John Mayer

He suffers from a very extreme case of what I like to call the "Michael Bolton Effect," which happens when commercial success far outweighs the level of talent. Mayer’s never come off as a very deep person in any of the interviews I've seen, or read, and I have always felt that his songwriting and guitar playing are unoriginal and derivative, and his singing seems fake and insincere. He's more of a craftsman than an artist. Great at writing catchy melodies, hooky lyrics and clever guitar riffs and he certainly has a “radio” voice – but he always seems to be copping somebody else’s music – and at times outright stealing (i.e. Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar riff on Dreams in his latest drivel - Half of My Heart). I may be wrong, but I doubt that his music will hold up beyond a generation (or two) of teenage girls. Though, he does seem to be a much bigger, stronger, and now heavily tattooed version of Richard Marx. And on those occasions when I catch myself humming one of his songs, I hope nobody I know hears me.