Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…
#5 – Continuum – John Mayer
John Mayer’s third album signaled a shift from the pop-rock of his first two efforts toward a blues and soul sound more consistent with his live shows. It also brought the oft-maligned wunderkind his first taste of widespread critical acclaim.
I was already a big Mayer fan but Continuum solidified him as one of my favorites. I loved the musical direction and more sophisticated songwriting, and the way the album fleshed out his already impressive catalog.
The album’s best-known track are singles ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ and ‘Gravity,’ but for my money those are two of its lower points. I’m much more jazzed by the chill funk of ‘Vultures,’ the delicacy of ‘The Heart of Life,’ and the mournfulness of ‘Dreaming with a Broken Heart.’
One of my favorite Mayer tracks is ‘Stop This Train,’ showing up right in the middle of Continuum. It finds him reckoning with mortality (at just 29 years old), deep into that “quarter life crisis” he mentioned on an earlier album. I particularly like how his rhythmic guitar playing intentionally mimics the chugging of a train.
Continuum was Mayer’s third straight multi-Platinum release and earned him his fourth and fifth Grammys, including one for Best Pop Vocal Album.
No, I’m not color blind
I know the world is black and white
I try to keep an open mind
But, I just can’t sleep on this tonight
[Chorus]
Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But honestly, won’t someone stop this train?
[Verse 2]
Don’t know how else to say it
Don’t want to see my parents go
One generation’s length away
From fighting life out on my own
[Chorus]
Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But honestly, won’t someone stop this train?
[Verse 3]
So scared of getting older
I’m only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun
[Bridge 1]
Had a talk with my old man
Said, “Help me understand”
He said, “Turn 68, you’ll renegotiate”
[Chorus]
“Don’t stop this train
Don’t, for a minute, change the place you’re in
And don’t think I couldn’t ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly, we’ll never stop this train”
[Bridge 2]
Once in a while, when it’s good
It’ll feel like it should
And they’re all still around
And they’re still safe and sound
And you don’t miss a thing
‘Til you cry when you’re driving away in the dark
[Chorus]
Singing, “Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
‘Cause, now, I see, I’ll never stop this train”
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve often given Mayer a hard time, particularly for some of his more inane and repetitive songs, but I do recognize his musical talent, and I get why Continuum is so well-regarded.