The Return of The Rock Star 4 out of 5 Stars
Adam Lambert is the real thing. He is charismatic, flamboyant and sings his @ss off. He isn't here to make you like him, he's here to make you pay attention. That over-the-top AMA performance wasn't just there to shock you, it was there to make 100% certain that he was all everyone talked about afterwards. And they did. For days. Lambert laid it all on the table; from his sexuality to his theater background, all so you'd take notice. There hasn't been someone so blatantly lunging fists first at rock stardom since Billy Corgan smashed his pumpkins.
The eagerly anticipated "For Your Entertainment" could only be anti-climactic after all the hype. But to a great extent, Lambert succeeds in making an album that cuts the crap and gets right to the core of the issue. As he said in the interviews after the AMA show, he's not here to babysit. He's here for your entertainment. As the slinky title track hooks you in, you understand. His flirty, wink-wink taunting is on a par with Queen's "Let Me Entertain You" for sheer audacity. With his soaring falsetto, Lambert keeps up with Freddy Mercury sly tease for tease.
My guess is that Lambert had more than his share of Queen and Bowie posters on his childhood wall, because this album is the equivalent of a walking "Velvet Goldmine" audition. Even the cover, which harkens back to 70's androgyny as portrayed by the best of Bowie or Bolan, howls of fascination with kinky songs and catchy kitchiness. "For Your Entertainment" delivers on both counts. The songs are almost all outsider written, from Justin Hawkins of The Darkness (the opener "Music Again") to modern dress-up Queen Lady Gaga (the steamy "Fever"), tailored to Lambert's style. Even "Soaked," by Muse's Matt Bellamy, finds Lambert slipping into the skin of arena power ballads. Add the 2012 big movie ballad, "Time For Miracles," and you've again got the complete package.
However, at times, this works against the album. When you cram EuroDisco ("If I Had You") next to Weezer Pop (the Rivers Cuomo penned "Pick U Up") and the screaming glam rock of the title track, "For Your Entertainment" seems over-thought. There were too many cooks in this kitchen, when all anyone really needed to do was let Adam be Adam. His personality makes up for the odd fumble, and I get the feeling that, after he gets enough success to command some authority, Lambert could be the American Idol graduate to sustain a rock star career. At least I hope he's not the new Jobriath.
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