There's a fine line between clever wordsmith and arrogant smart-a$$. Singer/songwriter
Jason Mraz walked that line rather nicely on his debut album,
Waiting for My Rocket to Come. I fell in love with that album a few years ago, marveling at the fusion of your typical guy-with-an-acoustic guitar folk/pop and some more urban, jazzy, and/or theatrical elements. OK, so maybe at times the guy seemed a little full of himself. But the boy could
sing, and I chuckled at his puns, and the songs were just plain memorable. It wasn't deeply emotional music that would necessarily change the world, but Jason could be serious when he wanted to, and then effortlessly turn back to silly. In some ways, I related to the guy.
A few years later, and I'm starting to realize that Jason's stepped far beyond that line into arrogant smart-a$$-dom. I hate to say that, because there's honestly a lot to love about his follow-up record,
Mr. A-Z (the first thing being that title!) In some ways, it's a logical progression for a singer/songwriter's sophomore album: A few more genre experiments, a guest appearance or two, more of the personality we love, but in a slightly different package. The problem is that this time around, it's harder for me to stomach the posturing and bragging about his own verbal and romantic skills. OK, I thought it was funny on songs like "Curbside Prophet" and "I'll Do Anything", because I took it as a sort of parody, of both himself and the genres he was biting off. But you can only pull the same joke so many times before people start wondering if maybe it isn't really a joke. After about the fourth or fifth song dedicated to Jason flaunting his abilities, I start to get annoyed even if I'm still smirking at a lot of the verbal trickery whizzing by me at a hundred miles an hour. I guess my philosophy is that good talent sells itself, and it doesn't need to be so blatantly advertised for it to impress people. The worst thing a truly gifted person can do is to know how gifted they are and dedicate the use of that gift to telling everybody how gifted they are. That's exactly what's starting to happen to Jason on
Mr. A-Z, and it has the unfortunate side effect of tainting the quick-tongued and golden-voiced songs that I
do truly enjoy on this record.
None of that is to say that this is a bad record, though. The baffling thing is that, despite the high number of moments when I get annoyed with Jason's own assurance of his cleverness, there's more than enough salvageable material to keep me coming back. I wouldn't say that any two songs sound alike on this project, and there's also enough variance in the mood to give Jason a few more contemplative moments akin to songs like "Sleep All Day" or "Who Needs Shelter" that provided a break from the hamming it up on the last record. And while I wouldn't say there's anything as persistently addictive as "The Remedy" here, there are a few feel-good tracks that evoke the life-affirming spirit of that song, where Jason is singing about the beauty of life in general for once, instead of the beauty of his own voice. There's enough here to keep existing fans happy and maybe draw in a few curious newcomers. I just don't think it's going to make a strong enough case for his longevity in this industry, unfortunately. It's too cheeky to take seriously, and not laugh-out-loud funny enough to be memorable as self-parody. Maybe that's just who Jason is, and I'm willing to explore both sides of his brain with him, but after a while, the whole thing just gets too insular to be taken as anything more than an above average guilty pleasure.
Life Is Wonderful
It takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes those tears to make it rust
It takes some dust to make it polished...
Just like the last record, the first thing we hear is Mraz's smooth voice, and once again he starts off with a more low-key, sensitive-guy type song. This one actually leaves much more of an impression that "You & I Both" did - I was never a big fan of that one, despite its popularity. Here, the mood is actually a lot more subdued, with Mraz making interesting observations like "It takes a crane to build a crane, it takes to floors to make a story", and compiling a list of ironies over a soft guitar strum that eventually lead him to the conclusion that life is an intricate mystery. The chorus is very free-spirited, as he simply sings, "Ah-la-la-la-la-la, life is wonderful, ah-la-la-la-la-la, life goes full circle", and so forth. The song kicks into high gear unexpectedly midway through the second verse, but the way that the different instruments come in serves to give the song more of a mystical feel instead of just rocking it out. It's a great balance between euphoria and restraint, and this has the unfortunate effect of causing the album to climax early. (We'll revisit the subject of early climaxes later. Yes, that means what you think it means.)
Wordplay
You want a new song, like a new religion
Music for the television
I can't do the long division
Someone do the math...
So, did you love "The Remedy"? Yeah, Jason knows you did. And he really wants you to love the new follow-up single too, but at the same time, he's intimidated about having to follow a song that might label him as a one-hit wonder. So, what did he do about it? He wrote a song about the pressure of writing a follow-up single, with purposeful references back to "The Remedy" and a few helpful lines to remind us who he is. OK, so it's funny once as a joke, but seriously, is this really what he wants to be representing his new album on the radio? As bouncy and crammed with clever verbiage as it is (and believe me, he's gone to every extent to make it stick in your head, even using a lot of "la la la"s once again in the chorus), it just seems like he's really jumping the gun in terms of thinking everyone's on the edge of their seats waiting for him to prove himself. Jason, how about writing a clever song on a completely different subject, thus showing some real thought and versatility (you know, like several of your other songs), letting radio have at it with that one, and then pulling a stunt like this on your greatest hits album? Ah, well. At least some of it is funny, but to be honest, I think he's gone way over the quota of how many words and double meanings you can cram in to a sentence before everyone just gets baffled and starts to stare blankly. "Did you listen to a single word I said?" Well, yeah, Jason, we tried to.
Geek in the Pink
Well this relationship fodder, don't mean to bother nobody
But Cupid's automatic musta fired multiple shots at her
Because she falls in love too often, that's what's the matter
At least I talk about it, keep a pattern of flattery...
I guess this one's meant to be the follow-up to "Curbside Prophet" - the obligatory faux-rap song where it's somewhat OK for Jason to flaunt his skills because he's spoofing a genre. Some rapper whose name I'm too lazy to look up trades a few lines with Jason in an amusing intro where Jason ends up declaring that "It's laundry day!", which I guess explains why he's wearing pink. (Hey Jason, it's cool for guys to wear pink now - just ask your fellow white rapper
Toby Mac). This one's got a winner of a hook with its "doo-doo-doo"s and its grimy synths - I guess you'd call this "J-Funk" or something? Anyway, this song's basically devoted to wooing a girl, telling her that he may be a bit dorky, but she'll be missing out if she doesn't give him a shot. Jason kind of wavers back and forth between telling her he's no longer interested because she wastes her time on guys who don't appreciate her, and pleading with her much like how he pleaded for a date in "I'll Do Anything". It gets to be a bit much when he all but proclaims that he's God's gift to women: "I can save you from unoriginal dumb-dumbs, who don't care if you com... plete them or not!" Alright, so I giggled, but sheesh, get over yourself.
Did You Get My Message?
Uh oh, where did it go
Must have bypassed your phone and fallen right outta the window
Oh well, how can I tell?
Shoulda called the operator, maybe she knows the info...
A semi-funky piano groove continues the upbeat pace of the record as smoky-voiced
Rachael Yamagata shows up for an interesting duet about whose fault it is that the communication lines were broken in a relationship. Rachael's kind of an interesting figure - I like the paradoxically edgy smoothness of her voice, but her album
Happenstance bored me to tears, so it's good to hear her letting loose a bit here. Unlike the traditional duet, where Rachael might come in on the second verse and the two would take the song home in unison, Jason and Rachael trade off the mic at unexpected points, making the song flow much more conversationally, sort of like an argument. It does get a little repetitive at times, with the song's title being repeated and scatted around a bit too much, but I find myself amused for at least half of its length.
Mr. Curiosity
In a hurry to spell check me
And I'm underlined already in envy green and pencil red
And I've forgotten what you've said...
I don't remember if Jason had a background in musical theater, or if I just made that up, but this song sure sounds like it could show up during a more vulnerable moment in a Broadway musical. With its light but fanciful piano, and not much else, it gives Jason a spotlight amidst a dark, hushed room to contemplate where his muse has gone, and whether he'll have to kill himself trying to find it. It's kind of weird hearing him in ballad mode, since he still seems intent on cramming as many words in as possible, so while that makes the song flow a little less rigidly than, say, "Absolutely Zero" (I loved that one, but a lot of folks found it boring), it also seems to be an odd fit for the album. The real surprise here is the bridge, when Jason breaks into an operatic vocal performance - no, I mean
literally. It seems kind of out of place - remember how startling it was to hear
Pavarotti in
U2's "Miss Sarajevo"? Yeah, it's kind of like that. The lyrics tend a bit too much toward puns for me to take the song 100% seriously, but it's definitely an interesting diversion.
Clockwatching
Lady, dreamer, you might be the soundest sleeper
Tonight, sleep tight, and build your nest upon my shoulder...
This is the first song on the record to really follow more of a traditional folk/rock mold, with its stop-start guitar strum and syncopated drums. That could have made for a really fun song, but unfortunately, Jason wastes it all on a song about inducting a girl into the mile-high club. Ever see that
Ashton Kutcher movie
A Lot Like Love? Remember how they met? Yeah, that's what Jason's after here - a little airplane lavatory sex. OK, so maybe he's already in a relationship with the woman he's propositioning, and I can sympathize with their unfortunate lack of time to really be alone together, but still...ick. "I've been working on getting you off, so get on" is just too crass to be clever. Maybe he wants to be the folk/rock version of
Prince or something, but whatever's he's doing, it ain't working. I'm not sure what's up with the flurry of crowd screams that overpowers the song near the end, either.
Bella Luna
The cosmic fish, they love to kiss
They're giving birth to constellations
No riffs and oh, no reservations
If they should fall, you get a wish or dedication...
Wow, now where did this one come from? Jason's decided to add a little bit of Latin guitar to his repertoire - or is that Spanish? Or Italian? I know that the title's Italian - Spanish enthusiasts will insists that he's pronouncing the title wrong by saying "bel-la" instead of "be-ya", but they'd be wrong. Anyway, Jason's written some sort of a slow tango-type song that basically seeks to romance the moon. It's creative, it's cute, and it's beautifully seductive, all without being bogged down by a bunch of bragging. It's simply a compelling - and slightly sexy - love poem. As a result, it's one of the highlights of the album, not feeling long at all despite its leisurely five-minute play time. It's probably one of the best songs addressed to an inanimate object that I've heard since
Norah Jones tried to break up with coffee last year.
Plane
I cannot wait to call you
And tell you that I landed somewhere
And hand you a square of the airport
And walk you through the maze of the map that I'm gazing at...
Two ballads in a row isn't a wise move at this point in the album. We're back to the piano-laden theatrical drama here, with Jason bidding a long-distance lover goodbye and realizing that he can see her house from the plane as it takes off. He gets to make a lot of clever analogies about boxes and squares and maps and airports, which is kind of interesting, but he kind of takes a morbid turn as he contemplates the possibility of the plane going down. The line heard most often in the song is, "If the plane goes down... damn." Which would be kind of humorous once, but as the main reference point for the song, that "damn" just ends up in an awkward position. It's not bad because it's a swear word, it's just bad because it's sonically jarring. I'll give Jason originality points, simply because I don't think I've ever heard a guy croon "Damn youuuuuuuu..." in such a sweetly convincing manner, but with its orchestral swells and distorted guitar interruption somewhere in the middle, it turns out to be an ill-conceived mess of a song. Let's leave this sort of dark stuff to
Joseph Arthur, thank you very much.
O. Lover
Red top and matching bottoms
You know the ones, the ones you got on
Pull them over your skinny self
But don't cover your tattoo...
Alright! Now we're back into the groove. Once again using the Latin influence for all it's worth, Jason manages to rival "On Love, In Sadness" in the fast-and-fun department with this energetic ode to a girl who might just be trying to take advantage of him. His quick tongue dances around her like a snake, complimenting her on her choice of clothing and her demeanor, but he also indicates that something doesn't seem to be right with her. "Opportunistic Lover" is what the title appears to stand for - those words end up coming out in a funky, slightly disco-inspired breakdown that provides a left-turn climax at the end of the song. The sophisticated atmosphere provided by the resonating guitars and the hand drums, as well as some echoing scat-singing during an instrumental break down, are among the many high points of the song. This one'll take weeks to pick up to the point where I can hope to sing along with it, but hey, I'm up for a challenge.
Please Don't Tell Her
She was the girl with the broadest shoulders
But she would die before I crawled over them
She is taller than I am
She knew I wouldn't mind the view there...
A guitar-heavy, plodding, mid-tempo song shows up next, kind of killing the momentum gained by the previous track as Jason croons about how he kind of misses a girl, but not really. This one tries to be cute with more stop-starting, but it just comes across as awkward and more than a bit arrogant, as if Jason wants this girl around for fun times, but doesn't have the guts to tell her he's not that serious about her. I go back and forth between being slightly bored and slightly annoyed with this one.
The Forecast
There's a good chance in hell
Like cats and dogs, we'll be flying
And I'm no weatherman
But you are lightning striking...
I like the lightly bouncy piano and acoustic instrumentation that gets sprinkled throughout this track - it would probably be a charming sleeper hit if, once again, Jason wasn't bungling everything with the lyrics. One of the worst metaphors ever compares his physical expression of love to a girl with the weather outside. It's definitely one of those trying-too-hard-to-be-clever moments that falls flat on its face. The song gets repetitive and inane rather quickly, lacking much in the way of a memorable chorus. Man, the back half of this album has been bouncing rather uncomfortably back and forth between excellent and merely so-so, hasn't it?
Song for a Friend
Climb up over the top
Survey the state of the soul
You've got to find out for yourself
Whether or not you're truly trying...
Thankfully, the album's concluding track redeems the blunders that preceded it, finding Jason in a more serious mood as he gives tribute to a friend who had wise words for him when he started his career. Surprisingly, what he remembers this person telling him to keep his ego in check and always be true to himself - OK, well, he's got part of that lesson down. Anyway, despite this song taking a while to really build momentum, it works really well as a slow-burner, an inspirational ballad at its corner with light touches of wah-wah guitar to give it a little character. The big buildup comes near the end as expected, with a chorus of voices backing Jason as he ad libs around one core, repeated line that simply states, "It's you I love". For once, the love being expressed seems to be that of true friendship and respect, not just a flimsy veil for raging hormones. The song closes in a beautiful piano coda that gets quieter and quieter, leaving you anticipating the traditional fade to silence until... BAM! The drums break back in and the choir begins to sing in exultation, encouraging this person to simply be the best doggone human being that they can be. It should be corny, but it's a genuine soul-lifting moment, and while eight minutes of this song may seem excessive, I have to say that I love the way it faked me out and then brought me back for one final round.
See, the beginning and end of this album, as well as a few other tracks, prove that Jason's really got talent. Actually, nearly every track does, but it gets diluted when he spends his time on dumb lyrics. Getting a laugh or a chuckle with a little bit of wordplay is all fine and good - I do it in daily conversation all the time - but when it seems like you're chuckling at your own jokes and nervously looking around to see who's laughing or at least grinning, or elbowing people and prodding, "You get it?", that's when it becomes apparent that you're a little too in love with your own sense of humor. There's got to be a way to balance this out on Jason's third album - I'll leave him to figure it out. Hopefully, by then, he'll have felt the wrath of the fickle industry and come to decide that he doesn't care, and doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. Then maybe we can get on with the wordplay without it feeling like one big self-referential advertisement.
By the way, I'd like to congratulate myself for making it all the way through this review without even thinking about mentioning
John Mayer.
ALBUM WORTH:
Life Is Wonderful
$2
Wordplay
$1
Geek in the Pink
$1.50
Did You Get My Message?
$1
Mr. Curiosity
$1
Clockwatching
$.50
Bella Luna
$2
Plane
$.50
O. Lover
$2
Please Don't Tell Her
$.50
The Forecast
$.50
Song for a Friend
$2
TOTAL: $14.50
Website: http://www.jasonmraz.com
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Tower Records
