John Mayer’s ‘Continuum’: All 12 Tracks Ranked

Following his first two pop-rock-leaning albums and his John Mayer Trio stint with renowned bassist Pino Palladino and drummer/producer Steve Jordan, John Mayer’s Continuum m arked a noticeable shift toward a bluesier and more soulful sound, which has gone on to define some of his most enduring work.

Released on Sept.

12, 2006, Mayer’s third studio album builds a world of introspective lyricism that grapples with the idea of the passage of time, weaves between reality and a dream-like state and touches upon some of the political discourse of a post-September 11 world — but at its core, it’s a heartbreak album.

Written and produced before his dating life reached a boiling point in the tabloids during the mid-’00s, Mayer waded through the different stages of grief in the grooviest way possible on Continuum .

From denial to anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, Mayer brought the listener one step further with plans for his future relationships.

The album was commercially and critically successful, peaking at No.

2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and being nominated for Album of the Year at the 49th Grammy Awards.

It lost in that category to the Chicks’ Taking the Long Way , but it won best pop vocal album, while lead single “Waiting on the World to Change” took home best male pop vocal performance for “Waiting on the World to Change.” In the 20 years since Continuum’s release, Mayer has continually made efforts to evolve his sound on subsequent projects, served as an inspiration and mentor for a new generation of musicians, quietly become a top philanthropist and cemented himself as one of the highest-regarded guitarists of our time.

Below, we revisit each track on the seminal album on the week of its 20th anniversary, ranking them from our least favorite to our favorite.