This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“I just wanna be liked,” pleads John Mayer on his major-label debut album Room for Squares, and I can see no reason why his wish shouldn’t come true.
The Atlanta singer-songwriter is certainly approachable enough on this 13-song introduction. His voice crosses the marble-mouthed hipsterism of Dave Matthews with the sandy gloss of Sting, while his tunes are smartly crafted nuggets of easy-flowing, guitar-jangle roots pop whose genial introspection and ear-catching arrangements are several steps above the usual verse-chorus structure of commercial pop, but without falling into the hippie jam-band abyss of silliness. Or to put it another way — you’ll like him, you’ll really like him.
