To date, Dave Matthews Band has released five live CDs documenting its extensive concert tours across the country. Assuming that many of these same fans enjoy John Mayer’s similar guitar-laden melodies and love-infused lyrics, it was pretty bold of Mayer to release his own live album recently.

John Mayer is one of those performers who is hard to pigeonhole. Is he a rock artist? Blues? Pop? In the end, it really doesn’t matter. His creative songwriting and warm stage presence have established him as a formidable musical force, and the smoky swagger of his voice brings to mind the likes of Sting, Dave Matthews and Jakob Dylan.

And his popularity is not merely relegated to college dorm rooms like many other artists of his type. Mayer is popular with young and old fans alike, and he is nominated for two Grammys this year: Best New Artist and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”

The lanky Mayer was born in Connecticut, and a after short-lived stint at Boston’s acclaimed Berklee College of Music, where he had a “great learning experience, but not because of class,” John set down roots in Atlanta, where his music career hit the ground running.

After only one year in Atlanta, he released his debut solo album, Inside Wants Out, in 1999. At the same time, he became a regular in the Atlanta club circuit, playing a steady stream of shows at venues like Eddie’s Attic. An appearance in March 2000 at the South by Southwest Music Festival led to a recording contract with Aware Records, a subsidiary of Columbia.

Mayer began recording his major-label debut, Room for Squares, that fall with producer John Alagia, who had previously worked with artists like Dave Matthews and Ben Folds Five.

While Mayer’s first album had been a decidedly acoustic effort, Room for Squares featured a full electric band and showed the work of its producer, with its funky hooks and an emphasis placed on Mayer’s versatile, smooth voice, which bore more than just a stylistic resemblance to Dave Matthews’.

The CD was enormously popular, and much of that success was due to the fact that Mayer was such an exceptional live performer.

That is why I was surprised to find that in a market already saturated with live concert CDs, Mayer’s Any Given Thursday is fairly unremarkable in most respects. While Mayer is admittedly a great performer and one of the more talented singer-songwriters to crop up in the past few years, this latest album does not do him justice.

Recorded in Birmingham, Ala., this past September, the CD sounds poorly made and fails to express the passion and excitement Mayer brings to the stage in concert. The audience often overshadows his performance, and there is a resounding lack of acoustics.

Mayer’s enthusiasm throughout the show is very clear, but as endearing as his breathless excitement is, the fact remains that he is, in fact, breathless throughout much of the CD. This is not exactly what you want to hear from a performer who is so renowned for his live performance.

The album is not a total failure, though, and avid Mayer fans will delight in the addition of previously unreleased tracks such as “Something’s Missing,” “Lenny/Man on the Side,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Covered in Rain.”

While the overall sound of the CD is pretty weak, this is mostly due to the low-quality recording rather than Mayer’s overall talent.

It may be good for studying or relaxing, but don’t count on the bravado and passion of Mayer’s usual performances.

Grade: B/C