release date: Jul. 1, 2008
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Chad Franscoviak, John Mayer, Steve Jordan
label: Columbia - nationality: USA
4th live album by John Mayer - or his fourth live album released on cd 'cause in 2004 he released a series of four downloadable albums (making this his (eigth live album) from four consecutive live concerts all from August that year: As/is Mountain View, CA, As/is Houston, TX, As/is Cleveland/Cincinnati, OH and As/is Philadelphia, PA. In Oct. 2004 As/is a double cd was released containing selected tracks from these four concerts, and in Nov. 2005 he released the live album Try! released as John Mayer Trio with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino with recordings from live concerts from the Fall of 2005.
Where the Light Is is a double live album containing the recordings of a live concert held at L.A. Live Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, California, Dec. 8, 2007 - the album has also been released as a music concert film on dvd like Any Given Thursday before that. Disc 1 consists of 13 tracks of which the first five songs are acoustic songs, and the following eight are with John Mayer Trio (five of these also appear on the album Try!) - all paying maximum attention on blues rock . Two of these are Jimi Hendrix' compositions: track #7 "Wait Until Tomorrow" and track #13 "Bold as Love". Another two of the eight compositions by the Trio "Who Did You Think I Was" and "Good Love Is on the Way" sound as if written by Hendrix, and "Come When I Call", "Out of My Mind" and "Vultures" sound more like Clapton inspired by Muddy Waters, but at the bottom-line they're all eight blues rock-shaped and as such performed.
Disc 2 consists of nine tracks - eight taken from his most recent studio release Continuum - all blending his pop / rock repertoire with acoustic folk rock, fusion rock (e.g. "Belief") and blues rock.
It seems that Mayer shines so much more when playing live, and this album only serves to document just that. He embraces blues rock and plays with clear influences from jazz, traditional r&b and folk rock when playing these songs live, and at the same time he distances himself from his early studio albums of mere polished pop / rock.
The album is easily his so far best live album, and as such a highly recommendable album.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]
