Classic Rock: Why Adam is the perfect man for Queen

MisterCosmicc wrote:

SweetCaroline wrote:

anadamfan, it’s impossible and disgusting! She/they don’t want to chat intelligently about anything. They want to chase Adam fans away from here like they did on QOL. There used to be quite a few of us there at one time. But as soon as we praised Adam we were considered enemies.

They don’t go to the QAL shows but they know everything about them! If they went, they would be blown away but then they wouldn’t have anything to bitch about.

The only way to deal with icy is to ignore her and not respond because otherwise she goes on and on and on to infinity!

I'm not sure what you are referring to, and I know some of the people you are talking about actually enjoy Adam, but not in the extremist approach you choose, but I think everything I've seen from his performances visually is boring or disgusting.

I think Adam makes a great pop record, not something I like, but I think it's great for those who love bubblegum teenybopper pop... but I also think his dance moves are a train wreck. I'm judging this on things his fans post...

Teenybooper pop? I got to say, I never thought of it that way before. I don't think I could. It's pop and EDM is how I think of his music as with a few ballads. Truthfully, I do like some of his solo music. My least favorite album is Trespassing actually, I don't think his heart was 100% in that album.
He kind of is boring, he needs to shake his solo music up somehow, branch out. And he just might do that, this time?
His moves onstage, honestly I don't like that very much. For example, crawling around during GDML...yikes.

Liliane wrote:

I would love to hear your picks as well Rockchic. Thank you btw for showing me how to quote on this forum :)

Iron Butterfly, as much as I disagree with you, I am extremely sorry to hear about your ailing parents. I hope they get better soon. My most sincere wishes and regards to your parents. Setting aside our disagreements here, I do admire your devotion and piety to your parents. Take care.

Thank you very much.
Kudos to you.

MisterCosmicc wrote:

... but I think live, he's a fucking mess compared to Freddie. And sometimes a mess is great, I love Brian Wilson, and he can't sing like he used to, he sits at his piano and waves his hands around... but it's still satisfying. Adam isn't. Adam is forgetful.

If I can be honest, AL is not very natural at times. Almost as if he is still trying to hard at times.
Yes, he can be forgetful. ;-).

Iron Butterfly wrote:

MisterCosmicc wrote:

... but I think live, he's a fucking mess compared to Freddie. And sometimes a mess is great, I love Brian Wilson, and he can't sing like he used to, he sits at his piano and waves his hands around... but it's still satisfying. Adam isn't. Adam is forgetful.

If I can be honest, AL is not very natural at times. Almost as if he is still trying to hard at times.
Yes, he can be forgetful. ;-).

Completely agree. I believe at one time Adam had a more natural stage presence. I don't know if it's the pressure of performing with former members of Queen, but I too feel like he tries a bit too hard, which I don't think he did earlier on (in solo shows). Less pressure, cause it's his own material?

anadamfan wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Brancelli wrote:

Is touring with Queen a detriment to Adam’s voice, due to the difficulty of the catalog? I think Adam perhaps has lost a bit the last couple of years. I don’t think he can hit the notes he could 5 years ago. Still a very solid singer, but can he still sing something like Sleepwalker (Russia version) or A Change is Gonna Come (American Idol)? I don’t think he can. Hope I’m wrong. I do think he could still sing something like Soaked very well though.

There are times he hold back. I really think he did hold back with a recent version of WWTLF, then again, he wasn't singing in onstage with Brian and Roger.
He can still hit the notes, but I think he holds back every now and then as not to risk damaging his vocal cords.

Yes, there are times, he holds back.

His voice is also still changing/growing in a natural way. A man‘s voice still changes a lot after the vocal change in puberty.

Male voices are only completely developed and at their strongest between 35—45 years. That depends on the voice: the higher tenor voice is usually at its strongest between 35-40, while a very low bass needs longer to develop. Trained singers know, how to hold the level for a much longer time. Still, they can’t speed up the development.

That means, Adam’s voice should be at its absolute peak about this time now. It also means, that it is indeed possible, that through the sheer natural growth of his voice, he might not be able to sing the highest notes, that he did on idol any longer. Or not in a safe way, without damaging his voice.
I did notice, that his voice grew a bit lower through the years.

I can assure you, that it’s a completely natural process and has nothing to do with the demand of the Queen songs. Adam matured and also got a little wiser and calmer by doing so.

Great response. Thanks. Hope it is one that is accurate in regards to Adam. I'm a Queen fan who also believes Adam Lambert is a very technically skilled singer. That said, I've never thought his voice was a good fit with Queen.

Adam’s voice doesn’t sound like Freddie’s voice like Marc Martel’s does, So is that why people think it doesn’t suit the Queen music and catalog?

Evidently Brian and Roger have other reasons why they prefer to tour with Adam.

I agree that Freddie’s tone was richer but I still say when they were projecting Freddie at the end of BoRhap and his voice was being alternated with Adam, they sounded pretty much the same.

SweetCaroline wrote:

Adam’s voice doesn’t sound like Freddie’s voice like Marc Martel’s does, So is that why people think it doesn’t suit the Queen music and catalog?

Evidently Brian and Roger have other reasons why they prefer to tour with Adam.

I agree that Freddie’s tone was richer but I still say when they were projecting Freddie at the end of BoRhap and his voice was being alternated with Adam, they sounded pretty much the same.

No, their voices don’t sound the same. But since they are singing the same song and AL wants to match with the video and sound, he sang the exact same note in the same way. It should sound very similar then and it does. And of course, this being a very high note, makes it easy for Lambert to match it.

Yes, Brian & Roger like Adam and it’s rather clear by now, that they won’t tour with someone else after that.

Why do some fans still prefer someone else? I could tell you several reasons. I will explain only two. They were the reasons, why I was in doubt of going in the beginning:

A - It’s hard to accept a new singer in every case. That’s true for all bands, who lost thei4 frontman. We all know, that following Freddie Mercury is possibly the hardest task of all. That combined with the fact, that Lambert is so much younger than the rest of the (original) band, makes it almost impossible to accept him from the start. He was a complete newbie to me. Never heard of him. Agewise he could easily be Freddie’s son. Some even said grandson. How can a collaboration with such a young fellow with these old rockers work?
I don’t know any of the more successful bands, that is made of such an unusual combination. (I think Journey did the same a few years ago though?)

don’t forget: The fans, who saw the original Queen are a bit older, too. For me, Lambert was simply too young, to be taken seriously as the new leadsinger for that band.
That’s the reason, why some prefer Paul Rodgers. He’s a (bluesy) rocker of a similar age as Queen and their fans.

B) Lambert’s voice may sound very similar in a few places. On the whole, it doesn’t. At all. I‘m OK with it. Some will never be interested in QAL, because they will prefer old memories and the sound of the records. Because it was different.
That’s the big plus of Martel.

Can you accept that?

Brancelli wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

MisterCosmicc wrote:

... but I think live, he's a fucking mess compared to Freddie. And sometimes a mess is great, I love Brian Wilson, and he can't sing like he used to, he sits at his piano and waves his hands around... but it's still satisfying. Adam isn't. Adam is forgetful.

If I can be honest, AL is not very natural at times. Almost as if he is still trying to hard at times.
Yes, he can be forgetful. ;-).

Completely agree. I believe at one time Adam had a more natural stage presence. I don't know if it's the pressure of performing with former members of Queen, but I too feel like he tries a bit too hard, which I don't think he did earlier on (in solo shows). Less pressure, cause it's his own material?

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

I don't think it's because AL is younger. I think much of has to do with peerage. No way, is AL peer of Brian and Roger, or other classic rock acts.
Let's not forget, Brian and Roger were quite dismissive of shows like Idol, etc.
Maybe simplest of all, it wasn't Lambert who put his blood, sweat and tears into the work that it took to create Queen songs.

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

He has a lot of freedom in how he chooses to sing and act on stage but due to the staging, lights and all the cued things that are happening he can't just wing it and play around at will he has to keep to the timing of how the show has been set out and rehearsed, i.e. they have to be stood in the right place for the lights and lasers etc and the cannons on the foot of the stage, Brian nearly ended up being blasted by one last year when he wasn't paying 100% attention. Also he has to keep to the timing and flow of the show or they wouldn't fit everything in.

In his own shows which don't have the same type of set up and where he has a backing band he can pretty much do what he wants, they will just wait while he talks to the audience, plays around or ad libs or whatever. I suppose they could do a Queen show that way if they wanted but they seem to like having it tightly rehearsed and more like a cross between a concert and a theater show.

rockchic65 wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

He has a lot of freedom in how he chooses to sing and act on stage but due to the staging, lights and all the cued things that are happening he can't just wing it and play around at will he has to keep to the timing of how the show has been set out and rehearsed, i.e. they have to be stood in the right place for the lights and lasers etc and the cannons on the foot of the stage, Brian nearly ended up being blasted by one last year when he wasn't paying 100% attention. Also he has to keep to the timing and flow of the show or they wouldn't fit everything in.

In his own shows which don't have the same type of set up and where he has a backing band he can pretty much do what he wants, they will just wait while he talks to the audience, plays around or ad libs or whatever. I suppose they could do a Queen show that way if they wanted but they seem to like having it tightly rehearsed and more like a cross between a concert and a theater show.

Wow. You are the first one to ever exp!ain it that way, and I agree.
I think he shouldn't be allowed to do what he wants in Q+AL shows, mainly because it's not his music.
It's strange somewhat to me, I know the guys rehearse very little, and maybe it's done that way on purpose. With a stage set up the way Q+AL has been doing, I'd think they would be rehearsing more, not less. And I can't get over thinking the shows are more Broadway than a rock n roll concert.

rockchic65 wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

He has a lot of freedom in how he chooses to sing and act on stage but due to the staging, lights and all the cued things that are happening he can't just wing it and play around at will he has to keep to the timing of how the show has been set out and rehearsed, i.e. they have to be stood in the right place for the lights and lasers etc and the cannons on the foot of the stage, Brian nearly ended up being blasted by one last year when he wasn't paying 100% attention. Also he has to keep to the timing and flow of the show or they wouldn't fit everything in.

In his own shows which don't have the same type of set up and where he has a backing band he can pretty much do what he wants, they will just wait while he talks to the audience, plays around or ad libs or whatever. I suppose they could do a Queen show that way if they wanted but they seem to like having it tightly rehearsed and more like a cross between a concert and a theater show.

Lambert comes from the theater world and you can see that in the shows and his performance style. I don’t think, it’s much different in his solo shows.

I only saw one of these. I would say, that QAL has in comparison at least twenty times the budget for a show. So no Laser-Show, robots, bicycles or glitter canons for Lambert. His stage his too small.
Similar was, that he also had video screens for a background.

In think QAL is actually more a mixture of songs, where the band is bound to a ‚script‘, and of songs, where they perform pretty free.

The band is made of excellent musicians. I saw on a few occasions , that they did a chorus again or left something out, when Lambert forgot to sing part of a song or Brian lost track in the middle of I want it all (as examples). They aren’t slaves of their show. That was only true for BoRhap, when Freddie was singing with Lambert. And to a lesser extent with the computer generated Laser Shows for Radio Gaga or songs with a video background.

That goes for Another One bites the Dust for instance. Still, they repeated the chorus and changed it up on the go, when the performance with Lady Gaga went out of the ordinary. They can change things up and do it. But everyone on stage is a real pro, that‘s why we usually don’t realize it.
The canons only ‚fire‘, when the technician push’s the right button by the way. I doubt, he would have blown up Brian. ;-)

To add: They don’t need to rehearse that much, because they are barely changing the setlist and play live without clicks. This way, the timing isn’t important, they do their things and the technicians push the right buttons, when the band is ready. Lambert or Brian can talk as long as they want.

Sealion wrote:

rockchic65 wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

He has a lot of freedom in how he chooses to sing and act on stage but due to the staging, lights and all the cued things that are happening he can't just wing it and play around at will he has to keep to the timing of how the show has been set out and rehearsed, i.e. they have to be stood in the right place for the lights and lasers etc and the cannons on the foot of the stage, Brian nearly ended up being blasted by one last year when he wasn't paying 100% attention. Also he has to keep to the timing and flow of the show or they wouldn't fit everything in.

In his own shows which don't have the same type of set up and where he has a backing band he can pretty much do what he wants, they will just wait while he talks to the audience, plays around or ad libs or whatever. I suppose they could do a Queen show that way if they wanted but they seem to like having it tightly rehearsed and more like a cross between a concert and a theater show.

Lambert comes from the theater world and you can see that in the shows and his performance style. I don’t think, it’s much different in his solo shows.

I only saw one of these. I would say, that QAL has in comparison at least twenty times the budget for a show. So no Laser-Show, robots, bicycles or glitter canons for Lambert. His stage his too small.
Similar was, that he also had video screens for a background.

In think QAL is actually more a mixture of songs, where the band is bound to a ‚script‘, and of songs, where they perform free.

The band is made of excellent musicians. I saw on a few occasions , that they did a chorus again or left something out, when Lambert forgot to sing part of a song or Brian lost track in the middle of I want it all (as examples). They aren’t slaves of their show. That was only true for BoRhap, when Freddie was singing with Lambert. And to a lesser extent with the computer generated Laser Shows for Radio Gaga or songs with a video background.

That goes for Another One bites the Dust for instance. Still, they repeated the chorus and changed it up on the go, when the performance with Lady Gaga went out of the ordinary. They can change things up and do it. But everyone on stage is a real pro, that‘s why we usually don’t realize it.
The canons only ‚fire‘, when the technician push’s the right button by the way. I doubt, he would have blown up Brian. ;-)

To add: They don’t need to rehearse that much, because they are barely changing the setlist and play live without clicks. This way, the timing isn’t important, they do their things and the technicians push the right buttons, when the band is ready. Lambert or Brian can talk as long as they want.

Sealion wrote:

Lambert comes from the theater world and you can see that in the shows and his performance style. I don’t think, it’s much different in his solo shows.

I only saw one of these. I would say, that QAL has in comparison at least twenty times the budget for a show. So no Laser-Show, robots, bicycles or glitter canons for Lambert. His stage his too small.
Similar was, that he also had video screens for a background.

In think QAL is actually more a mixture of songs, where the band is bound to a ‚script‘, and of songs, where they perform free.

The band is made of excellent musicians. I saw on a few occasions , that they did a chorus again or left something out, when Lambert forgot to sing part of a song or Brian lost track in the middle of I want it all (as examples). They aren’t slaves of their show. That was only true for BoRhap, when Freddie was singing with Lambert. And to a lesser extent with the computer generated Laser Shows for Radio Gaga or songs with a video background.

That goes for Another One bites the Dust for instance. Still, they repeated the chorus and changed it up on the go, when the performance with Lady Gaga went out of the ordinary. They can change things up and do it. But everyone on stage is a real pro, that‘s why we usually don’t realize it.
The canons only ‚fire‘, when the technician push’s the right button by the way. I doubt, he would have blown up Brian. ;-)

To add: They don’t need to rehearse that much, because they are barely changing the setlist and play live without clicks. This way, the timing isn’t important, they do their things and the technicians push the right buttons, when the band is ready. Lambert or Brian can talk as long as they want.

[/QUOTE]

They do a bit of playing around, talking before STL, things like that but during the songs they seem to pretty much stick to the timing for quite a few of them, at least from the vids I've seen, more on this last tour than previously I would say. I'm not sure if the guy operating the cannons can see the stage properly but the incident I was referring to was when Brian was doing a guitar solo part and was stood almost over a cannon when Adam suddenly moved in front of him and backed him up just before the cannon went off, not sure what happened they usually aren't near them at that point of the show.

I think on Adam's proper tours it's more structured but some of his live shows have been pretty free and easy especially when he did places like Del Mar County Fair and some other casual gigs where he just wore one set of clothes, usually casual and there was no staging or fancy lights etc.

Sealion wrote:

rockchic65 wrote:

Iron Butterfly wrote:

Some say he can do whatever he wants during Q+AL concerts, if true, I don't think that would put pressure on him.
He's rigid at times. Almost of if he's acting.

He has a lot of freedom in how he chooses to sing and act on stage but due to the staging, lights and all the cued things that are happening he can't just wing it and play around at will he has to keep to the timing of how the show has been set out and rehearsed, i.e. they have to be stood in the right place for the lights and lasers etc and the cannons on the foot of the stage, Brian nearly ended up being blasted by one last year when he wasn't paying 100% attention. Also he has to keep to the timing and flow of the show or they wouldn't fit everything in.

In his own shows which don't have the same type of set up and where he has a backing band he can pretty much do what he wants, they will just wait while he talks to the audience, plays around or ad libs or whatever. I suppose they could do a Queen show that way if they wanted but they seem to like having it tightly rehearsed and more like a cross between a concert and a theater show.

Lambert comes from the theater world and you can see that in the shows and his performance style. I don’t think, it’s much different in his solo shows.

I only saw one of these. I would say, that QAL has in comparison at least twenty times the budget for a show. So no Laser-Show, robots, bicycles or glitter canons for Lambert. His stage his too small.
Similar was, that he also had video screens for a background.

In think QAL is actually more a mixture of songs, where the band is bound to a ‚script‘, and of songs, where they perform pretty free.

The band is made of excellent musicians. I saw on a few occasions , that they did a chorus again or left something out, when Lambert forgot to sing part of a song or Brian lost track in the middle of I want it all (as examples). They aren’t slaves of their show. That was only true for BoRhap, when Freddie was singing with Lambert. And to a lesser extent with the computer generated Laser Shows for Radio Gaga or songs with a video background.

That goes for Another One bites the Dust for instance. Still, they repeated the chorus and changed it up on the go, when the performance with Lady Gaga went out of the ordinary. They can change things up and do it. But everyone on stage is a real pro, that‘s why we usually don’t realize it.
The canons only ‚fire‘, when the technician push’s the right button by the way. I doubt, he would have blown up Brian. ;-)

To add: They don’t need to rehearse that much, because they are barely changing the setlist and play live without clicks. This way, the timing isn’t important, they do their things and the technicians push the right buttons, when the band is ready. Lambert or Brian can talk as long as they want.

Gotta ask something to people who have seen AL solo concerts.
What is his banter like with the audience?
I do think Q+AL could be better if it was more about the music and less about the gimmicks. But honestly, if I can be, Brian and Roger are the reasons why I tune in.