American Radio Networks Jim Cox
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Is Adam Lambert a flash-in-the-pan performer whose artistry will fade with the memory of his American Idol glory days? Or is he the “New Messiah” of rock – a glam-rock second coming of Elvis himself? From Hollywood to the Bible Belt, an unfailing way to start out an argument these days, is to say the name: “Adam Lambert.” One thing is certain: whether you’re an enthusiasti Adam fan or a hater, talking with regards to him and his artistry is always bound to elicit numerous strong, ardent and disparate responses. Who’s buying – or not buying Lambert’s debut album and why, is another arousing and attention holding debate. Lambert has one of the most amazing voices in the history of the recording industry. He has a great lyrical feel – and fantasti musical tone and pitch. Vocally, Lambert may jump from low vocal register to head voice to falsetto – rapidly and without delay and smoother than you may utter the name of his vocal coach – Ron Anderson. His live renditions of “Whole Lotta Love” have shown that he may sing Zeppelin more inviolable than Robert Plant. And his Idol incursions into the Aerosmith song catalog have shown that he may stand toe-to-toe with Steven Tyler – vocally and as a rock god and provocateur. Lambert in a literal sense has the voice, look and deliverance to restore classic rock as a culturally applicable and commercially viable musical genre. So why all the fuss? Oh yeah, the American Music Awards thing. You know, where for the duration of his virgin AMA performance, Lambert thrust his face into a male backup musician’s crotch and French-kissed another dude. Sex (and sexual posturing) is not one thing new to rock. From Elvis to Jim Morrison, to Mick Jagger and Tyler, an outrageous sexual effigy has always been a prerequisite for a rock god stature and – controversy a rocker’s ceaseless groupie. And, since the days of Elvis and Little Richard, each generation of rockers has gotten more liberated and sexually suggestive in it is stage performance. So why the outrage? The answer is there seems to be a double standard in rock-pop music. It’s cool to show off your sexuality, if you’re straight. But it’s not so cool, in fact it’s downright upsetting and uncomfortable to a lot of folks, if a gay performer sexually plays to his/her select congregation. And, Lambert is an avowed gay young man. Gay pride aside, Lambert unwisely let his sexual identity upstage his vocal performance – and career on the AMA show. A lot of us straight folks don’t actually care that he’s gay. But we were disappointed when he didn’t vocally deliver the goods at the AMA. So is public outrage when it comes to Adam’s sexuality the reason why another variety-reality show contestant, Susan Boyle, is outselling Lambert more than 8 to 1 in their debut albums’ sales? Boyle’s debut album has sold more than eight million units and counting. Released last November, Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment” album, had sold around 600,000 copies in the U.S. by January 2010. That’s a respectable sales figure for most ordinary new artists. Especially in these days of declining record sales, illegal CD downloads and pirating. But Lambert is no general artist. He looks like an androgynous son of Elvis, with the vocal chops of numerous futuristic rock god. He just doesn’t have a superstar’s record sales. And, a lot of humans are marveling why. The answer is twofold: there in truth has been a cultural divide and backlash versus Lambert by Bible Belters and the Religious Right. Their reaction to Lambert’s AMA show is no dissimilar than what happened after Elvis gyrated his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show. Or, how American fans burned their Beatles records after John Lennon proclaimed the Beatles to be “more frequent than Jesus Christ.” You make arguable affirmations or carry out suggestive activenesses – as a public figure – and you live with the consequences. For a new artist, RCA gave Lambert WAY too much artistic freedom on his introductory album. With the exception of “What Ya Want from Me,” the songs are not particularly well-written or memorable. Most importantly, the album lacks a “hit signature song,” ala Tina Turner and “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”; Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” or the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Signature songs are those that make you instantaneously think of the artisan when they come on the radio. They not only trade millions of records – they construct lasting careers for recording artists. One simple reason Susan Boyle’s album is outselling Lambert’s by such a wide margin is that Boyle sang for the most part standards, or played to her strength, with the exception of her bizarre rendition of the Stones’ “Wild Horses.” Meanwhile, Lambert, RCA and his management team consecrated a plethora of “branding” and artisan selling sins. Admittedly, through his own artistic diversity and disputable actions, Lambert has not made his effigy branding and retail an easy task for his gatekeepers. By his nature, activenesses and diversity, Lambert defies nicely fitting into any record label’s marketing category or radio program director’s genre-specific playlist. That’s injure his play at radio. Which has hurt album sales. As has his behavior. These severe faults – poor branding, the lack of a “hit signature song,” a mixing up artistic direction and predictable song production values, along with Lambert’s decision to market his sexuality in front of his artistry, have invented a dilemma that would have killed a lesser artist’s career. And, in so doing, Lambert, RCA and his management team have defied a longstanding retail paradigm of EVERY MAJOR SUCCESSFUL recording artist. First, you fabricate a strong fan base in ONE queer genre. You build that base and exaggerate the artist’s range and genres over the course of assorted albums and years. You never willfully divulge potentially damaging personal traits that could injure your record sales. And, if personal conscience, alcohol or an Act of God drives you to making a sensible personal revelation, you wait until you’re an traditionalisti platinum artist. Lambert’s team had galore classic examples to follow, but didn’t. Elton John built a huge fan base on the strength of his great songwriting with Bernie Taupin – and his identifiable singing and piano playing attainments thru his “Tumbleweed Connection” debut album. That album and “Madman Across the Water” were widely accepted by a diverse audience. It wasn’t until various albums and years later that John “came out,” original alluding to being bisexual and later transforming himself into a celebrated gay glam-rock icon. And, by then, he’d sold millions of albums to an adoring and faithful fan base, gay and straight, who couldn’t have cared less in regards to his sexuality. And while more theatrically charged performers such as Freddie Mercury of Queen, David Bowie and Mick Jagger androgynously straddled the fence of gayness and bi-sexuality in the 1970s and ’80s, ALL of them established a wide fan base, before their sexual proclivities and predilections went public. Lambert, by nature, seems to be a lightning rod for controversy. First, he performs in a number of musical genres that traditionally have been reciprocally exclusive domains. Forget the Christians versus the non-Christians. A lot of alt-rockers frankly detest classic rockers. Many classic rockers shun alt-rockers and disdain pop-rock dance artists as “wimp sellouts.” And a outstanding number of alt- and classic rockers despise electronic dance-oriented pop-rock dance acts such as Depeche Mode. You seldom see fans from these divergent types of music at any single rock or pop concert. And when you do, the fundamental interaction is seldom peaceful. But Adam, through his numerous musical muses – and perchance with the futility of Obama attempting to win over Republicans – inexplicably tries to “bring them all together.” But now and again even dreamers have to face reality. And the reality is this. Adam Lambert has to take a great deal of obligation for his modest record sales. He needs to learn from past mistakes, not repeat them. And artistically, he needs to pick a lane. Defining your artistry may be more liberating than confining – though immature and beside the point artists oftentimes fight that truth – in lieu of searching their hearts and souls, learning their craft and – at long last finding their own voices and messages. Another reality is this: the music buying public is a myopic and fickle lot, more driven in it is buying habits by fads and usual trends – than by taste or discretion. So to Adam, and any other aspiring young recording artist, our plea here at the “A & R Room” is this: Stop making this perplexed music business more elaborated than it already is! Be an original. Pick a musical artistic lane. Show us the real you and we’ll receive or reject you on your own merits: Project your artistry and be proud of it, whether you’re an alt-rocker, classic rocker, electronic-dance artist, Broadway musical singer, or whatever. What music lovers don’t need – and will not reward – is another ambivalent musical Houdini in make-up. By: Larry Cox (http://theaandrroom.blogspot.com/) © 2010 |
A genuinely GREAT read!