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"For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert
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There’s nothing like a controversy to pique interest about an album.  Adam Lambert’s AMA performance turned a few heads, including Matt Surface, who apparently believes an AMA performance means our gay icon in training sucks.  Well, Mr. Surface, as the popular saying goes, I’ll be the judge of that!

We have to table the AMA question.  He sounded off, but so did other performers that night.  Music circa 2009 mixes everything so loud that it sounds wrong when the singer is so lifted above his or her background music, it sounds wrong (see Whitney’s performance for another example - she seemed pretty good, but off because of the sound production).

So, with the big shock factor (ooh, he kissed a guy!  ooh, he fell!), we now see if it’s just a distraction to sell a few records.  Are the songs worth all this bullshit hype we had to put up with leading up to the release of his debut, “For Your Entertainment?”

I’m not convinced.

The past couple of years I’ve used my chair to bitch about Idol debut albums.  Last year at this time, I wasn’t very high on David Archuleta or David Cook’s albums because they were formulaic.  Archuleta’s team put a little more window dressing on it, but the songs were mediocre on both discs.

Lambert’s arguably a better talent than either of the two, with a falsetto that evokes thoughts of either Freddie Mercury or Mika, depending on your generation, and he can carry a tune. Having said that, a lot of the music isn’t that memorable.  

He works with potent producers and writers: P!nk and producer Max Martin provided one of the more authentic tracks with “Whataya Want From Me,” which sounds a bit like a P!nk song for that matter, but is as good as her songs are. “A Loaded Smile” features the writing and producing talents of ever-present Linda Perry. Rivers Cuomo of Weezer fame is a co-writer on “Pick U Up,” which is a nice dance-pop tune produced by Greg Wells, who also had a hand in Mika and Katy Perry’s albums.

He tries hard: sweeping strings, pianos and guitars on “Soaked,” employing the falsetto prominently, especially leading into the chorus on “Music Again,” and high production values across the board. The album mixes rock, dance, pop and other influences into one big giant over the top mess.  

Despite the firepower, there’s very little that’s all that.  “A Loaded Smile” goes over the top with its production in the middle, killing the mood, while “Fever” has that techno-lite beat that seems to permeate the album but otherwise the song feels generic, even with the starpower of Lady Gaga as a songwriter. “Sleepwalker” throws a guitar solo into the middle of the ballad.  It was more successful when the Carpenters did it 35 years ago with “Goodbye to Love.”

Exceptions are “For Your Entertainment,” which succeeds for the first single; P!nk’s contribution “Want From Me,” which strips away the nonsense and offers a solid song; “Pick U Up” is more rock-oriented and a good showcase for Lambert; and album closer “Broken Open” has a very aery atmosphere to it as a ballad, and works nicely.  The rest just doesn’t hold up as well.  As the album slows down near the end, it takes everything to just not hit the skip button, minus closer “Open.”

The controversy generated on stage would translate better if the music matched.  Lady Gaga offers a very unusual image, but her music is equally off-kilter and fun.  Kylie’s beats are more catchy; Mika’s is more animated and alive, more unique and individual.  

Lambert tries mightily to break the Idol curse, but the material drags the album.  There’s nothing all that fun on here, and while Adam’s a good singer and the productions are of the caliber you’d expect from an Idol album, there’s nothing that makes you take notice.  While you could argue that it’s refreshingly gimmick-free, it just comes off as a bit bland, a rice cake in a world where chocolate sauce and french fries are the food palette of choice.  Thankfully, his talent and the controversy will likely draw enough attention for him to get a second chance. But he needs it; while a starting point, some evolution for the next album is defintiely needed.