So, here is my top 10 list as of today. Tomorrow it could be different! This is not necessarily the top 10 best performances Adam has done. These are MY favorites, and, as you can tell, I tend to love Adam singing ballads. I can hear that gorgeous voice more clearly and purely. They are not necessarily in order until you get to the top two, which have been my all time favorites since I first heard him perform them.
NOTE: Too many YTs on a page makes the page load very slowly and can freeze some computers and cell phones. Therefore, for most I am posting the link with the "y" of "youtube" omitted. Copy the link, add a "y" and it should go to the appropriate YT.
10. Trespassing at the London Showcase:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Yc_CkXfa4Why does it make my list? It's Adam's current mission statement. It's funky. It's sexy. Yes, he has performed it with the full band and dancers and singers, even with confetti, but, I like the stripped back version that depends on Adam selling it with his voice and his personality. Vocally, it has range, power, and a little grit. It uses a different staccato style of singing.
9. Dust In The Wind:
www.outube.com/watch?v=-xxA81F278YWhy? Baby Adam. Just 25 years old here, but the voice is already so well developed and controlled. Has his signature long lyrical lines: "just a drop of water in the endless sea" and "ohhhhhhhhhhh" for 15 seconds. Most of the song is sung with what I like to call his "plain" voice. Light, easy, no grit, no twang, no edge to it. That is my favorite sound that he produces.
8. Shady: Hard to pick a version. This one with the banana cracks me up.
outu.be/q9Ltjf-xXs8?t=2m42s I like the almost Bob Fosse-esque movements during this part of the show in Japan. And, Adam sure does like the fringe on a costume.
www.outube.com/watch?v=4zYLVP86Gxc is super funky, and Adam is loose, free, boogie-ing down to the beat. What is remarkable is he is outside in absolutely fierce heat, yet gives it 110%. And the outfit? Spiked shorts and combat boots? Makes me laugh. Sexy and dorky at the same time.
Shady is one of my favorites from the Trespassing album. I like his funky vocal style, too.
7. Feeling Good:
www.outube.com/watch?v=RjqmNOxsvCc Why? Let me count the ways. Love the song choice and arrangement. The vocals are impeccable. The sustained D5 starting with a straight tone, then adding vibrato, then moving down the scale, to a tender "good". Yummy! The staging and costume were genius. Totally Vegas. The strut down the stairs foreshadowed Adam's ability to be a total Queen and make it work. (It was the moment I said to myself, "Yup, gay.")
6. Stay/Underneath:
www.outube.com/watch?v=oJR4K9SwlzY Why? Stripped back so Adam's voice is showcased. That pure, "plain" voice in a lower register. No showboating, no grandiose riffs, just damned fine singing. Very emotional, touching, convincing. He is such a great interpreter of music.
5. I Can't Make You Love Me:
www.outube.com/watch?v=vYKaIWWeulIWhy? Another early recording that showcases his voice and his wonderful interpretive ability. He makes so much more out of this song than anyone else. Heartbreaking. The last "I can't maaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkee you- gasp - love me" is vocally brilliant and emotionally gut wrenching.
4. Outlaws of Love: My favorite is probably also from the London Showcase.
youtu.be/B4HjLsvaDFIWhy? One of the most wrenching songs he has written. Very different from his usual upbeat offerings. I like how he sings "rot in hell" in his head voice until the last time, where he defiantly powers it out in full voice.
3. Someone to Love 2014:
www.outube.com/watch?v=zluRcrAp5cQ This version has the 16 second sustained note.
Why? A wonderful showcase for Adam as a performer. Vocally, it is challenging in range, power and breath support. plus he articulates the words so clearly. Dramatically, Adam acts out the words wonderfully. It's glamrock church, brothers and sisters! It has a sing along. It ends with a virtuoso high note in pure, echoing head voice followed by Adam humorously milking the audience for more applause. The final comic touch is striking the classic opera diva pose before singing the final run. It's got a bit of everything.
2. WWTLF: London Day 3 is still my favorite version, because I love the sustained high D5. Yes, he does it at iHeart, but the version is abbreviated, and is missing a verse. I want it ALL.
www.outube.com/watch?v=NVmo7QUoG2QWhy? Do you need to ask? Beautifully, classically sung. A rock opera aria. Packs an emotional wallop, too.
The version he did at the end of the NA tour was gorgeous in its own way. His voice is even richer than two years ago. I like the tenderness he sings with at the beginning, allowing more room to build thruout the song. Touching the light beam is genius. He is so dramatic. Miss the glory note, but it is probably a wise decision not to go for it when he has so many shows to do in a short time.
www.outube.com/watch?v=Una6uVHG3UE1. Come To Me Bend To Me:
www.outube.com/watch?v=DJYyqzUr6jUSimply the most beautiful version of this song I have ever heard, and I have heard a lot of them. The most beautiful light tenor voice I have EVER heard in my life. And this was TEN years ago. His voice is richer now than it was back then. It would sound even more perfect if he were to sing it today, but I am content to listen to this daily for the rest of my life. If it was the last thing I heard before I died, I would die happy.
