John Mayer is a talented songwriter. He can also carry a tune and play a mean guitar. None of those things, arguably, is what really makes him an A-list celebrity.

It’s his extracurricular activities _ all the stuff that he does when he’s not making music _ that really keeps him in the headlines of newspapers and on the covers of supermarket tabloids.

Blame the media, if you want, for redirecting the focus away from Mayer’s sizable musical achievements and toward his high-profile relationship with “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston. Yet, please note, there has been no outcry from readers demanding a front-page review of Mayer’s new live disc, “Where the Light is.”

In 2008 _ for better or worse _ most people aren’t all that concerned with how the track “Daughters” translates in concert. What they really seem to care about is where Mayer and Brad Pitt’s ex, Aniston, had dinner in Hollywood or what Caribbean island they might choose for a vacation. That’s the kind of gossip that fuels not just mainstream media but blogs and Internet chat rooms.

Mayer is set to perform at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View on Saturday night and promoters are expecting huge numbers. Indeed, the prediction is that it will be the 22,000-capacity venue’s biggest crowd thus far in 2008, surpassing even what the Police and Stevie Wonder drew for their respective Shoreline shows.
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I’ve yet to be convinced that Gwen Stefani will ever amount to anything more than a so-so solo artist. I understand that she has sold millions of records in that role. So what? So has Clay Aiken.

As a live performer, however, she’s strictly mediocre - ranking right in the middle of the pack when it comes to pop idols. She’s no Beyonce, who put on the best pop spectacle I’ve seen this year. And she’s no Britney, Christina or Kid Rock, all of whom top Gwen on the live stage.

Most significantly, she’s no No Doubt.

That’s why the most satisfying part of her show on Friday night (Nov. 2) at the Oracle Arena in Oakland came when she thanked fans for enduring her dance music phase and then said she was ready to get back together in the studio with No Doubt. The tour that will ultimately follow should be one of that year’s top tickets.

Admittedly, I’ve only seen Gwen the solo artist twice in concert _ so I’m not drawing this conclusion from a vast amount of data. I saw Gwen on her first tour in support of her debut solo record, 2004’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,” and I was disappointed. Our paper reviewed her first swing through the area on this current tour, hawking the 2006 sophomore effort “The Sweet Escape,” back in June at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. It wasn’t me in the reviewer chair that night, since I was busy gleefully attending Roger Water’s show at Oracle. All the reports I heard about that show were positive - and I don’t believe a single one of them.

Especially not after seeing the Oracle gig on Friday night. I went to the venue mainly to see if Gwen’s live show had improved any. The answer, unfortunately, was not enough. It was still a light weight evening of so-so pop, performed by a woman who (in my opinion) doesn’t really have a lot of stage presence. And, more importantly, she doesn’t have many good songs. Once you get past “Hollaback Girl,” the pickings are mighty slim.

That won’t be the case when No Doubt reunites. That band has a ton of good songs, which Gwen unwisely excludes from her solo show. I look forward to seeing No Doubt on that reunion tour. Hopefully, it will be such a big success that Gwen decides to leave the solo thing in the dust. I wouldn’t count on it, though.

“Blackout’’
Britney Spears
Jive Records
Grade: B plus

Those looking for new insight into the dizzy world of Britney Spears won’t find it on “Blackout.’’ For the most part, the pop star just wants to have fun on her fifth studio album, which hits stores Oct. 30.

What fans will find, however, is vastly more interesting and less expected than a first-person rehash of all the tabloid tales. Ready for the bombshell to drop?

“Blackout’’ is the best album of Britney’s career.

That’s not saying as much as one might think. The 25-year-old Louisiana native has never recorded a thoroughly great album _ a streak that, unfortunately, still stands after the release of “Blackout.’’ Like many other pop tarts in her comparison group, the vocalist always has at least one memorable hit on each album (the title tracks on 1999’s “ . . . Baby One More Time’’ and 2000’s “Oops! . . . I Did It Again,’’ “Toxic’’ on 2003’s “In the Zone,’’ etc.). These songs tend to be so powerfully catchy _ prompting fans to hit the repeat button multiple times _ that one might not notice that the rest is mostly filler.

This time around, that one song is the hypnotic dance number “Gimme More,’’ which has already proven to be a smash hit on radio and with the download community. What follows that surefire fan favorite, which was wisely chosen to jumpstart the album, is where listeners might be surprised. Compared to her previous efforts, there is relatively little filler to be found on “Blackout.’’

Don’t take that to mean that every track is destined to make Brit’s next greatest hits album. Yet, there’s nary a weak groove on the album and each song sounds as if Britney (or at least one of the bevy of the disc’s super-producers) at least put some thought into it.

Of course, the question that everybody wants answered is how does Britney’s voice sound? Have all those late nights and gala parties taken their toll on her pipes?

The answer, for better or worse, is that it’s really hard to say. The producers keep Britney’s actual voice well hidden behind nearly impenetrable layers of Swedish-dance-pop-style studio trickery. Rarely is Britney’s voice heard without the aid of some kind of electronic treatment. The end result, however, fits nicely amid the overall feel of the electro-boogie music.

For a woman trying to rekindle her fan base, Spears picks an odd way to initially invite listeners into her album:

“It’s Britney, b*tch,’’ she coos in her best “come hither’’ voice.

Then, the music kicks in _ a steady, driving beat that sounds both seductive and dangerous _ and it’s enough to convince a listener to indeed cry, “Gimme More.’’

The next song, “Piece of Me,’’ is a reaction to a life spent under the paparazzi’s microscope. She brings up motherhood and talks of choices made during the ultimate lifestyle of the rich and the famous. It’s a proudly defiant track, yet it hardly sheds new light on the star’s situation. Mostly, it just gives fans another good reason to shake their hips.

The party keeps right on rolling through “Radar,’’ a bouncy pop tune that would fit on a Gwen Stefani disc, and “Break the Ice,’’ a triumphant slice of breathy dance pop that recalls Beyonce’s best. It’s obvious that Britney has kept up on what’s selling in the pop world and has chosen some new role models to ape.

In other cases, Britney seems to have gone through some old record collections (probably belonging to her producers) and found inspiration in older sounds. Notably, she borrows equally from New Order-style electro-rock, Abba-esque pop and vintage disco to create a winning new groove on the great “Heaven on Earth.’’

The rest of the album, especially “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)’’ and “Toy Soldier,’’ is equally strong. By the time the listener gets to the closing number, “Why Should I Be Sad,’’ it’s pretty clear that “Blackout’’ is Britney’s finest album to date.

What holds this disc back from being truly great, however, is the feeling that it could’ve come from just about any female pop star. There’s nothing about “Blackout’’ that makes one believe that only Britney could’ve made this album. To accomplish that, the star would’ve had to open the book on her personal life.

And that’s something that Ms. Spears is apparently unwilling to do just yet.