Since it's a slooow day.
I've brought this over.
Old blog but worth a read.
Sorry if it's been postet before.
aleksandrakv.tumblr.com/Feb 08 2017
Minor reasons
So much time has passed since I’ve been loving Adam and everything has changed, including him, me, and the world, in ways I could never have predicted. There was a time once when I thought I knew some stuff, where things were going, but today, I can safely say I know nothing at all. I consider myself thoroughly disenchanted which, miraculously, hasn’t made me any less of his fan, quite the opposite.
The major reasons are quite obvious to every Adam fan and are talked about and discussed on every social media platform on a daily basis: the voice, the talent, the charisma, either in combination or separately. But, it is the other, minor ones that have become increasingly apparent to me and turned out to be just as important, if not more so, in these challenging times. The minor reasons… it sounds so trivial, but behind this tiny, clumsy phrase lies a story about me becoming less and less tolerant in this newly immoral world of any moral and ethical flaws. The more intolerant I became, the larger my love for Adam grew, unlike many other artists. This is a story about how and why he stood the test of my freshly unforgiving mind and it has nothing to do with his political beliefs although if they were any different, I definitely wouldn’t be here. But here I am, thank you, Adam; talking about minor reasons for loving you.
The humbleness
Anyone who has ever watched Adam perform, especially with Queen, cannot deny that Adam exudes his particular brand of confidence, bravado or cockiness if you will, in spades when he is on stage. He is absolutely fantastic at it, too, and the fans lap it up like nectar of gods. But, if you have ever seen any interview of his, if you have ever heard him talk or read his words, you would know that he is so far from being cocky that it is almost difficult to connect him with his on stage persona. His voice is soft and sweet, his face warm, open and smiling, and his body language relaxed and peaceful.
At first, I thought that his stage behavior was simply his preferred modus operandi when on stage, his performing style, but upon further rumination I have decided that he comes off as cocky on stage because of a combination of factors which include his superior voice and talent, his stage moves and his acting skills which are always in service of the message of a song and not because he is like that by default or by nature. In other words, it is not a part of his character, but it is more of a side-effect, a brilliant one at that, of his performance. It’s an act and he does it excellently, the best and most recent evidence being his epic front man battle with James Corden where he was larger than life. Luckily, I think everybody seemed to understand that, I would have hated if people found him pretentious. In reality, he is as humble and down to earth as he appears in his interviews and it is not just about his words or the softness of his voice. His humbleness is real and deep.
The modesty
Adam has never paid himself thinly veiled compliments like other musicians constantly do. It’s in little details: for example, Olly Alexander of Years&Years, who has a specific colour to his voice which is very similar to that of Stevie Wonder, every single time he gets a question during an interview who his favourite singer is, always replies that it is Stevie Wonder. Really. At the same time, the list of singers Adam has always praised is so long and varied, from Adele to Troye Sivan, who couldn’t be more different from him in every way possible. He has always very carefully avoided implying in any way that he finds his voice outstanding. Adam, an amazing vocalist, one of the best, has even gone so far as to point out what he finds lacking in his own voice.
The generosity
He is always so ready to say nice things about others. He very often makes music recommendations, praises other artists whenever he has a chance and has never shied away from talking about other musicians in very flattering ways. His latest interview on Access Hollywood where he talked about Lady Gaga being the prime example - he not only talked highly of her talent and expressed faith in her performance, but also defended her artistic journey from undeserved criticism in the sweetest way possible.
Such displays of honest appreciation without any hint of jealousy or bitterness are so rare, and make me choke up with love for him. I love when he talks about other musicians, I love his nobleness and selflessness and sometimes it seems like he feels more comfortable talking about others than himself. It’s such a strange occurrence in this dog eat dog world where even when other artists do talk about their colleagues, it is usually a business thing.
The class
Another phenomenon practiced by most artists but not Adam and, as a pop culture aficionado, I’ve seen it a million times by now, is subtly glorifying their talents and skills by either speaking dismissively about their colleagues who have different skill sets or talents, or over-inflating their own fortes in an extremely indiscreet manner.
For example, there are many interviews with artists (e.g. Troye, Matty Healy of the 1975 and on occasion Olly) who might not be the most superlative singers, but they do write their own songs, with others, mind you, where they very intently focus on the authorship as the most important and most worthy aspect of creation and artistic expression – which would be completely fine if they didn’t at the same time make obvious digs at other artists who do not happen to be authors of their songs. The implication that they are just the right type of artist is so pre-school and comes off as uncultured to say the least. What makes them do that is beyond me, but if I had to guess, I would attribute it to their own insecurities and lack of class.
The privacy
I know that Adam watches some of these interviews because he follows the scene. I wonder what he thinks, if he dismisses such ideas as follies of the youth which will pass, or idiotic ramblings which will stay. Behind every Adam’s album and performance there are so many ideas and philosophies of his own, beliefs and experiences both personal and those heavily linked to his community and the city he lives in, that it’s a shame he rarely talks about them in greater extent as if he hides them from general public, refusing to go into too personal details. There is a whole humongous iceberg under that surface, but Adam will never reveal some things. He is very careful with what he shares and the most intimate parts of his soul will forever remain a mystery to us. A few general sentences is what we usually get and a few discreet clues for die hard fans.
I cannot help but wonder if Adam somehow miraculously turned into a pompous prick, put on a black turtle neck, crossed his legs and started ranting about his work ad nauseam, in other words if he would paddle his artsy boat as fervently as others do, would he be more appreciated by other paddlers, oops – sorry, I meant artists. The fact that he refuses to talk about his love life, sex life, breakups, heartaches and such in any detailed and overly revealing way, in today’s climate where everyone’s sob story is an instant sell be that in the form of a song, a book or a video, Adam’s determination to keep his emotional life as private as he can is considered a bad business move to say the least. Not artsy enough, definitely.
The support
Never, and I repeat never have I heard Adam dismiss other artists’ skills, or hear him praise his own abilities by talking how vocals are the most important part of being a singer because he knows that in that way he would be touting his own horn and he would never do that. Not only because he has more class than that, but also because in that way he would be indirectly offending other singers who are just not that great. He’s simply not that kind of a person. Incidentally, Adam has openly supported many artists, including both Troye and Olly on multiple occasions – they have never done a similar thing in return. Whether it is because they’re both much younger and find Adam great and successful enough that he doesn’t need their support, or because they don’t find Adam’s work worthy of support, is irrelevant. Sometimes, it’s not even about support, it’s simply about liking a song or a performance. In Adam’s case, it’s as simple as that: it’s a ‘Hey I like your song’, or ‘Hey I love your performance’ kind of thing. Very normal, very casual, so why so rare?
The manners
Adam is cool like that, mature and unconceited, not turning it into some kind of a tit-for-tat cheapness and I hope he remains that way forever. Sometimes, there are more tweets on his feed about other artists’ work than his own, which is also pretty rare. When you hear some artists talk about their work, you would think that they have managed to cure cancer and eradicate world hunger at the same time just by doing their job. They come off as such pompous pricks when they talk about their creative process, all artsy, serious and self-important. Even if you’re very successful, you don’t have to overinflate your own worth. It’s tacky. Adam would never call out those pretentious, my-art-is-the-highest-form-of-art, pseudo-tortured types that their art and their public image is just as produced and just as managed as every other if not even more, even though he knows that is the case and even though such types are usually the first to question artistic authenticity of others.
The work ethics
Adam has never done that. Can you imagine what some such person would do if they switched shoes with Adam for a while? If they were in possession of THAT voice, that talent, working with Queen, doing everything Adam has done, branching out to so many fields… Sky would be their limit, I can tell. They would go on and on about every single tiny detail, painstakingly describing every step of their divine way. For example, as I imagine, where Adam was bending over backwards to pay the right amount of respect to the spirit of Freddie, and Brian and Roger and Queen in general and every Queen fan and their grandmother, talking about honour, what an honour it is for him, while at the same time completely quietly and discreetly doing an immense work of learning the entire Queen catalogue and singing those songs that are almost impossible to sing to the best of his amazing abilities… lesser people would be anything but quiet. Apart from a few occasional remarks, has Adam ever really commented on that? On his actual work? He is usually pretty laconic and insouciant about everything he does! It’s mindboggling, really.
The sophistication
Not only has Adam never bragged about anything he has ever done in an unclassy or any other manner for that matter, but he has on multiple occasions DOWNPLAYED his achievements. My knight in shining armour, he is so proud of himself when he manages to slip into some ludicrous, rushed interview that he’s had a huge concert. He is a very skillful conversationalist and he has amazing social and verbal skills, so the only reason he doesn’t mention something is usually because he doesn’t want to. But, while he sometimes doesn’t bring up his own achievements, he has never ever failed to mention his collaborators, people he works with, musicians or writers if a song is in question, or actors in a movie. I have never seen a more considerate star.
All that in a world where every You Tuber or a reality show star has published a book written by god knows whom, or released a makeup line made by god knows whom, where people are taking credits left and right for everything they bought fair and square and even for what they didn’t, it seems almost crazy not to take enough credit for one’s own achievements. In such a world, my Adam comes across as an eighteenth century nobleman. I don’t know whether to smush him to pieces with love or strangle him to death because of it. It used to really bother me sometimes. He is too modest for his own good, so decent and well-mannered with incredibly sophisticated sense of moral and social propriety. He is really out of this world.
The commitment
Of course, Adam isn’t the only one who behaves like that, but it feels like such artists are rare as unicorns. In the movie industry where nowadays you aren’t considered a good enough actor if you don’t drastically change your body shape, or learn how to launch a missile or generally go through hell and back just to prove your own commitment and method acting skills, some actors, like Chris Pratt, James McAvoy or John Malkovich, just to name a few, intentionally downplay their level of commitment just because they find such quasi-method bullshit despicable. I wonder if Adam feels the same way towards people who would do just about anything to achieve their goals. You can be dedicated and professional without slipping into pathology. Tell that to Taylor Swift.
I find Adam’s lack of killer approach to success very un-American, pardon the generalization. He’s ambitious, but within reason. He is also competitive, but also within reason. It’s all very soothing, really. It’s very pleasurable to be his fan because although he is very busy and works so much, he is as relaxed and chill about it as he can be. He is building pyramids in ancient Egypt, but he behaves like he’s playing with Lego bricks in front of his fireplace. I really wonder sometimes where he finds the strength. He never lets us feel his efforts.
The realness
Another atypical characteristic would be that his public image doesn’t translate to his private life. Outside the limelight, he’s a real guy. He doesn’t filter his social media photos beyond recognition and when he does, he does it for fun, not business gain. I’ve seen some celebrities’ or wanna-be’s Instagram accounts, they look like professional portfolios. Everything is business, everything is image. Adam’s account looks like I took the photos with my ancient camera, more often than not. He isn’t afraid to show his goofy, not always flattering side, and the message is loud and clear – not everything is business for him. He isn’t afraid to admit that he spends his free time being a couch potato with his dog, he isn’t afraid to proudly rock his six-packless torso in a lacey top, he isn’t gym addicted to the point of obsession even though it could expand his career to some fresher, Nick Jonas-y pastures. He goes out with his friends, has a drink, smokes some weed, and lives his life. Even though he loves his job, and is incredibly professional, dedicated and serious about it, it’s not his entire life and not everything in his life is subjected to it. He doesn’t build up a squeaky clean fake public image in order to gain a few more fans. In other words, very European of him, which, together with his flair for drama and theatrics, makes him a perfect candidate to move to the old continent, yes, please. We love theatrical performances here. That being said, he is a good businessman, but it has never overshadowed his love for honesty.
And one major reason for the end
A week ago, a very talented artist has released a new single and it already has over 60 million views on You Tube. It’s a nice song, it sounds really good. Let’s say I can see why it’s a hit to a certain extent. It would make a decent ring tone. But nothing about the song, or the artist (Ed Sheeran) for that matter, makes me jump in my seat like a giddy child and my heart want to break out of my rib cage and smile around my head like a lunatic, which is what happens every time Adam Lambert opens his mouth and sings, without fail. Every single time.
So I really want those 60 million views in 7 days for him, but not for me, I want it for this world and its ways. As for myself, I don’t dream about a perfect song for Adam because now I know that his voice and talent will always be bigger and better and beyond any song. No single song will ever be good enough for him. Some of Queen’s songs came close. Some of his own songs came close, too. Some covers as well. His voice doesn’t really need a perfect song because his voice makes every song perfect. Be that his own song, a Queen song or a cover, it instantaneously becomes the best possible version of itself the second Adam Lambert’s vocal cords touch it.
You would have to think of all the greatest songs ever and make him sing each and every one of them in order to even remotely feel satisfied about the quality balance between his voice and the material. That’s what it takes to fully flex his vocal muscles and have them thoroughly used and displayed for our complete pleasure – his own three albums and more, not some parts but the entire Queen’s opus, and every cover he can possibly desire to make and more. Always more. So don’t talk about a song.
One day, when he has everything he’s ever wanted under his belt, I’ll still want more from him, even if it is to sing me my favourite song in my own language, which will never happen. And that is his blessing and his curse, that such is the nature of his artistry that it is too good to be served once or twice or x number of times. Any number of songs, any number of views, you will still want more, it will never, ever be enough.
THE END
‘Scuse the word vomit;)