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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:23:44 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:28:16 GMT -5
Translated from German On his new solo album "High Drama", Queen singer Adam Lambert has re-recorded a colorful selection of well-known pop classics and almost obscure songs "high drama"Queen singer Adam Lambert celebrates queer pop classics
On his new solo album "High Drama", Queen singer Adam Lambert has re-recorded a colorful selection of well-known pop classics and almost obscure songs. Some of the originals are barely recognizable in his versions. Good this way.
He is still considered the new frontman of the band Queen. Adam Lambert has been performing regularly with the rock legend since 2011 and has since convinced many skeptics. In the summer, Queen + Adam Lambert filled the large O2 Arena in London ten times in a row on their world tour. The 41-year-old is now dedicating himself to his solo career, which began in 2009 with second place on "American Idol".
"High Drama" (Amazon affiliate link ) is the name of his fifth studio album. There is currently no drama in Lambert's life, as he emphasizes in the zoom interview with the German Press Agency in London. "No! I guess I'm just known for being theatrical on stage," explains the gay singer. "When I perform, I like to bring a dose of emotion and intensity. And we just thought that title encapsulates how I approached these cover songs."
An album with only cover versions
The songs on "High Drama" are exclusively cover versions of songs by different artists and eras, which Lambert puts his own very distinctive stamp on. "I loved the challenge of picking songs, turning them inside out and making them sound like something new or something completely different," says Lambert.
His criterion for the selection: "Of course I have to like the melody, but also the text, the story behind it. What is the message in a song and how does it fit my life? How can it reflect my own reality?"
It kicks off with a bang with Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero," which Lambert turned into an electro-rock song with a shuffle rhythm that's stylistically located somewhere between T.Rex, Gary Glitter, Katy Perry and Muse. The only thing the song has in common with Tyler's 1984 evergreen is the melody. "It's totally camp of course, the lyrics are basically ridiculously dramatic," says the Indianapolis singer. "But I found it very interesting as a gay man to sing about how I need a hero, to sing about him. It's a he and that's how he's supposed to be. That was really fun."
Lambert turned Duran Duran's '90s hit "Ordinary World" into a poignant piano ballad that rivals the original. "We all know that feeling," he says. "We all know the feeling of loss, the feeling of grief." During an appearance on the US show "The Voice", he dedicated the song to the victims of the killing spree at the queer "Club Q" in Colorado last November.
Homage to queer idols
The Culture Club hit "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" is virtually unrecognizable in Lambert's version. "I wanted to see what that would feel like if we took the reggae rhythm out and made it a little bit darker," he says. Boy George, who has always been one of his idols, gave him his blessing. "He really liked it." Equally odd is "Sex On Fire", originally by the Kings Of Leon, which now sounds like Prince is at an EDM party.
"Mad About A Boy" was written for a woman by the gay jack-of-all-trades Noël Coward in the 1930s, but there is also said to have been a version with homosexual allusions, which was risky at the time.
"I'm A Man" comes from the forgotten Jobriath, who is particularly close to Lambert's heart. "The world wasn't ready for an artist like Jobriath back then," he says of the rock musician, who in 1973 became the first openly gay singer to be signed to a major label (Elektra Records). Despite excellent reviews, commercial success failed to materialise. After an eventful life, Jobriath died in 1983 as a result of AIDS. "This guy had a lot of talent and a dream, but it didn't work out."
With their own shoes in big footsteps
Adam Lambert is a specialist in singing other people's songs without the one-time "American Idol" co-runner ever being suspected of trying to copy anyone. This has been known at least since his engagement with Queen, where Freddie Mercury probably left the biggest footsteps that a band frontman can leave behind. Nevertheless, Lambert basically kept on his own shoes.
So also on "High Drama". Whether it's cult hits from the 80s, jazz classics, pop obscurities or lesser-known, newer songs by Pink ("My Attic") and Billie Eilish ("Getting Older") - Adam Lambert makes them effortless and natural on his album own. That sounds really good. And Queen fans should check it out too.
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:54:33 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:55:02 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:55:43 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 2:59:47 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 3:11:49 GMT -5
Translated from French The singer Adam Lambert covers eleven well-known songs, in electro, rock or reggae mode, in his album High Drama. twitter.com/20minutesOnline/status/1629007589299175424ADAM LAMBERT“I wanted to reinvent classics”Singer Adam Lambert covers eleven well-known songs, in electro, rock or even reggae mode, in his album "High Drama".After a tour with Queen in 2022, the American Adam Lambert bursts out solo with an album of covers. Unveiled on February 24, 2023, “High Drama” brews wide, from Bonnie Tyler to Billie Eilish and from Culture Club to Kings of Leon.
Why a cover album, an exercise that doesn't usually thrill you?
I've been working on another album since the start of the pandemic, a musical. This project takes time because it involves many collaborators. While waiting for it to be ready, I wanted to publish music. As I'm already busy writing songs, I wanted to reinvent classics.
How did you do it? Some titles are unrecognizable.
For some songs, I had a specific idea in mind before going into the studio with the producers. I thought 'West Coast' by Lana Del Rey would be great in a Led Zeppelin heavy blues rock style. And then other titles took shape by dint of working on them.
We think of Queen while listening to the arrangements of “Getting Older”, by Billie Eilish.
Absolutely. I chose Billie Eilish because she is a singular singer, like the majority of the artists on the album. She is only 20 years old, but the lyrics of this song perfectly evoke the feeling of getting old, at any age. I suggested adding some Queen-style backing vocals and the song took on a seventies pop vibe.
You turn “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” by Boy George. Are you a fan of him?
Yes, and he also became a friend. I don't think he gets the recognition he deserves for his audacity as an openly gay singer in the early eighties. And then this song is great, a classic that everyone knows. I thought that the lyrics could lend themselves to a more sad, dark and electronic interpretation.
You too have been an LGBT pioneer from the start of your career. What do you think of Sam Smith's success today?
I am delighted. When I started in 2009, the world was very different and full of taboos. I wanted to do a sexy performance on TV for my first single and I got slammed. It took forever to see Lil Nas X flirt with a dancer on stage, which is crazy.
You can sing it all, seemingly effortlessly. But was "Chandelier", by Sia, a challenge for you?
Yes, it's a big chunk. I knew I wanted to approach this song in my own way. I consciously avoided using my head voice, like Sia does in the chorus, because I found it predictable. So I give it my all all the way. I might regret it when I sing this title on stage, but I'm happy with the result!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB7NsWHCQv4&t=1s
www.20min.ch/fr/story/jai-voulu-reinventer-des-classiques-943302206878?
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 3:20:20 GMT -5
twitter.com/MusicNewsWeb/status/1629017170066964483REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Adam Lambert returns to his roots on the covers album High Drama. This may be the American’s first cover project, but it’s fair to say the chart topper rose to fame by putting his stamp on old favourites. The artist hit the big time as a runner-up on American Idol, before deputising as Queen’s lead singer. The latter sees Lambert having to strike a delicate balance of honouring the irreplaceable legacy of Freddie Mercury and still find the space to leave his mark on crowd favourites. Across 11 tracks of classic and modern Pop, Lambert manages to add his own flavour to the familiar, while maintaining their soul. Listeners are treated to era spanning tunes from Billie Eilish’s ‘Getting Older’,Duran Duran’s Ordinary World, to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘ Holding Out For A Hero’. Adam Lambert’s distinctive pipes are charismatic throughout. The musician’s voice is always filled to the brim with energy, at times, almost ready to burst out of a songs bounds. An early highlight of the set is that of ‘Ordinary World’. Under Lambert’s care, the Duran Duran hit becomes gently atmospheric. Pianos slowly bring out the melancholy, before violins sweep in to brighten the melody. The track is beautifully produced, and allows its Vocalist to bring the words and emotion to the forefront. If you’ve ever wondered what Billie Eilish would sound like if she was covered by Queen, then you have too much time on your hands. You are however, in luck. The opening to ‘Getting Older’ has the listener, being dragged through a time distortion field, with the vocal modulation in full effect. Think One Vision and you’re in the right ballpark. What follows is a slow rock number, with a hint of the psychedelic. It maintains the ache of the original’s lyrics while providing a compelling voice to sing it. More.. www.music-news.com/review/UK/15349/Album/Adam-Lambert?
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 3:36:27 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Feb 24, 2023 3:41:23 GMT -5
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