taumbu
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Post by taumbu on Sept 1, 2014 8:07:41 GMT -5
Oh Queen was very rarely received well by critics. It was more of a hindsight thing to be honest. Perhaps the same thing will happen with Adam...although honestly I thought Trespassing got good reviews, just didn't sell (after the first week). Maybe the public will have a hindsight view later on... Oh it did get good reviews. Problem was it was not well promoted. And that awful first single IMO. Hardly any radio play. Anyway let's see what A3 will bring. Personally I would love him to do more bluesy stuff. MDH who is a big jazz person was very impressed with how well Adam could sing r&b. And I also think him singing with Queen is a perfect match. The songs are so great! That's what I mean, he's so good in all genres. Except maybe country. What fun for you and your kids sharing good music together! |
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Post by coo.coo.ca.choo on Sept 1, 2014 8:10:02 GMT -5
My dh and I have discussed what Talon has mentioned many times. When my dh explains Adam's sounds he'll say, "you know, the one that sounds like MJ", etc. Of course, we both agree that Adam's voice is very distinctive but his "sound" is not his own -- yet. I remember his Dad once saying about a recent performance that he had not heard "those wails" since Idol and, I think, those wails do define his Idol "sound". Many people would comment on "the guy that screams" and that seems to stick with a lot of casual "fans". But, I would also mention that his sound varies as do his musical tastes. He seems to like and recommend all sorts of sounds. I think we all have "I wish" sounds for Adam and now with his Queen tour that list of wishes may have expanded. For me, I wish for horns and funk - a Trespassing/FYE driven sound with rolling beats as in "Runnin" and the fun of a Tina Turner/Aretha Franklin "take me to church" slant -- at least this a.m. that's what I'm thinking.
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Holst
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Post by Holst on Sept 1, 2014 8:14:21 GMT -5
Talon, I was going to make a comment about the lack of hits today before I read your post. I remember a long time ago, some fans theorized that many people cannot sing along comfortably with Adam because of his range. He goes higher than the average woman wants to sing. Yesterday it occurred to me how Sia's new hit "Chandelier" goes very high when she sings that word. That definitely challenges the vocal range, yet it's a huge hit. Hmmmmm. (BTW, doesn't she sound exactly like Rhianna at the beginning of the song?)
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Holst
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Post by Holst on Sept 1, 2014 8:18:02 GMT -5
My dh and I have discussed what Talon has mentioned many times. When my dh explains Adam's sounds he'll say, "you know, the one that sounds like MJ", etc. Of course, we both agree that Adam's voice is very distinctive but his "sound" is not his own -- yet. I remember his Dad once saying about a recent performance that he had not heard "those wails" since Idol and, I think, those wails do define his Idol "sound". Many people would comment on "the guy that screams" and that seems to stick with a lot of casual "fans". But, I would also mention that his sound varies as do his musical tastes. He seems to like and recommend all sorts of sounds. I think we all have "I wish" sounds for Adam and now with his Queen tour that list of wishes may have expanded. For me, I wish for horns and funk - a Trespassing/FYE driven sound with rolling beats as in "Runnin" and the fun of a Tina Turner/Aretha Franklin "take me to church" slant -- at least this a.m. that's what I'm thinking. I don't know if I wish for Adam to have a "sound." I mean, Maroon Five is in concert on the Today Show right now. It pretty much all sounds similar. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 8:23:25 GMT -5
Well, if it is a "sound" you are looking for, then I would say Trespassing would be the album. Because both the album and the songs have Adam's sound. He wrote all but 2 songs on that album, you know?!
Adam's 'sound" for me is his voice, no matter what he is singing. It is instantly Adam! I hope he never feels he has to have one sound.
I do have to say NCOE is no "poor man's" Bruno! It's just a crap song that RCA forced him to put on the album because they thought the Bruno connection would get it played. One of their many screw ups.
"Poor man Bruno?" Puleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 8:26:39 GMT -5
mmadamimadamm @mmadamimadamm
STREAM INFO: WE HAVE STREAMERS ON MIXLR FOR BOTH AUCKLAND SHOWS, SO YOU CAN ALL BREATHE EASY!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 8:35:31 GMT -5
BUT what I wanted to mention is a reason I believe Adam struggles to find his niche. He has a great voice - of that there is no doubt. He just hasn't found his sound. Now you can tell me he can't be pigeon holed, etc. and he likes jumping from genre to genre like Queen did. BUT the slight/subtle but meaningful difference is that while Queen genre hopped, they always had a Queen sound to it. Adam though doesn't have a defined sound. I think it has to do with just taking songs from different songwriters and then using different producers. Like FYE, which I like a lot of it just sounds like a phenomenal voice doing a poor man's Darkness with Music Again, a poor man's Muse with Soaked, a poor man's Bruno Mars with Never Close Your Eyes...so it never really comes across as his own. It makes it almost an extension of a covers album...if that makes sense. Maybe I'm just rambling, but I'm trying to capture my feelings after listening to some QAL (minus the Q)  All in all, I still enjoyed FYE far more than Trespassing so we'll have to see. Adam isn't struggling to find his niche because Adam doesn't want a niche. Adam wants to be able to make whatever music speaks to him during the creative process. He has never felt he needed to be limited by genres or formulas or expectations of what he "should" be doing which is why he explores and plays with all sorts of sounds. Adam has a defined sound. That sound is HIS voice. It is the connective thread throughout both FYE and Trespassing and truth be told those albums aren't that dissimilar. I do find it interesting that you describe Adam's music as a "poor man's" this or that when in fact Adam's voice is better than any of the singers that you are apparently claiming are superior to Adam in his delivery. Describing something as a "poor man's" anything would indicate that it is the lesser or inferior of the two and I don't believe for one second that Justin Hawkins, Matt Beleamy or Bruno Mars could have sang those songs better than Adam did. It is also interesting that you picked the three worst songs off the two albums as examples of Adam's failure to find his sound. What about the songs that Adam had a hand in writing? Strut, Aftermath, Shady, Kickin In, Broken Open, etc., whose poor man substitute are those in your opinion or do you accept that these are Adam's voice/sound?
I also wonder how you want Adam to find his own voice and yet you enjoy the album he had the least amount of creative control over? FYE was a great first album for what it was. It was thrown together in three months while Adam toured the country with the idols. He had as much input as he could manage under the circumstances but it wasn't much. Trespassing he got to take his time with and he went where the music took him. He created some great music on that album; some music in fact that was clearly ahead of the curve popularity wise. Kickin In was written and produced before Get Lucky by Daft Punk so some might say that is a poor man's Adam Lambert (snark) since Adam was the artist who blended those sounds together first. As for Queen having a distinct sound, yes they did and that sound was Brian May's guitar IMO. That is the connective thread that holds their songs together. I have listened to every Queen album more times than I can count and there are far more misses than hits overall. They have some fantastic songs but they also have some real stinkers too. They were blessed to be a musical act in a time when you weren't defined by your first or second attempt to make a hit. They were afforded time to grow and expand without having to meet some unrealistic expectation of greatness right out of the gate. They toiled in bars and pubs for years struggling to even have the most modest success but that allowed them to find their sound without the world watching and criticizing their every move. |
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talon
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Post by talon on Sept 1, 2014 8:36:40 GMT -5
My dh and I have discussed what Talon has mentioned many times. When my dh explains Adam's sounds he'll say, "you know, the one that sounds like MJ", etc. Of course, we both agree that Adam's voice is very distinctive but his "sound" is not his own -- yet. I remember his Dad once saying about a recent performance that he had not heard "those wails" since Idol and, I think, those wails do define his Idol "sound". Many people would comment on "the guy that screams" and that seems to stick with a lot of casual "fans". But, I would also mention that his sound varies as do his musical tastes. He seems to like and recommend all sorts of sounds. I think we all have "I wish" sounds for Adam and now with his Queen tour that list of wishes may have expanded. For me, I wish for horns and funk - a Trespassing/FYE driven sound with rolling beats as in "Runnin" and the fun of a Tina Turner/Aretha Franklin "take me to church" slant -- at least this a.m. that's what I'm thinking. I don't know if I wish for Adam to have a "sound." I mean, Maroon Five is in concert on the Today Show right now. It pretty much all sounds similar. Well that's not exactly what I mean. I mean look at Queen. Take Another One Bites The Dust. Now take Bohemian Rhapsody. Two completely different genres, and songs, and yet there is a throughline of it still sounding like Queen. Well, if it is a "sound" you are looking for, then I would say Trespassing would be the album. Because both the album and the songs have Adam's sound. He wrote all but 2 songs on that album, you know?! Adam's 'sound" for me is his voice, no matter what he is singing. It is instantly Adam! I hope he never feels he has to have one sound. I do have to say NCOE is no "poor man's" Bruno! It's just a crap song that RCA forced him to put on the album because they thought the Bruno connection would get it played. One of their many screw ups. "Poor man Bruno?" Puleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez! I would never knock Adam's voice...as like I said, he is a great singer....but a consistency of music behind him might be the difference of connecting with a larger audience. What I mean by poor man's Bruno is that you can tell it's a Bruno Mars song. Just like Music Again is instantly recognizable as a Justin Hawkins song and Soaked is instantly Matt Bellamy. So it ends up sounding like an imitation of someone elses sound. Trespassing was just too cold. Part of that is trying to do old school funk with computerized sounds. Pop can be done with computerized synths, etc...true, good old school funk needs the real deal instruments. The vocals were good but much was buried in the production to me. The reason I say all this is I've seen QAL and I think Adam deserves better than what he's gotten so far. AND it's not just me wanting to see a QAL album or whatever...but I think Adam needs to find a songwriting partner that he can forge his own sound with. Do a whole album (or mostly) with the one person (or one team) I would even say that B&R wouldn't be the greatest choice for this as they are both past their prime as far as prolific songwriting goes...and I wouldn't want Adam to sound like an imitation of Queen either. |
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Post by coo.coo.ca.choo on Sept 1, 2014 8:44:18 GMT -5
To me, "sound" isn't about "voice" or "genre".
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 8:48:25 GMT -5
I don't think NCOE sounds like anything Bruno Mars has put out. I didn't know who Justin Hawkins was until Music Again and I don't think Soaked sounds like a Muse song. Maybe I hear music on a case by case basis and don't over analyze it to such a degree as to pick apart who wrote it because all I am focused on is who is singing it at that moment. I enjoy when artists cover other artists' music for that very reason. I like to hear different interpretations of songs and rarely make the comparison between the original and the new version.
If one is looking for something to pick apart I guess the route to take is that Adam doesn't have his own sound. IMO it is a odd criticism of an artist who is capable to singing across many genres of music and therefore shouldn't be boxed into a specific sound in the first place.
Truth is Adam has been making the Queen songs his bitch all summer long because his VOICE is his signature and whatever song he sings that is the stamp he puts on the music.
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