1.11.15 The Ultimate Adam Lambert Playlist, more news
Jan 11, 2015 11:26:46 GMT -5
Post by cassie on Jan 11, 2015 11:26:46 GMT -5
That just may be my all-time favorite article/interview. Fascinating. Deep. Flattering. Intriguing. Respectful. Meaty.
Highlights for me?
* How deeply he prepared for this gig. Rather like a method actor preparing for a role. We have remarked before about Adam's almost encyclopedic knowledge of pop and rock music of the past 50 years. Now we have a little insight as to why. He is not satisfied just to skim the surface. As nikki pointed out, he claims he over-thinks things. Angelina Kalahari, the opera singer, has commented to me several times that Adam is a "thinking singer".
* His comment about being being so thoroughly prepared he didn't have to think about his performance and was free to go on instinct. Many of us somehow were aware of this shift. We called it "confidence" and "owning the stage." In a recent post I talked about Adam having the control and technique that allowed him to let go and soar. "What do I observe? The combination of control with freedom. It is a potent mix. ...
With Adam, his technique and delivery are so superbly controlled, he can stop concentrating on HOW to sing a word, phrase or song, and let himself be joyously spontaneous and free. He can be completely in the moment. His performance can seem effortless and timeless. Never seen before and never seen again in quite the same way. A performance for the ages."
Read more: adamtopia.com/thread/28/running?page=88#ixzz3OWrT2HHU
* His explanation for tackling the songs in their original key and going for the original melody lines and glory notes. I was not a Queen fan before Adam. Didn't dislike them, but didn't have any of their music. When I went to listen to the original songs and to Freddie's live versions, I was surprised at how much Freddie DID alter them live. It was not an interpretation thing. It was a vocal range thing, obviously. He lowered basic keys, but even more commonly, sang alternate melody lines that went down or added a lower harmony rather than soar up like the studio recordings did. It isn't a criticism. Adam also lowered keys for his live tours. It is a smart thing to do to maintain a healthy voice over a strenuous tour.
Of interest to me was Adam's reason for sticking so close to the originals in terms of keys and high passages. Freddie could make changes. They were HIS songs. Adam couldn't without being accused of messing with it or shying away from anything too difficult.
* He said he wished he had Freddie's heavier tone. I read that and thought "OMG! NOOOOOOOO! Adam, your pure, bright, rich, ringing, light tone is extraordinary! Don't change a thing!"
* His comments about DSMN. Way back when he first performed it in 2012, I wrote a comment on the DDD forum, I think, about it being a tricky little song to sing. A couple of other folks here explained it today. The song is fast and jumps up and down over an octave in arpeggios (individual notes from a chord, sung in sequence), requiring rapid shifts in voice production over different parts of his range. It is very easy to be off key on one or more notes, trying to hit them so rapidly. And as someone said, much of the song is in the upper half of the fourth octave in pitch. Above where most tenors can sing it in full voice. But the song should be light, not belted, adding to the challenge. Isn't it interesting that Adam admits to struggling with it, but, ultimately, they opened with it on NYE and it was brilliant.
Glory notes are impressive as hell. His are stratospheric and inhuman. But, for a trained singer listening, there are things he does in the "regular delivery" of a song that are even more impressive because they are NOT showy. Just damned hard to achieve without appearing to be working one's butt off. And Adam only looks like he is working hard for a note when it is part of the interpretation to be. Most of the time, watching his face, you would think it was as easy as Mary Had A Little Lamb.
It is extraordinary that Adam can perform the entire Queen catalog live. In an earlier video interview, Brian talked about
Adam never saying "no" to a requested song, but instead saying, "Yeah. I could work on that." Or something like that. Adam has the voice, the range and the technique to tackle so many different songs, genres, styles.
Just a few of my first impressions about that article. It is one for the archives!
Highlights for me?
* How deeply he prepared for this gig. Rather like a method actor preparing for a role. We have remarked before about Adam's almost encyclopedic knowledge of pop and rock music of the past 50 years. Now we have a little insight as to why. He is not satisfied just to skim the surface. As nikki pointed out, he claims he over-thinks things. Angelina Kalahari, the opera singer, has commented to me several times that Adam is a "thinking singer".
* His comment about being being so thoroughly prepared he didn't have to think about his performance and was free to go on instinct. Many of us somehow were aware of this shift. We called it "confidence" and "owning the stage." In a recent post I talked about Adam having the control and technique that allowed him to let go and soar. "What do I observe? The combination of control with freedom. It is a potent mix. ...
With Adam, his technique and delivery are so superbly controlled, he can stop concentrating on HOW to sing a word, phrase or song, and let himself be joyously spontaneous and free. He can be completely in the moment. His performance can seem effortless and timeless. Never seen before and never seen again in quite the same way. A performance for the ages."
Read more: adamtopia.com/thread/28/running?page=88#ixzz3OWrT2HHU
* His explanation for tackling the songs in their original key and going for the original melody lines and glory notes. I was not a Queen fan before Adam. Didn't dislike them, but didn't have any of their music. When I went to listen to the original songs and to Freddie's live versions, I was surprised at how much Freddie DID alter them live. It was not an interpretation thing. It was a vocal range thing, obviously. He lowered basic keys, but even more commonly, sang alternate melody lines that went down or added a lower harmony rather than soar up like the studio recordings did. It isn't a criticism. Adam also lowered keys for his live tours. It is a smart thing to do to maintain a healthy voice over a strenuous tour.
Of interest to me was Adam's reason for sticking so close to the originals in terms of keys and high passages. Freddie could make changes. They were HIS songs. Adam couldn't without being accused of messing with it or shying away from anything too difficult.
* He said he wished he had Freddie's heavier tone. I read that and thought "OMG! NOOOOOOOO! Adam, your pure, bright, rich, ringing, light tone is extraordinary! Don't change a thing!"
* His comments about DSMN. Way back when he first performed it in 2012, I wrote a comment on the DDD forum, I think, about it being a tricky little song to sing. A couple of other folks here explained it today. The song is fast and jumps up and down over an octave in arpeggios (individual notes from a chord, sung in sequence), requiring rapid shifts in voice production over different parts of his range. It is very easy to be off key on one or more notes, trying to hit them so rapidly. And as someone said, much of the song is in the upper half of the fourth octave in pitch. Above where most tenors can sing it in full voice. But the song should be light, not belted, adding to the challenge. Isn't it interesting that Adam admits to struggling with it, but, ultimately, they opened with it on NYE and it was brilliant.
Glory notes are impressive as hell. His are stratospheric and inhuman. But, for a trained singer listening, there are things he does in the "regular delivery" of a song that are even more impressive because they are NOT showy. Just damned hard to achieve without appearing to be working one's butt off. And Adam only looks like he is working hard for a note when it is part of the interpretation to be. Most of the time, watching his face, you would think it was as easy as Mary Had A Little Lamb.
It is extraordinary that Adam can perform the entire Queen catalog live. In an earlier video interview, Brian talked about
Adam never saying "no" to a requested song, but instead saying, "Yeah. I could work on that." Or something like that. Adam has the voice, the range and the technique to tackle so many different songs, genres, styles.
Just a few of my first impressions about that article. It is one for the archives!
Having said that I somehow manage to dislike some of his songs so that gives me hope for a hint of sanity still left in me.... 8-) 