talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Sept 1, 2014 8:48:36 GMT -5
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. By niche, I don't mean a genre....by niche I meant hitting with an bigger scale audience. I never said stick to one genre. By all means tackle rock, pop, funk, showtunes, whatever he wants to. I agree his voice is his strength and the beginnings of a great sound...just like Freddie - BUT the difference at this point is that Freddie had 3 musicians that made for a consistent and higher class sound backing that voice. No you misunderstood...I'm not at all comparing voices. I was more comparing the music. (Although personally i would put Bellamy right up there but that's opinion). but you hear that song, you think of the original writers....cause of the style - not the vocals. And I'm quite certain that general fanbases would do the same. Those are closer to a sound I guess. I highly enjoyed Aftermanth - probably my fav song on FYE. Strut bored me. Shady, Kickin' In and Broken Open to use the ones you mention didn't do a whole lot for me. I enjoyed FYE more than Trespassing because there was far more real musicians involved, led to a far more organic sound and the production was more to my liking...as I said I felt Adam's voice was buried in the Trespassing production. I think Queen's sound honestly was all four members. Freddie has a very distinctive voice. And Brian's guitar also has a very distinctive sound. Queen may have had a ton of misses and hey to each their own on the more misses than hits...And I will say that you are absolutely right in that Queen lived in a better time to be an artist and they were given the freedom to discover themselves. You obviously feel I'm attacking Adam, but I'm not trying to. I like Adam. I want to like Adam's music. But to use your analogy...I listened to both of Adam's studio albums. Far more miss than hit, despite Adam's phenomenal voice. *shrug* Everyone has an opinion and I know there are some here that love Trespassing. And hey more power to them. I'm glad they got the album they wanted or are satisfied with it. In my opinion, he can do better and deserves better. |
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Sept 1, 2014 8:48:49 GMT -5
To me, "sound" isn't about "voice" or "genre". Agreed! |
|
talon
Member
Posts: 2,933
Location:
|
Post by talon on Sept 1, 2014 8:52:06 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. I'm not looking to pick him apart. I am looking to how he could possibly evolve and get the success he deserves. *shrug* I've obviously hit a sore point with you and I apologize for that. I'm trying to politely suggest a different viewpoint. I'm really not slagging him off. |
|
|
|
Post by nica575 on Sept 1, 2014 8:59:44 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. Can't agree more! (I discarded the post I just wrote in order not to repeat the same exact ideas). But the main point is: For me Adam's sound is his VOICE, the same way as Queen's sound is BRIAN'S GUITAR. IMO the best song on FYE is Broken Open - Adam's essence. TP is overall a brilliant album with a few RCA induced duds. It is interesting that Adam himself insists on being eclectic. We know he is against the "box" or "genre" limitations but I wonder what he thinks about the "sound". Does it have any meaning for him? |
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 9:14:55 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. 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. I know what Talon means and agree that he should maybe stick to one producer for his next album. The moment we hear his voice we know it's unmistakably Adam but the general public do not, so a common core to an album might help. The songs could all be different genres as Queen songs are. The Queen sound to me is not just Brian's guitar. I think it's a combination of Brian's guitar, Freddie's voice, the expert harmonizing and bombastic sound and melodies. You can take out Freddie's voice and replace it with Adam's and I still know I'm hearing Queen but when I think of the music of Queen it is with Freddie's voice. |
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 9:20:05 GMT -5
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. By niche, I don't mean a genre....by niche I meant hitting with an bigger scale audience. I never said stick to one genre. By all means tackle rock, pop, funk, showtunes, whatever he wants to. I agree his voice is his strength and the beginnings of a great sound...just like Freddie - BUT the difference at this point is that Freddie had 3 musicians that made for a consistent and higher class sound backing that voice. No you misunderstood...I'm not at all comparing voices. I was more comparing the music. (Although personally i would put Bellamy right up there but that's opinion). but you hear that song, you think of the original writers....cause of the style - not the vocals. And I'm quite certain that general fanbases would do the same. Those are closer to a sound I guess. I highly enjoyed Aftermanth - probably my fav song on FYE. Strut bored me. Shady, Kickin' In and Broken Open to use the ones you mention didn't do a whole lot for me. I enjoyed FYE more than Trespassing because there was far more real musicians involved, led to a far more organic sound and the production was more to my liking...as I said I felt Adam's voice was buried in the Trespassing production. I think Queen's sound honestly was all four members. Freddie has a very distinctive voice. And Brian's guitar also has a very distinctive sound. Queen may have had a ton of misses and hey to each their own on the more misses than hits...And I will say that you are absolutely right in that Queen lived in a better time to be an artist and they were given the freedom to discover themselves. You obviously feel I'm attacking Adam, but I'm not trying to. I like Adam. I want to like Adam's music. But to use your analogy...I listened to both of Adam's studio albums. Far more miss than hit, despite Adam's phenomenal voice. *shrug* Everyone has an opinion and I know there are some here that love Trespassing. And hey more power to them. I'm glad they got the album they wanted or are satisfied with it. In my opinion, he can do better and deserves better. I guess when I see niche I think someone means a very specific sound or style like say Michael Buble or Josh Groban not having a bigger scale audience because that's not really a niche is it but rather more success? I do completely agree, Adam needs better musicians backing up his amazing voice and nothing has made that more apparent than this tour with Brian and Roger. Adam deserves musicians who rise to the caliber of his ability. The best and worst thing about Adam though is his loyalty so I don't see him changing backing bands anytime soon. I suppose I just don't pay attention or care who writes the songs and rarely think twice about it and I would venture a guess than most casual music fans don't either. I do agree that Matt Bellamy has a fantastic voice but again I don't think he could have sang Soaked "better" than Adam did nor do I think Soaked sounds like a Muse song, which interestingly enough when Muse first arrived on the scene people called them a Radiohead rip off so I guess it happens to to a lot of artists. which musicians were involved in FYE v. Trespassing? it was all studio musicians if I am not mistaken. Trespassing has a more electronic element but Nile Rodgers plays on that album ffs, how much more real do the musicians need to be lol. For me I skip more songs on FYE than I do on Trespassing so I enjoy Trespassing more but I still think Adam has better albums in him than either of those two. I don't feel like you are attacking Adam. You gave your opinion and I responded with mine. |
|
|
|
Post by tinafea on Sept 1, 2014 9:27:49 GMT -5
Talon, you are a brave man Charlie Brown  Carry on, I do enjoy a good debate |
|
|
|
Post by DancyGeorgia on Sept 1, 2014 9:30:33 GMT -5
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. I also would like to see Adam's music use real instruments played by real musicians rather than the computerized sounds!!! I love both albums, but the production on a few of the songs did not compliment his voice the way real instrumental music would have. |
|
|
|
Post by nica575 on Sept 1, 2014 9:31:18 GMT -5
mmadamimadamm @mmadamimadamm
STREAM INFO: WE HAVE STREAMERS ON MIXLR FOR BOTH AUCKLAND SHOWS, SO YOU CAN ALL BREATHE EASY!!!!
#NZGlitterTribe ROCKS!  |
|
|
|
Post by nica575 on Sept 1, 2014 9:31:36 GMT -5
mmadamimadamm @mmadamimadamm
STREAM INFO: WE HAVE STREAMERS ON MIXLR FOR BOTH AUCKLAND SHOWS, SO YOU CAN ALL BREATHE EASY!!!!
#NZGlitterTribe ROCKS! |
|
