Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert returns to his roots on the covers album High Drama.

This may be the American’s first cover project, but it’s fair to say the chart topper rose to fame by putting his stamp on old favourites. The artist hit the big time as a runner-up on American Idol, before deputising as Queen’s lead singer.

The latter sees Lambert having to strike a delicate balance of honouring the irreplaceable legacy of Freddie Mercury and still find the space to leave his mark on crowd favourites.

Across 11 tracks of classic and modern Pop, Lambert manages to add his own flavour to the familiar, while maintaining their soul. Listeners are treated to era spanning tunes from Billie Eilish’s ‘Getting Older’, Duran Duran’s Ordinary World, to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘ Holding Out For A Hero’.

Adam Lambert’s distinctive pipes are charismatic throughout. The musician’s voice is always filled to the brim with energy, at times, almost ready to burst out of a songs bounds.

An early highlight of the set is that of ‘Ordinary World’. Under Lambert’s care, the Duran Duran hit becomes gently atmospheric. Pianos slowly bring out the melancholy, before violins sweep in to brighten the melody.

The track is beautifully produced, and allows its Vocalist to bring the words and emotion to the forefront.

If you’ve ever wondered what Billie Eilish would sound like if she was covered by Queen, then you have too much time on your hands. You are however, in luck.

The opening to ‘Getting Older’ has the listener, being dragged through a time distortion field, with the vocal modulation in full effect. Think One Vision and you’re in the right ballpark.

What follows is a slow rock number, with a hint of the psychedelic. It maintains the ache of the original’s lyrics while providing a compelling voice to sing it.

That isn’t to say that Eilish’s meek affect isn’t a valid choice for the downtrodden tune, but it’s a little overdone. Elsewhere, Pink’s ‘My Attic’ gets less of a revamp and more of a touchup.

Fans of the original will be pleased to know that the instrumentation is very similar. Thankfully though, the drums have been toned down.

This means that Lambert’s tender performance comes through, without the percussion bashing against the Ear. It’s not exactly adventurous, but the execution deserves credit.

One place the project doesn’t quite hit the expected heights is in the rendition of Kings of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire.’

With the artist’s powerful lungs, you would be forgiven for thinking that he would make himself right at home during the raucous rocker. After all his vocal fire successfully roars elsewhere on the record.

Sadly, Lambert’s quirky backing is no match for the rowdy rock of the original. Caleb Followill’s gravelly achy style is a big part of what makes the song truly distinct. The latest cover, on the other hand is solid but unremarkable.

Overall, High Drama successfully bridges, the gap between the musical eras through the power of rock. At worst, the tweaks and change-ups make for a jaunty few minutes, while at their best make a case to be the definitive version.