Adam Lambert - Trespassing

Not since Kelly Clarkson has the idea of an American Idol graduate making an impact on me, the British elitist, been alive. But 3 years ago the release of Lambert's Whataya Want from Me? and For Your Entertainment, former's butchering of the English language aside, certainly caught my eye. Whether it's his image, a sort of camp Sonic the Hedgehog with biker ambitions, the prospect of a male popstar (which, in 2009, was practically unheard-of) or his rather attention-grabbing performances (gasp! He kissed a boy), Lambert, the runner-up that outsold the winner (twice), stands out.

What his image didn't need, though, was the shortlived dream of standing in for a certain Freddie Mercury when Queen were set to headline Sonisphere. Thankfully the festival was cancelled, sparing the poor bloke from the wrath of metalheads, but the plans to perform together with shows featuring Elton John should prove some level of the faith in Lambert's abilities. Naturally, as the result of talent show success, he'll never shake off some critics, but it seems a little unfair to tar everyone with the same brush.

It's unsettling then that the opener, 'Trespassing', is loaded with a touch too High School Musical 'rebellion scene' boom-clap rhythm and frighteningly Jacksonesque vocal flicks. The whole track, produced rather slickly by Pharrell Williams, does promise some grit and edge with the riffs, but is let down a little by the rest of the instrumentation. Much more forthright in its pop ambitions is 'Cuckoo', a synth-pop stumble that presents us with the possibility of a male Ke$ha ("walk that walk like you don't give a fuck"), and it's a solid chorus that pulls it off. Lambert then sets his sights on funk with 'Shady', helped along with Sam Sparro and Chic's own Nile Rodgers, and it's an excellently carved collaboration - shrill synths accentuate the bassline. Much less original though is single 'Never Close Our Eyes', as though anything else could be expected from a Dr. Luke and Smeezingtons collaboration. Co-written by Bruno Mars it's only coincidental that the whole song structure should be a carbon copy of Mars' own The Other Side. Surely. The only defence is that this is one of Mars' more bearable songs, and thus praise the lord he didn't decide to reimagine 'Grenade'.

Pharrell's touch returns to us then with 'Kickin' In', a much more energetic and attention-grabbing effort, full of many more hooks than its predecessor. If you must conform to current euphoric-chorus trends then you could do much worse than 'Naked Love', if willing to look past the glaringly obvious structure of it all (writer Ammar Malik is responsible for Moves Like Jagger and Stereo Hearts so you can take extra comfort in the fact it doesn't feature Adam Levine). 'Pop That Lock' too thrives off more stereotypical current trends, right down to the laughable dubstep 'breakdown', and is just too euphemistic to be taken seriously. First single 'Better Than I Know Myself' might have flopped commercially but then what doesn't? It's a rare glimpse, on this album, of Lambert's unedited vocal abilities and is poised with enough tension and drama in its arrangement to nail it home effectively.

Too often though the whole robotic shrill sheen can have a jagged disconnection; Lambert ironically laments "lost inside communication breakdown, better just read my lips", but it's the over-the-top sound effects pulsing and screeching in the background that make his request unappealing. Anyone who's followed my reviews for some time'll be familiar with my mid-paragraph "AT LAST A PIANO BALLAD" moment and that was initially my reaction to 'Underneath'. Again removing all obscuring distractions, Lambert is allowed to flourish vocally, but it's far from boring. The background is weighed with much melodramatic hubbub, but it's far more palatable than earlier industrial nonsense. Even the lyrical themes are laden with metal and coldness: 'Chokehold' revels in a bit of S&M, "I keep running away but I can't stand breaking the chains". Ultimately they steal the show from the gooey-loveliness of closing ballad 'Outlaws of Love', and that's probably for the better since it's Lambert's defining characteristic.

That the pop mainstream could house an openly gay fan of asphyxiation, however watered down for the censored family viewpoint, is interesting. Lambert possesses a handful of quality talents and appears to have a personality worth reading about, which makes the more polished and synthetic moments of his sophomore effort so much more frustrating. Arguably they're the essential ingredients to his position as a recording artist, and my complaints could be written off as general anti-populist whining, but the unoriginality and predictability of some tracks (seriously, click that link with Bruno Mars and tell me they aren't similar) threaten Lambert's individuality. Thankfully such moments are in the minority, for now.

Rating: 6/10
Highlights: Shady, Better Than I Know Myself, Underneath, Cuckoo, Chokehold
Avoid: Never Close Our Eyes, Broken English, Pop that Lock

Artwork Watch: Looks like the promo for a gay Robot Wars.
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