Make sure to don a bullet-proof vest and helmet as you dive headfirst into John Mayer’s fourth album, Battle Studies, released on Nov. 17. Eleven tracks, mostly mid-tempo rock ballads, chronicle the tumultuous story of a love affair that is doomed to end in heartbreak and confusion. During a live performance in June 2009, Mayer described the new album as a “heartbreak handbook.”

He should be an expert on heartbreak after experiencing love’s ups and downs with ex-girlfriend, actress Jennifer Aniston, whom he began dating in April 2008. They broke up for the first time in August, began dating again in October and finally called it quits in March of this year.
But don’t feel too bad for Mayer. He seems to be enjoying the single life according to his fifth track, “Perfectly Lonely.” “I’m perfectly lonely, yeah/’Cause I don’t belong to anyone/Nobody belongs to me/That’s the way that I want it.”

The first track on the album, “Heartbreak Warfare,” sets up the battle motif that reappears in later tracks on the album, including “Assassin” and “War of My Life.” Despite the violent nature of these songs, the mid-tempo and acoustic components allow Mayer’s listeners to appreciate both the sultriness of his voice, which uniquely combines rock, pop, and blues influences, and the poetry of his lyrics.

Fans can fully empathize with Mayer as he strains to break free of an addictive but damaging relationship doomed to fail. “You get in, you get done and then you get gone/You never leave a trace or show your face, you get gone/Should’ve turned around and left before the sun came up again/But the sun came up again,” he sings in “Assassin.”

The first single and fourth track of the album, “Who Says,” was officially released on Oct. 13. However, it is nowhere near the best song on the record. It is decent, but certainly doesn’t push boundaries or fully display Mayer’s range as an artist. Also, the lyrics are far less poetic and creative than are the lyrics of many other tracks on the album. In stereotypical, laid-back, John Mayer fashion, Mayer asks in the first few lines of the song, “Who says I can’t get stoned?/Turn off the lights and the telephone/Me and my house alone/Who says I can’t get stoned?” These lyrics promote the negative, media-perpetuated image of Mayer as shallow and egotistical rather than talented and dynamic. Fans and music critics alike will be much more satisfied with later tracks such as “Assassin” or “Edge of Desire” that have unique, complex sounds and meaningful lyrics.
Mayer has really developed as an artist with this album. Appearing on the Australian morning show “Sunrise,” Mayer admits it is somewhat difficult to listen to himself on his first album, Room For Squares: he hears a “breathy, half-cooked, half-sing, half-talked sort of voice.” Mayer is much more satisfied with the maturity of his voice on Battle Studies. He’s finally found a solid sound and identity.

Mayer is currently touring the United States, Canada, and Great Britain to promote Battle Studies. Be sure to catch him when he comes to Verizon Center on Feb. 20, 2010. See the official Web site, www.johnmayer.com for more details.