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Post by wal on Jun 13, 2015 21:58:53 GMT -5
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Post by wal on Jun 13, 2015 22:25:08 GMT -5
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Post by wal on Jun 13, 2015 23:06:28 GMT -5
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 5:45:27 GMT -5
www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/06/15/album-review-adam-lambert-the-original-high/yv4VrH3xXUv55j57WGHoZI/story.html?event=event25 By Maura Johnston GLOBE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 16, 2015 Adam Lambert shot to fame on “American Idol” for his commanding reworks of chestnuts like “Ring of Fire” and his eagerness to take his voice as high as it could go; he finished second in Season 8, but got a “Rolling Stone” cover story and a gig fronting Queen out of the deal. On his third post-“Idol” album he pulls back a bit, allowing the contours of his voice to shape mature pop songs about longing and desire. The brooding title track ruminates on viewing the past through rose-colored glasses, his formidable voice dropping at times to a near-whisper; his falsetto makes the verses of “There I Said It” build even more deliberately toward the sorry-not-sorry chorus. Club-ready tracks like “Things I Didn’t Say” and “The Light” pair his moodier outlook with pulsing beats. And Queen guitarist Brian May shows up for a juicy solo on the grinding bad-girl tale “Lucy.” It’s an appealing snapshot of how Lambert has grown, and how he’s still willing to surprise his listeners and himself. (Out Tuesday)MAURA JOHNSTON ESSENTIAL “Lucy”
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 6:04:25 GMT -5
www.hmv.com/music/adam-lambert-s-the-original-high-what-you-need-to-knowby Tom hmv London, 15/06/2015 Bio hmv.com Editor. Peanut butter, punk rock and pillows
Adam Lambert’s The Original High: What You Need To Know
The dark prince of pop returns today (June 15th) with his brand new album The Original High, here’s everything you need to know about it… What’s the background? This is the American Idol winner’s first album since 2012’s Trespassing and the third of his career. It’s also his first for new label for Warner Brothers who he signed with days after leaving RCA Records. Lambert has spent a large chunk of the last two years performing live with Queen, touring with Brian May and Roger Taylor as they cris-crossed the world and belted out all of their old classics. That tour only wrapped up in February and, after some down time, Lambert is focusing on his solo career once again. Who’s producing it? Lambert has called in all the big guns for this album. Max Martin and Shellback, both of whom are credited with helping Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson write their biggest hits, pop up a couple of times. There are also turns from Carolina Lina collaborator Tobias Karlsson, Ilya Salmanzadeh, the man who co-wrote Ariana Grande’s smash hit ‘Problem’ and Mitch Allam, who helped Clarkson recently pen ‘Heartbeat Song’. Plenty of pedigree we’re sure you’ll agree… What does it sound like? Lambert himself has described this album as less theatrical and more straightforwardly pop and he’s right there. You can hear a lot more disco and EDM high in the mix, with the tracks driven by wimping grooves and driving rhythms. ‘Another Lonely Night’ has the same feel as many of Calvin Harris’s mellower moments, ‘Ghost Town’ begins life as a drifting ballad but then drifts into full on club banger, while ‘Evil In The Night’ is a jiving pop number, the kind Olly Murs would be very happy to put his name to. This album is a lot more pop, plenty more mainstream and a lot, lot dancier. None of those are bad things. Any special guests? He’s got two. One is his recent bandmate Brian May who adds some of his iconic guitar licks to ‘Lucy’, while rising star Tove Lo also lends Lambert a hand on a track titled ‘Rumours’. Does it deliver? This is a big pop album full of massive tunes, if this doesn’t make Lambert an absolute household name, it’s hard to imagine what will. Adam Lambert’s new album The Original High is out now and can be purchased here.
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 8:38:35 GMT -5
 www.popologynow.com/2015/06/13/album-review-adam-lambert-the-original-high/Album Review: Adam Lambert – ‘The Original High’ BY RICHARD BAXTER · JUNE 13, 2015 It’s been quite a ride for Adam Lambert over the past six years. He’s gone from runner-up on American Idol, to target of the tabloids, a bonafied hit maker, and the frontman of an iconic rock band. It’s been a roller coaster of highs and lows, to say the least. All of that has led up until this moment, his third album, ‘The Original High’. Without a doubt, ‘The Original High’ is Adam’s strongest, most cohesive effort to date. All traces of his glam-rock personality have been tossed aside in favor of a fresh Euro-pop sound that fully embraces the darker side of Lambert. Enlisting Max Martin and Shellback at the album’s executive producers was, perhaps, Adam’s smartest career move to date (bar aligning himself with Queen). Just because he has some major pop dynamos in his corner, doesn’t mean ‘The Original High’ has its faults. But more on that in a minute. ‘The Original High’ opens on a fantastic note. Immediately, we’re greeted with a 1-2-3 punch. ‘Ghost Town’ gets us like an old friend as the 90’s dance/house theme continues on the title track before we jump into 2015 with the festival ready ‘Another Lonely Night’. Would it shock us that ‘Another Lonely Night’ or ‘The Original High’ could follow up ‘Ghost Town’? No. They appear to be the most radio friendly and commercial on the album – someone make this happen! And then, just like that, we’re thrown into the darkness. ‘Underground’ switches the mood with its industrial R&B vibe. It’s, perhaps, Adam’s strongest vocals on the entire album. A future single? No, probably not…but it has to be one of his strongest songs in his library. The mood continues with the Tove Lo-assisted ‘Rumors’, but changes up on ‘Evil In The Night. Glamberts, this is the one that resembles his past work the most. It just proves you can take the boy out of the theatre, but you can’t take the theatre out of the boy. Throughout the album, Adam explores real life situations and emotions. ‘There I Said It’ bottles up an explosive moment in an unfulfilled relationship, the rock tinged ‘Lucy’ tells the tale of a girl and her destructive ways, and ‘Things I Didn’t Say’ explores the feeling of being misunderstood. It’s a shame that two of the most interesting tracks fall at the end of the album. ‘The Light’ is the most progressive sound on the album. It’s an immediate standout thanks to its intriguing production and melodies. Adam flirts with a euro-dance vibe the entire record, but fully hits the nail on the head with this club ready track. ‘Heavy Fire’ may not be the biggest song on the record, but the way Adam’s voice was manipulated to create the hook proves to be one of the album’s highlights. Overall, ‘The Original High’ is very dark, very existential, and very consistent compared to past work. The concept is clearly displayed. The question with Lambert’s next album was “where does he go now”? Thankfully, the new album is nothing but a natural progression and it seem he’s finally found his sound. Most importantly, Adam relies less on his voice for the first time and creates an easy listening environment for the casual pop fan. Sure, the soaring notes are still here, but it’s a warm welcome to hear different colors and shades to his voice. Now, we mentioned there may be a fault or two with this album. Unfortunately, it’s a big one (and it may actually be a personal preference rather than a critique). It pains us to say this, but ‘The Original High’ won’t bring in any new fans. Hands down, his fans will be happy, but this album fails to open him up to a larger audience, something he needs to become the male pop star we think he could be. So, in that way, he’s missed the mark with this album. Grant it, it’s his strongest material, he goes out on a limb to reinvent himself, but the main problem is the lyrics and melodies. Simply put, they’re just not as catchy and simple when you look at who he’s worked with. When ‘The Original High’ was announced, Adam clearly didn’t shy away from the fact that he turned to Max and Shellback to create hits and some solid pop music. However, the ideas and themes on this album are very complex and hard for the general public to digest…and that’s who he should have been targeting with this record. With that being said, he was smart to not duplicate Taylor Swift’s success (Max and Shellback infamously had a huge hand in creating the blockbuster ‘1989’), but to see a bit of her winning formula interjected into these tracks would have been nice. Don’t let our personal feelings and expectations of Adam get in the way of what truly has happened with ‘The Original High’. Adam successfully reinvented his look and sound and delivered his strongest record to date. Yes, it may not be for everyone, but from the sounds of it Adam is more passionate than ever about this project. That’s all that matters and that’s what will help him win in the end. |
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 8:44:29 GMT -5
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 10:14:24 GMT -5
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 15:56:17 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/arts/music/review-adam-lambert-tones-down-excess-on-the-original-high.html?_r=0Review: Adam Lambert Tones Down Excess on ‘The Original High’By JON CARAMANICA JUNE 15, 2015 ADAM LAMBERT“The Original High”(Warner Bros.) On first flush Adam Lambert was outlandishly specific. In 2009, he exploded “American Idol” from within, a peacock who stood out for his theatrical vocal shrieks and his treating of the show as one long Broadway audition. He came in second, losing to the vocal rice cake Kris Allen, in what felt like a referendum on the unimaginativeness of the American reality-contest voting public. In the real world, it turned out that his brand of excess was divisive, too. Mr. Lambert has pinballed from concept to concept — an electropop aspirant one moment, a replacement lead vocalist for Queen the next. Maybe, to succeed, Mr. Lambert had to find a way to submit to something greater. And on “The Original High,” his third full-length record, he’s managed just that. The album is executive produced by Max Martin and Shellback, the Swedish pop mercenaries with abiding love of 1980s flash and 1990s dance music verve. They have found in Mr. Lambert an ability to be vague. Perversely, that’s set him free. “Ghost Town” is perhaps his best single to date. At the first chorus, it becomes an early-’90s club thumper, and Mr. Lambert doesn’t try to best the beat. Instead, he becomes a house diva, singing with precision and ambition but in service of the song. The strategic restraint continues on “The Original High,” and even into “Another Lonely Night,” which could have come from the “Top Gun” soundtrack. He sings with particular intensity on “Lucy,” a grand-scaled 1980s rock-style epic, but even here he lets the guitar have the loudest word. Mr. Lambert has attempted pop on this scale before, on his 2012 album, “Trespassing,” but he was still battling with style then. Here, Mr. Lambert has fully committed to formula: 10 out of these 11 songs are under four minutes. While there are a few missteps — Mr. Lambert doesn’t have the R&B sultriness required for “Underground,” and “Rumors” bizarrely cribs the jaunty synth pattern from Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” — there are almost no extravagances. After years of spectacle, Mr. Lambert may have been saved by modesty. twitter.com/nytimesmusic/status/610552740423536640
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Post by wal on Jun 15, 2015 16:10:53 GMT -5
www.digitalspy.com/music/review/a652985/adam-lambert-the-original-high-album-review-tenacious-modern-pop.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=dsuk&utm_campaign=twdsuk#~pfIi5W2SifDjuNAdam Lambert: The Original High album review - Tenacious modern popBy Lewis CornerMonday, Jun 15 2015, 12:37pm EDT Released on Monday, Jun 15 2015 When American Idol bows out gracefully for a final season next year, the talent show can be proud of the stars it has produced. Platinum-selling artists, Grammy winners, international names, and even an Oscar winner. Adam Lambert may have placed second in the show's eighth season, but he went on to sell over a million records in the US, with 2012's Trespassing making him the first openly gay artist to top the Billboard 200 chart. He then continued to make history by touring with Queen as their new frontman and managing to do so with the critics on side. However, for all his successes, Adam left his Idol record contract after they suggested he record an album of '80s covers. Instead he signed a new deal with Warner Music and employed the services of pop gurus Max Martin and Shellback to produce The Original High; a collection of unashamed pop anthems that owe more to the '90s than the decade before it. Take the deep-house synth-lines surging under Adam's effortlessly electric vocals on tracks like 'Ghost Town', 'Another Lonely Night' and 'The Light' for instance, giving credence to the album title's suggested euphoria. The striking, booming soundscapes are nearly as chasmal as Adam's prodigious vocal range, pushing his impressive falsetto and diva-like ad libs to their full potential. But there are plenty of chewy earworm hooks to bite into here too. The eerie Wild West whistle line on 'Ghost Town' is infuriatingly genius, echoing a similar tactic used by Max Martin and Shellback on Britney's 'I Wanna Go', while title track 'The Original High's tight middle eight of "summer time it stays on my mind" over tangy funk riffs is a brain invasion impossible to avoid. Along with the voltaic upsurge of Brian May collaboration 'Lucy', they alone are enough to overcharge the album's fusebox. So maybe it's only safe that there are a handful of tracks that aren't as stimulating. The alt-R&B of 'Underground' is an intriguing concept for an Adam Lambert record, but for all its murky electronics and clicks, it doesn't really conjure the required atmosphere to work. Again, the Maroon 5-esque bounce of 'Evil In The Night' has elements that are promising (namely the pre-chorus), but the overall intention doesn't come together enough to create the vibrant anthem it could be. That could be, in part, down to some lousy lyrics. Too many times The Original High trips over a dud cliché or tired metaphor. Whether it's "Baby, your love is a crime", or "it's a double-edged sword you're giving", or "She was bound to be stabbed in the back/ All for some fun in the sack", the lyrics, in places, need to be sharper and more clever to add some depth to the very polished exterior. It's a problem that affects album highlight 'There I Said It', but the sheer powerhouse performance by Adam on this unapologetic ballad means by the end you're more than willing to overlook it. "I'm a grown-ass man/ And I don't understand/ Why I should be living in the shadows," he attests on the airy chorus, confronting the issue with a supercharged passion that can only burst from an underdog tired of fighting for respect. It's a battle Adam has won many times over since his Idol defeat, and luckily here - despite its handful of pitfalls - The Original High is a bold and tenacious modern pop record that he can call another victory. 
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