Album Review: Love Is A Four Letter Word - Jason Mraz
Sometimes it takes a little while for an artist to really break out on the music scene. Jason Mraz is a testament to this thought. He showed up in 2002 with a solid debut album in Waiting For My Rocket to Come, but didn’t gain heavy notoriety until 2008 with his third album; We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. (This may be attributed to the slightly disappointing, yet cleverly titled, Mr. A-Z) The album featured his first number one hit in “I’m Yours” and earned him five Grammy nominations and two wins. Personally, I really enjoyed the album. It’s a good sign when the most popular song on an album is maybe the 4th or 5th best song. So when I saw Mraz released his fourth album, Love Is A Four Letter Word, I was curious to see where he went with it.
For lack of a better phrase, Mraz seems to move “positively laterally”. Love doesn’t have a chart topper like his previous efforts, but takes a step forward musically. The tracks feature more instruments, including strings, horns, and organ/ piano, and just have a musically deeper feel to them. Based on the lyrics and title, this album could be considered a concept album, with every song dealing with some form of love. The tracks with the best chance at radio air play are probably “The Freedom Song” or “Living In The Moment”, two catchy, up beat song. But the album’s best song is “In Your Hands”, a song about missing someone which is both well written and well produced.
Overall, the album is very consistent. No song really stands out in a good or bad way. It’s a feel good album that is a good listen when you just need to sit back and relax. It’s like a Jack Johnson album, but features the clever lyrics and rhyme schemes that Mraz is known for.
GRADE: C
Download Love is a Four Letter Word here: http://smarturl.it/IWontGiveUp
By Kurtis Klay
Follow Kurtis on Twitter @RunMizzou11
