But Wait, There's More...

Currently Listening To :: The Great Indoors :: John Mayer

I hate waking up early, although once I get on the road I'm feeling pretty good. Being the practical person I am, I’ve never seen the appeal in “just cruising”. But as I flew down the highway with my attention levels at just the right pitch to ensure I didn’t end up in a ditch, I felt clearer and more relaxed then I had in a long time. Sure my stomach was telling me what time it was, but as long as I knew that John Mayer was as hungry for success when he released his first EP as I was for food, a strange bond we shared.

Talking like Yoda is not like me, but I bought KFC last night, and Yoda's flogging Pepsi now, and...no KFC doesn't take AMEX either. Perhaps it's a conspiracy to stop us from eating poorly. Or cheaply. Or both.

Room for Squares has been a favourite album of mine for some time now. The number of albums that I can listen to from start to finish and not feel the violent urge to fast forward tracks are few and far between. It makes me wonder exactly what’s going on in apop artists mind...are they happy with the album? Is it a matter of filling the gaps in between radio playlist hits? Or is there a genuine (yet quite possibly misled) belief that their album will have a lead single and at least 2 other follow-ups that will lift them from one hit wonders to legitimate stars…at least for the next few months?

For the record, while I loved "Bigger Then My Body" and "Somethings Missing", I didn't think Heavier Things was a better album then Room for Squares.

Ah, the sophmore slump, that very American term for the failure of a second album to "live up" to the success of the first. Blackstreet. Mos Def. Dilated Peoples. Joss Stone. Erykah Badu. Shit, even N.E.R.D. stuggled. Even if you don't measure success in terms of unit sales, I would still say that a lot of artists struggle after that initial album. The rest are either that good (like The Roots, David Tao and The Foo Fighters) or have struck a Tom Clancy/Dan Brown formula for pumping out likeable sellable sameness (like Nelly, Jamiroquai and Jessica Simpson).

Learning #3: Was I phased that the Thai restaurant I ate at last night was staffed entirely by people who clearly weren't Thai? No. The moral of the story is, if the people in the kitchen look like they should be there, keep your seat. If not, get out before they can ask you "would you like some rice with your pad thai?"

There’s an old saying that everyone has a least one book in them, whether it be a short story or a novel of X proportions (having never read “War and Peace” it seemed just a little crass to mention it). The same I assume, can be said of most recording artists. I think that there’s a place that all musicians can go, a space and time when they can create something that will make a hit. But for the ones who have the ability to make a successful album, not just one good track, well, just like De La Soul said back in '96, Stakes is High.

Because it's not about making music for the local crowds anymore. This is for the radio...