listen to an album by John Mayer or Clapton as they write better songs, better hooks and dont rely on fretboard wizardry at the expense of a great tune.  I wonder if EC would have gone down that rabbit hole of becoming a better/more developed guitarist his songwriting would have suffered ?

Clapton has 43 songwriting credits over a nearly 60 year career. I'm not sure how much of his time was actually taken up with it. 

Edit : again, nothing against Clappo but he's never been a major songwriter. 

dazzajl

Of course Dave D wasn’t the first guitarist to turn an amp up and get overdrive. What he’s generally credited with is getting that distorted sound from an amp that wasn’t overdriving. 

And from that he’s the earliest guitarist I can think of in a ‘pop’ band to have defined his own sound. 

TINMAN82

Loobs said:

Mods: close this thread? 

Yes, please do.

Lebarque

Right. Back to Mayer. What an incredible bit of PR and marketing they've done. Like it or not, there's a massive buzz around the new album. Who could have predicted people would be queuing to get bright pink PRS guitars? Even my phone alerted me that Sob Rock had been released (via YouTube music). I don't even use YouTube music. Well done to the suits. I might give it a listen sometime.

Habanero

I’d rather have it than any hiphop or kpop record.

Aornic

Both Clapton and Mayer have enjoyed crossover success in their careers, which has opened them up to criticism from guitar purists. I think Clapton has great tone and feel, best shown in live situations. When I hear a live version of I Shot the Sheriff, I certainly like it far more than Wonderful Tonight. I'm a fan of Peter Green too but it's irksome seeing the comments on his work posted to YouTube that he was far better than Clapton and deserved the success instead. Intense heated comparisons should, but ultimately won't, stop. I wonder if Stevie and Hendrix hadn't died, putting an end to their short careers as forces of nature, at what point would their impact be diluted and dismissed as their careers entered their twilight years. 

mikeyrob73

It was on my ipod when i got to work this morning so thought i would listen again

i do like the guitar solo on Guess i just feel like

mark_jwedge

Over the years I have slowly become a real fan of John Mayer. At the start I just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. I tired listening to his albums several times and they just didn’t grab me.

I saw an interview in Guitatist magazine when his live ‘Where the light is’ album came out and thought I would try again, got the DVD and was just blown away by his playing live. That proved to be my way ‘in’, went to see him a couple of times and loved it, but again mainly the guitar playing.

I went back over his albums and gradually really started to like them.

All his albums have been slow burners with me though and I never really liked any of them on first listen, including sob rock. But gradually I like them more and more. Probably why he has had such longevity with me, rather than something you love on first listen, play it to death and then can’t stand it a year later.

imalrightjack

Habanero said:

I’d rather have it than any hiphop or kpop record.

That’s like saying I’d rather use a cheese grater instead of a Brillo pad on my knob. 

stickyfiddle

There is a significant chunk of both hip hop and K-pop that I’d rather listen to than the new JM record

smogfalls

stickyfiddle said:

There is a significant chunk of both hip hop and K-pop that I’d rather listen to than the new JM record

agreed!

dindude

A few good moments but the new record is pretty disappointing overall, with a few absolute howlers on there too. if I was coming into JM at this point I’d wonder what the hell all the fuss was about. But go back and listen to Continuum / Where the light is - the guy was late 20s and absolutely smashing it, and very successful. Born and Raised that followed is prob my fav album of his. Trust me, I’ve had to go back to remind myself why I’m a fan over the last few albums!

So happy to discuss that this one isn’t up to scratch, but a pile on for those who just don’t get JM,  just move on, it’s not for you, there’s no need to start declaring your love of Kpop to make the point.