John Mayer And His “Lost” 80s Album Sob Rock

by: Rallye Ryan Ibanez

Released on July 16, 2021, Sob Rock by John Mayer was an 80s soft rock concept album intended to pay homage to 80s “lite” rock in all its pastel-colored glory and sleek production. But it also features his strengths as a top songwriter and guitarist.

To stay true with the overall vibe and sound, Mayer enlisted Grammy-winner and top-notch producer Don Was, aiding him to capture that smooth-sailing soft rock 80s feels. Was jams with Bob Weir and The Wolf Brothers, interconnected with the extended Grateful Dead/Dead and Co. family.

The album lineup also has some of the best 80s players that helmed the sonic landscape, such as Greg Phillinganes on keyboards, Pino Palladino on bass, Lenny Castro on percussion, plus a whole crew of talent. They shared in Mayer’s retro vision fused with his growing songwriting and guitar prowess.

It also helped that Mayer’s new tunes were already loaded with the intended elements. This is what it would sound like and what would happen in an alternate timeline when Mayer recorded a mid to late 80s soft rock album with the same Don Was also producing it, and went unreleased until the tail end of the pandemic.

“Implanting false memories” as he puts it, the album features singles he released in May 2018, “New Light”, two other singles from 2019, the melancholic and weighty “I Guess I Just Feel Like” and breezing “Carry Me Away”. Then there’s also the lead single and 80s MTV styled music video, “Last Train Home” released on June 4, 2021.

Despite being separate tracks, they work well together on the album. “Last Train Home” wouldn’t be totally out of place in between music videos you’re watching one lazy afternoon in 1988, in between Toto, Glen Frey, and Dire Straits. It’s this genuine, laid back, and fun approach that Sob Rock has that teleports you to that solid gold era.

Even the CD packaging and ads are dead-80s-styled designs, down to the fonts and colors. It’s a hidden gem and a lost classic you discovered in the bargain bin many years later. But it perfectly suits your time, via-alternate universe sonic frequency teleportation from 1986.

John’s clean to gain tones here carry some of his best soulful, bluesy solos to date. His consistent jamming and expanding with Dead & Co. has furthered his solo and shred style skills. Check the leads on “I Guess I Just Feel Like” as an example.

If you can, grab the coke bottle vinyl edition for the complete, “lost 80s album” experience.