Album Reviews

Album Review: Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment (Sony Music/RCA/Jive/19)

By | Published on Wednesday 14 April 2010

Adam Lambert

Okay, I confess. I was addicted to last year’s ‘American Idol’, and it was all down to this dude. Why? Well, it was a mixture of his outlandish performances on the show, his shockingly refreshing attitude to the business and to his representation in the press, and the fact that yeah, he had a pretty decent voice. A raw, interesting, genuinely talent-ridden voice that could and should have sounded fantastic on its own, untouched by computers.

So my question is, then, what the fuck is this shit? ‘For Your Entertainment’ should have been good. It should have laid the foundations for a promising career, and it should have been the classic rock album that Lambert promised us. Instead, we find that poor Adam’s voice has been hashed and rehashed to pieces, and the end product is sorely disappointing, a bland, too-shiny pop record with some glimpses of promise, but a stab in the heart to those who supported him throughout the competition.

Granted, with any major label you’re going to have to shift a few things around in order to reach the ‘right market’, and on first listen, I was actually initially impressed by the production of ‘For Your Entertainment’ and its pop appeal. But stripping away all of that reveals this album for what it is – soulless. The plastic-ness smothered on top of it is thicker than Adam’s foundation.

Back to those glimpses of promise, though – lead single ‘For Your Entertainment’ is a slick offering of Gaga-esque swagger, and ‘Whataya Want From Me’ (please, no more absurd shortening of words in song titles) is Adam at his best, away from the synths and robotic, Kanye-esque vocal effects.

I still support Adam, and I’m still holding onto the hope of something deeper from him in the future. But really, I should have known what I was in for from the Xanadu-esque cover… TW

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