Having not picked up a guitar for the first time until the ripe old age of 18, Jason Mraz debuts his young talent on the album Waiting For My Rocket To Come. On Waiting, a collection of simple acoustic guitar melodies and popfolk vocals, Mraz coos with an eerie similarity to John Mayer. Backpacking on Mayer’s recent pop success Room For Squares, drums on the off beats drive Waiting. Mraz’s drive often ends up going nowhere, whether the song is upbeat or mellow they lack the same hooks that grab Mayer’s fans. Mraz slightly alters the formula on “Curbside Prophet,” with some twangy guitars and freestyle singing, but the song is nothing that hasn’t been done before, and is certainly not something pushing the album over the edge to the side of originality.
- Paul Wong
Mraz’s lyrics also lack creativity. He hopes to leave the content up to interpretation; instead, the listener is left craving more wit and originality than the extremely generic lyrics “well good-day sunlight / I’d like to say how truly bright you are.” Mraz does attempt to play on words in “Too Much Food,” – the catchiest song of the bunch. “Pass me the spoon / pass the analytical knife / cause you’re about to get cut up / I get cut down.”
Other tracks, such as “Sleep All Day” and “The Remedy (I won’t worry)” provide a forum for Mraz’s life philosophy, and do the best job of almost sucking you into his dream world of eating “humble pie” and kissing “minty fresh breath.”
Overall, Waiting For My Rocket To Come isn’t bad, just not original. The perpetuating trend of musical rip-offs and followers definitely continues with Mraz; for every Britney there is a Christina, for every Lavigne, a Michelle and for John Mayer, a Jason Mraz.