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 |  Subject: Meet Adam Lambert, the 'anti-Aiken'  15.05.10 0:05 | |
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There probably will be those that will question whether "For Your Entertainment," the debut album from 'American Idol' sensation Adam Lambert is more of a product of the all-star cast of producers and co-writers who worked on the CD than Lambert himself.
Several of the very hottest behind-the-scenes talents were involved in the CD, including producers/songwriters Max Martin, Greg Wells, Dr. Luke, Linda Perry and Claude Kelly, and as songwriters, some notable names as well, including Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Justin Hawkins of Wolfmother
But in a recent phone interview, Lambert, 27, left little doubt that he feels there's plenty of his vision, style and sound in his debut disc, although he also wanted to benefit from the talents of his co-writers and producers.
"I mean, I think that's what collaboration is all about," Lambert said. "I feel that I held my ground in those collaborations. I think it's exciting to be able to work with people with such great track records, you know what I mean. There's a reason why they're famous and there's a reason why they're successful, because they do good work. And I wanted good work on my album."
Lambert will be at Wango Tango on Saturday, performing in a lineup that includes Usher and Justin Bieber.
Lambert's CD figures to be one of the most scrutinized debuts to emerge from any "American Idol" alumnus. That's because arguably no other finalist has created as big a stir as Lambert did earlier this year on season eight of the hit television show.
Much of the attention stemmed from the fact that Lambert, a native of the North County area of San Diego, was a different kind of contestant from the usual play-it-safe, middle-of-the-road big-voiced crooners that have populated the show. In other words, Lambert was the anti-Aiken (season two runner-up Clay Aiken), or for that matter, Kris Allen (who surprised experts by beating out Lambert to win the season eight "American Idol" crown.)
Visually, Lambert, who revealed after "Idol" that he is gay, was flashy, with his colorful clothes, spiky black hair and fondness for eye shadow. Musically, he was edgy, often choosing rock-oriented material over sensitive ballads. And as a performer, he didn't hold back, bringing a flamboyance to go with a super-charged set of vocal pipes, and holding his own on stage during performances with the likes of Kiss and Queen.
Perhaps some of that on-stage presence was a function of Lambert's background in theater. Before auditioning for "Idol," he was involved with a variety of different theater groups in the San Diego area as a teen and went on to star in a six-month run in "Hair" with a group based in Germany, a Los Angeles production of "The Ten Commandments (along with Val Kilmer) and finally as part of the chorus (as well as an understudy for the character Fiyero) in a touring production of "Wicked."
Lambert didn't deny that he felt the weight of expectations in making "For Your Entertainment."
"It was definitely in the back of my head at times," he said. "It's hard to kind of ignore it. Of course, I feel there are a lot of expectations and I realize that. On one hand, it is a little intimidating, but on the other hand it also gives me a lot of confidence and helps me in risk taking."
And Lambert indeed didn't play things entirely safe on "For Your Entertainment," creating a diverse CD that combines classic rock with pop, electronic music and plenty of modern production touches. He hopes that he hasn't gone too far outside of box in terms of the kind of music "Idol" fans anticipated from him.
"It's a very eclectic album," Lambert said. "I kind of don't really stick to one genre. I don't really believe in that. I didn't do it on the show and I didn't do it on my album. I did, however, do a lot of music from the '70s during 'Idol,' a lot of rock music and a lot of just '70s in general was just an era that I kept going back to musically. And so I think it really was really important for me to make sure I didn't make too much of a departure from all that.
"But at the same time I wanted to bring in some really contemporary sounds to it, and kind of go into a pop direction as well," he said. "What I really tried to do on some of the tracks was a straight up fusion of the two styles, like a '70s rock song, but kind of mixed with some new contemporary production style. So I was kind of trying to do the best of both."
By and large that's what Lambert created. Of course, the sound of the music is one thing. The quality of the songs and performances is another issue. And for the most part, the songwriting is solid. "Music Again," the song written by Hawkins, is a catchy and surprisingly glammy track, considering Hawkins is more known for Zeppelin-ish rock. "Strut" and "Whataya Want From Me" are both successful fusions of rock and synth/techno pop, each imbued with strong pop hooks and a playful attitude. "Soaked," written by Matthew Bellamy of the band Muse, is a luxurious ballad that gives Lambert the chance to tip his hat to Queen, one of his musical heroes.
Other songs, though, are less successful, including the techno-tinged title track and the synthy dance-pop tune "If I Had You." Instead of sounding inspired and original, they sound more like they came off of a generic pop production line.
So "For Your Entertainment" isn't a slam dunk triumph, but it has more highs and lows. And considering how quickly it had to be done, that's no small accomplishment.
Lambert, like just about every "Idol" star, had to do the CD on a tight schedule. After the "Idol" finale, Lambert has his share of publicity obligations, followed by rehearsals for the "American Idols Live" tour, which ran into September. Then it was on to the "For Your Entertainment" project, which needed to be finished in time for release before Thanksgiving.
"It was definitely an obstacle, the time constraints," Lambert said. "In a perfect world, I would have loved to have spent more time on it. But the good thing about it being kind of a fast process is that it added to the intensity and the momentum of the whole record, both in the songs we picked and even in the performance of them. It felt like, you know what, do or die. This is what it is. I don't have time to think about this. Just go for it. So it has, like, an urgency, which I think is kind of cool."
Lambert admits that he's not sure how fans will respond to "For Your Entertainment," but that was part of his plan for the CD. And his risqué performance on the "American Music Awards" shortly after the release of the CD seemed to cause a temporary backlash, although his current single, "Whatdya Want from Me," has gone top five on Billboard magazine's adult pop chart and given the CD a second wind.
"I wanted to kind of experiment with a handful of different sounds and see what works the most with my audience," he said. "I know I like certain tracks more than others, and then we'll see what the audience says. It will be really interesting to see what's the most popular." http://www.inlandsocal.com/iguide/music/content/news/stories/PE_News_Local_D_adam14.2f88e06.html | |
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