Forget what you know about the singer who’s strut his way with black eyeliner and lots of leather during his ‘For Your Entertainment’. The American singer songwriter returns to the charts with his second studio album, Trespassing, which sees a radical change of style into a much more toned down, softer side mixed with a sniff of Queen.
The standard album, consisting of 12 tracks contains a mix of radio friendly pop songs, with a few highlights and some very strong ballads. While the Queen influence is prominent throughout the whole album, it’s never over empowering which allows Lambert to come up with a unique personal album. The list of names, having worked on the album is in fact rather impressive; Pharrel Williams who’s responsible for opening the album with track ‘Trespassing’, Sam Sparro, Bruno Mars, Dr Luke and many others.
One of the first highlights from the album is the co-written Sam Sparro track ‘Shady’ which is such a radical change of style for Lambert and an absolute treat to enjoy. Amazingly Funky and fresh, which is clearly inspired by Sparro and reminds of his own new album ‘Return To Paradise’ which is full of similar anthemic disco stompers.A similar thing can be said about the track ‘Kickin In’ which sounds incredibly funky and at times makes you wonder whether Lambert could have been a member of the Scissor Sisters, as it is one of those tracks which would amazingly fit into their repertoire as well.
Of course new single ‘Never close Our Eyes’ and lead to the album ‘Better than I Know Myself’ are featured on the album as well. We’re not quite sure why exactly the latter has been chosen as the lead for the album, as the second part of ‘Trespassing’ contains much stronger efforts which could have been better promoters for the album. Don’t get us wrong ‘Better Than I Know Myself’ is definitely not a bad song but it misses a certain ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ when its being compared to tracks like ‘Underneath’. That track for example not only shows off the vocals of Lambert, but has been treated to a mesmerizing and haunting arrangement, which would have developed a huge interest for people new to Adam’s material. Bit of a shame, but the track is already turning out to become a fan favourite so who knows it might get a release at some point.
There is a clear distinction between the album with some very pop radio friendly upbeat tracks like ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Pop that Lock’ in the first part, yet towards the end of the album, Lambert takes on the ballad approach and really seizes the moment to expose his emotions through his vocals. It’s definitely the case for the tracks ‘Underneath’ and ‘Outlaws of Love’.
If you fancy some more Adam Lambert there is of course the deluxe edition which features an extra 4 tracks including the very Queen inspired ‘Runnin’ (do we spot a little bit of We will Rock You, in the arrangement? Yep we do!)
‘Trespassing’ Standard and Deluxe Edition are out for sale now.
