New Rock God Or Empty Idol? Adam Lambert Holds the Keys to His Own

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Is Adam Lambert a flash-in-the-pan performer whose artistry will fade with the memory of his American Idol glory days? Or is he the “New Messiah” of rock – a glam-rock second coming of Elvis himself?

From Hollywood to the Bible Belt, an unfailing way to start an argument these days, is to say the name: “Adam Lambert.” One thing is certain: whether you’re an ardent Adam fan or a hater, talking about him and his artistry is always bound to elicit some strong, passionate and disparate responses.

Who’s buying – or not buying Lambert’s debut album and why, is another fascinating debate. Lambert has one of the most amazing voices in the history of the recording industry. He has a great lyrical feel – and wonderful musical tone and pitch. Vocally, Lambert can jump from low vocal register to head voice to falsetto – faster and smoother than you can utter the name of his vocal coach – Ron Anderson. His live renditions of “Whole Lotta Love” have shown that he can sing Zeppelin stronger than Robert Plant. And his Idol incursions into the Aerosmith song catalog have shown that he can stand toe-to-toe with Steven Tyler – vocally and as a rock god and provocateur. Lambert literally has the voice, look and delivery to restore classic rock as a culturally relevant and commercially viable musical genre.

So why all the fuss? Oh yeah, the American Music Awards thing. You know, where during his virgin AMA performance, Lambert thrust his face into a male backup musician’s crotch and French-kissed another dude. Sex (and sexual posturing) is nothing new to rock. From Elvis to Jim Morrison, to Mick Jagger and Tyler, an outrageous sexual image has always been a prerequisite for a rock god stature and – controversy a rocker’s constant groupie. And, since the days of Elvis and Little Richard, every generation of rockers has gotten more liberated and sexually suggestive in its stage performance.

So why the outrage? The answer is there seems to be a double standard in rock-pop music. It’s cool to show off your sexuality, if you’re straight. But it’s not so cool, in fact it’s downright upsetting and uncomfortable to a lot of folks, if a gay performer sexually plays to his/her select congregation. And, Lambert is an avowed gay young man. Gay pride aside, Lambert unwisely let his sexual identity upstage his vocal performance – and career on the AMA show. A lot of us straight folks don’t really care that he’s gay. But we were disappointed when he didn’t vocally deliver the goods at the AMA.

So is public outrage about Adam’s sexuality the reason why another variety-reality show contestant, Susan Boyle, is outselling Lambert more than 8 to 1 in their debut albums’ sales? Boyle’s debut album has sold more than eight million units and counting. Released last November, Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment” album, had sold around 600,000 copies in the U.S. by January 2010. That’s a respectable sales figure for most ordinary new artists. Especially in these days of declining record sales, illegal CD downloads and pirating. But Lambert is no ordinary artist. He looks like an androgynous son of Elvis, with the vocal chops of some futuristic rock god. He just doesn’t have a superstar’s record sales. And, a lot of people are wondering why.

The answer is twofold: there indeed has been a cultural divide and backlash against Lambert by Bible Belters and the Religious Right. Their reaction to Lambert’s AMA show is no different than what happened after Elvis gyrated his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show. Or, how American fans burned their Beatles records after John Lennon proclaimed the Beatles to be “more popular than Jesus Christ.” You make controversial statements or perform suggestive actions – as a public figure – and you live with the consequences.

For a new artist, RCA gave Lambert WAY too much artistic freedom on his first album. With the exception of “What Ya Want from Me,” the songs are not particularly well-written or memorable. Most importantly, the album lacks a “hit signature song,” ala Tina Turner and “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”; Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” or the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Signature songs are those that make you instantly think of the artist when they come on the radio. They not only sell millions of records – they create lasting careers for recording artists. One simple reason Susan Boyle’s album is outselling Lambert’s by such a wide margin is that Boyle sang mostly standards, or played to her strength, with the exception of her bizarre rendition of the Stones’ “Wild Horses.” Meanwhile, Lambert, RCA and his management team committed a plethora of “branding” and artist marketing sins.

Admittedly, through his own artistic diversity and controversial actions, Lambert has not made his image branding and marketing an easy task for his gatekeepers. By his nature, actions and diversity, Lambert defies nicely fitting into any record label’s marketing category or radio program director’s genre-specific playlist. That’s hurt his play at radio. Which has hurt album sales. As has his behavior.

These serious mistakes – poor branding, the lack of a “hit signature song,” a confusing artistic direction and predictable song production values, along with Lambert’s decision to market his sexuality ahead of his artistry, have created a dilemma that would have killed a lesser artist’s career. And, in so doing, Lambert, RCA and his management team have defied a longstanding marketing paradigm of EVERY MAJOR SUCCESSFUL recording artist.

First, you create a strong fan base in ONE particular genre. You build that base and expand the artist’s range and genres over the course of several albums and years. You never willfully divulge potentially damaging personal attributes that could hurt your record sales. And, if personal conscience, alcohol or an Act of God drives you to making a sensitive personal revelation, you wait until you’re an established platinum artist. Lambert’s team had some classic examples to follow, but didn’t.

Elton John built a huge fan base on the strength of his great songwriting with Bernie Taupin – and his identifiable singing and piano playing skills via his “Tumbleweed Connection” debut album. That album and “Madman Across the Water” were widely accepted by a diverse audience. It wasn’t until several albums and years later that John “came out,” first alluding to being bisexual and later transforming himself into a celebrated gay glam-rock icon. And, by then, he’d sold millions of albums to an adoring and faithful fan base, gay and straight, who couldn’t have cared less about his sexuality.

And while more theatrically charged performers such as Freddie Mercury of Queen, David Bowie and Mick Jagger androgynously straddled the fence of gayness and bi-sexuality in the 1970s and ’80s, ALL of them established a wide fan base, before their sexual proclivities and preferences went public.

Lambert, by nature, seems to be a lightning rod for controversy. First, he performs in a number of musical genres that traditionally have been mutually exclusive domains. Forget the Christians versus the non-Christians. A lot of alt-rockers honestly detest classic rockers. Many classic rockers shun alt-rockers and disdain pop-rock dance artists as “wimp sellouts.” And a great number of alt- and classic rockers despise electronic dance-oriented pop-rock dance acts such as Depeche Mode. You rarely see fans from these divergent types of music at any single rock or pop concert. And when you do, the interaction is rarely peaceful. But Adam, through his many musical muses – and perhaps with the futility of Obama trying to win over Republicans – inexplicably tries to “bring them all together.”

But sometimes even dreamers have to face reality. And the reality is this. Adam Lambert has to take some responsibility for his modest record sales. He needs to learn from past mistakes, not repeat them. And artistically, he needs to pick a lane. Defining your artistry can be more liberating than confining – although immature and irrelevant artists often fight that truth – in lieu of searching their hearts and souls, learning their craft and – eventually finding their own voices and messages.

Another reality is this: the music buying public is a myopic and fickle lot, more driven in its buying habits by fads and popular trends – than by taste or discretion. So to Adam, and any other aspiring young recording artist, our plea here at the “A & R Room” is this: Stop making this complicated music business more complicated than it already is!

Be an original. Pick a musical artistic lane. Show us the real you and we’ll accept or reject you on your own merits: Project your artistry and be proud of it, whether you’re an alt-rocker, classic rocker, electronic-dance artist, Broadway musical singer, or whatever. What music lovers don’t need – and will not reward – is another ambivalent musical Houdini in make-up.

http://www.mrnewsbreaker.com/new-rock-god-or-empty-idol-adam-lambert-holds-the-keys-to-his-own/

This article makes some interesting points and I have to agree that, based on what I read on line following the AMA's, some fans were indeed lost. The stunned silence on his fan sites spoke volumes. However, no one can go backwards to change anything and I think Adam handled the fallout with dignity, backed by flawless performances of "Whatya Want From Me" . It's in the past now, one performance out of a summer tour of 52 excellent concert performances and other TV performances and only one questionable one. Hasn't he proven that he can put on a good performance by now?
I suspect that the writer has not even seen the AMA video! Adam didn't put his face in a dancer's crotch. He pulled a man's face to his crotch. It was a bit shocking, but we've all lived through it and I bet no one has been inspired to run out and grab people on the street and drag their faces to our crotch. Sometimes I even chuckle at the shear audacity of it. AMA aside, I love Adam's sexiness! He makes me feel sexy, too!
Those darn rock stars! You just don't know what they're going to do next and that's one thing that makes them so ENTERTAINING, especially Adam Lambert! Can't wait to see him live on tour, performing the music of his CD! See you there!

Regards,
RoRo