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[Review] Adam Lambert - Never Close Our Eyes

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

[Review] Adam Lambert - Never Close Our Eyes

Adam Lambert Never Close Our Eyes

Released April 17th, "Never Close Our Eyes" is the name of Adam Lambert's new single from his forthcoming sophomore album, Trespassing.  The single was written and produced by Bruno Mars and Dr. Luke and serves as the follow up to "Better Than I Know Myself," which by most accounts was a commercial floppity-flop.  "Never Close Our Eyes," sees the flamboyantly big-voiced Lambert return to his dance-pop glory days in this pulse-pounding new dance-floor-ready new single. Stylistically, "Never Close Our Eyes" is right in Lambert's wheelhouse, echoing the same sound of his past club friendly hit "If I Had You."  Lambert does his thing, belting out the big chorus, his voice soaring over the bangin' electro-rock beats and sleek production.  It's clear that Lambert's looking for another anthem, and "Never Close Our Eyes" very well could be it.  Here's hoping radio latches on to this one more than they did with the lead single.

It's really a pity that "Better Than I Know Myself" wasn't more interesting because vocally Lambert sounds his best on big emotional electro-ballads and mid-tempo pop/rockers like the P!nk-penned "Whataya Want From Me," "Time For Miracles" (from the Blockbuster disaster movie 2012) and "Aftermath." Don't get me wrong, Lambert sounds AMAZING on a party track like "Never Close Our Eyes," but it's hard to tune out all the clutter around his voice. With a voice as powerful as Lambert's, it really should be about the voice.  To be honest, I'd love to see him record a more rock & roll album (a la James Durbin).  Lambert's always had that rock & roll-ready tone and quality to his voice - that certain roughness, gruffness and growl that you hear on a quality rock record.

Adam Lambert Trespassing

Lambert's sophomore album, Trespassing is due out May 15th on RCA Records/19 Recordings.  The album will be available in a 12 track standard edition as well as a deluxe edition with three bonus tracks.  With this album, Lambert pitched in with the songwriting, co-writing tracks with a who's who roster of top writing talent and superstar producers like Pharrell Williams, Claude Kelly, Benny Blanco, Bonnie McKee, Nile Rogers, Sam Sparro and others.  Trespassing comes to us nearly three years after the release of his debut, 2009's For Your Entertainment, which went on to sell nearly 2 million copies worldwide.  As if that wasn't impressive enough, Lambert became the first American Idol to ever tour the world in support of their debut album in the year following their season on Idol.  In addition, Lambert's hit single, "Whataya Want From Me" earned the singer a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nod in 2010, followed by the release of the Glam Nation Live CD/DVD and Acoustic Live! EP.  That's a lot of success for someone so young (Lambert turned 30 this year) and I know he has a long way to go. Here's hoping Trespassing is a hit for Adam Lambert. I don't think his star is quite ready to fizzle out just yet.  There's a lot of room to grow and I think he'll do that with time.

Check out the Trespassing track list, download Adam Lambert on iTunes and check out the official lyric video for "Never Close Our Eyes" BELOW.

STANDARD VERSION

01 Trespassing
02 Cuckoo
03 Shady
04 Never Close Our Eyes
05 Kickin’ In
06 Naked Love
07 Pop That Lock
08 Better Than I Know Myself
09 Broken English
10 Underneath
11 Chokehold
12 Outlaws Of Love

DELUXE VERSION

01 Trespassing
02 Cuckoo
03 Shady
04 Never Close Our Eyes
05 Kickin’ In
06 Naked Love
07 Pop That Lock
08 Better Than I Know Myself
09 Broken English
10 Underneath
11 Chokehold
12 Outlaws Of Love

DELUXE EDITION TRACKS

13 Runnin’
14 Take Back
15 Nirvana

iTunes UK



Check out Adam Lambert on the web:

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posted by Unknown at 9:00 AM

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hard to take you seriously once you suggested he put out stuff like James Durbin. I was kinda with you until then.

April 24, 2012 at 10:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of Adam Lambert's Better Than I Know Myself and Never Close Our Eyes. The clip in support of Better Than I Know Myself is a masterpiece. Furthermore, the snippets that have been released from his Trespassing album are fantastic.

I'm not in favour of Adam Lambert releasing an album 'a la James Durbin'. With respect, Adam is a far more versatile and better singer than James Durbin in my opinion.

Singers like Adam Lambert are a very rare and special breed and I hope his career becomes more and more successful in the many years to come.

April 24, 2012 at 11:04 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks both of you for your valid comments. I started to regret that James Durbin reference almost immediately after I wrote it.

All I meant by that is Adam Lambert's voice is so versatile (definitely more so than Durbin) that I would like to see him release a different type of album - something other than electro-pop/rock. I think his voice can pretty much do anything, including something with a more ROCK sound.

Regardless, I love Adam Lambert and his voice and would love to see him continue to grow as an artist. There's always room for growth.

April 24, 2012 at 12:49 PM  
Anonymous Mel said...

So weary of rawk fans trying to push Adam Lambert into the box of their own favorite genre. You're not alone, the New York Times and EW does it too, but it's time to stop critiquing the imaginary career you think Adam should have and actually critique the one he wants to pursue.

How many times does Adam have to say that he cut his teeth listening to Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince? Hah even as far back as his Idol audition he told us his very first concert was Paula Abdul. He adores pop music and it comes from a completely organic place in his formative years, more so than his Dad's vinyl record collection of dusty old classic rock hits.

If you lay this dance pop track up against the bulk of others in its own genre, it is blindingly clear that his gorgeous vocal is front and center in a way is unusual in most of today's pop hits. Why not focus on that rather than comparing it to an unrelated genre that he is not in?

Sorry, this is a very nice review, but it hits a sore spot that rawk fans tend to turn off their ears and shrug condescendingly the minute they hear a (fantastically catchy by the way) drum machine or electro melody line.

Thanks for listening.

April 24, 2012 at 2:09 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Mel - very eloquently put. You're right completely right, and I know I'm not alone in my sentiments, but I see your point. I know a lot of artists experience with different sounds as they progress in their careers and should Adam choose to do so, great. If he continues doing what he's doing, great. I will always support Adam Lambert regardless of what genre his music falls into. Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate it.

April 24, 2012 at 2:19 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

"EXPERIMENT WITH" not "EXPERIENCE WITH" - Sorry. :-)

April 24, 2012 at 2:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This reviewer lost credibility as soon as he brought up James Durbin. As soon as I saw the name, I stopped reading. And stopped caringa about whatever else he had to say.

April 24, 2012 at 5:31 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I appreciate your comment. The opinions on this blog are my own. That's all. I never claimed otherwise.

April 24, 2012 at 5:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

.
Hmmmmm.... Well, I agree with the eloquence of Mel.
And, I also think that it's easy to sit back and critique, without hearing the nuances, and the depth of this song. You are only scratching the surface. Listen to it... I mean, really listen to it, and actually 'hear' it. The background beat and electronics, funk, whatever you want to call it... gives this song a joy, and a celebratory experience, and makes me want to join in the dance! And then, listen to his voice... it IS front and center, and you can hear the inflections, you can guage his emotion... you can almost hear this man's heart beat.
And my last comment: while I appreciate you 'regreting' your James Durbin comment, nothing will piss off an Adam fan more that comparing him to the other, and let's just turn your statement around, shall we? I would like to see/hear James Durbin put out an album like Adam's... at least we'd understand what the hell he's singing, because so far, he screams so out of control it is a waste of a really good voice. I'd like to see JD do something electro-pop, instead of "metal- sort- of rock- sort of scream as loud as I can until I puke".
Oh... but that's not who he is, is it?
Oh... but that's not who Adam is, either.

Thank you for regreting the JD reference. I actually kind of like your blog, and I do like your positive statements on Adam, and I do like your writing.
But, please... be fair. Okay?
Thanks.

April 24, 2012 at 7:40 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for your comment. I guess the point of my blog is to express my thoughts and feelings at the moment. Sometimes my posts are pretty spontaneous, which was the case with this one. I was writing what I thought at the time.

Adam should put out the type of music he wants to put out and no one should dictate otherwise. The same goes for James. While it's easy to pit Idol contestant against Idol contestant (because there are really only so many), when it comes down to it, Adam Lambert is in a league of his own.

If nothing else, I'm glad this post got a conversation starting. It's definitely morphing my original thoughts and opinions on the subject ever so slightly, which is good. So thank you everyone for that. Obviously, I never meant to offend anyone.

April 24, 2012 at 7:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lambert is not more versatile than Durbin, for one Durbin can sing country music while Adam cannot.

As for Durbin's "screaming": welcome to the world of heavy metal. Durbin has a real rock n roll voice, it's much more masculine than Lambert's. His low register is as gritty as James Hetfield's and his high register as clean as Michael Sweet's. Lambert's voice is more broadway than anything else.

Durbin is the only contestant off AI to get any real recognition in the heavy music industry (Revolver Magazine, the Golden God Awards, Rock on the Range). Lambert has no chance of making it in the current rock/metal world even if he wanted to (please don't bring up Queen, they aren't relevant anymore so they don't count).

As for dance music. Ironically Durbin recorded one dance song as one of his iTunes bonus tracks and it's better than any dance song Adam's ever released because it doesn't sound gay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdybOvLa1dY

April 25, 2012 at 12:51 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for your comment, but please watch your use of the word "gay" to describe Lambert's singing. As a gay man myself, saying that Adam Lambert "sounds gay" is offensive.

April 25, 2012 at 1:37 PM  

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