Though mostly featuring songs from Room For Squares, the album also features "Man On The Side" (co-written with Cook and appeared on the Lo-Fi Master's Demo) and "Covered in Rain", neither of which have ever been released on a studio recording by John Mayer. "Covered in Rain", according to a documentary included in the DVD release, is "part two" of the song "City Love", which features the line, "covered in rain." The concert features songs previously not heard, such as "Something's Missing", which appeared on Heavier Things, his following album. It also features "Comfortable" from his original EP, Inside Wants Out. John Mayer also features his newly recorded song at the time " 3x5 "
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The DVD contained several features in addition to the concert: an audio commentary of the concert by Mayer and his friend Scotty Crowe (whose blog used to be hosted on Mayer's site), a photo gallery from the tour (not exclusively the concert shown in the video itself), and a documentary of an interview with Mayer entitled, "The Morning After", in which Mayer talks about his influences, some meanings of songs, and just general information about Mayer.
The CD/DVD received conservative consistent praise with critics torn between his pop-idol image, and (at the time) emerging guitar prowess. Erik Crawford (of AllMusic) asked "Is he the consummate guitar hero exemplified when he plays a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Lenny', or is he the teen idol that the pubescent girls shriek for after he plays 'Your Body Is a Wonderland'?"[1][4] Billboard called the DVD "a great introduction to a rising star."[6] David Browne, with Entertainment Weekly, gave the album a B− saying, "one wishes Mayer were a more convincing rebel, but at least he doth protest a little."[2]
Commercially, Any Given Thursday entered the Billboard Albums Top 100 chart at number 34. It peaked at #23 for one week, and spent a total of 12 weeks on the chart. It quickly peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Australia, the DVD is certified 3× platinum by ARIA for sales of 45,000 copies.[7]
Track listing
All songs written by John Mayer unless noted otherwise.
The song "Jóga" (originally by experimental musical artist Björk) does not appear on the CD release due to copyright troubles; however, it does appear on the DVD.
Between many songs, the CD contains some brief comments by Mayer. On the DVD, these comments tend to be longer, including a few long monologues referred to by Mayer himself as "John's Story Time" (on the DVD commentary).
Extended introductory explanations to songs (such as "City Love" and "Covered in Rain").