So, I am wading into this thread, find the page number to be at 20+ and I know something is up.
F*ck, I was ill prepared for this though today. But at the same time, I am also strangely seeing it as a continuation of a few things that I felt since a while and chewed on, so that I am now somewhat chill about it, despite not happy, of course.
First to the minus part of this whole story and then I will get to the plus part after that. Yes, there are a few plus points, lol.
I posted this first part before - Adam had A&R support and they initially gave him Executive Producer control
and they went along with all the directional changes during the CREATION phase of TP, while at the top level of RCA the constant changes meant some lack of direction. Of course I’m well aware that there officially always was somebody
around from the top to sign the paper work, but if that somebody was part of the ongoing revolving door at RCA, then this approval signature ultimately did not mean much.
In my opinion, by the time Adam's album transferred over to promotion and roll-out, Clive Davis and his cohorts were firmly in control and they were not on board with either TP's direction (musically, content-wise or both) or even Adam's song-writing in principle and they maliciously drowned the album, exactly like Shirley's article states. I am stunned that somebody (albeit in
whisper-voice and seemingly from within Sony, but not officially speaking for RCA) actually admitted that to Shirley, but to me it totally adds up, unfortunately. The release of both singles at odd times and without any promotion, the choice of singles, and everything that followed with the album, just spelled to me lack of support of their own product. If you think that companies would not chop off their own arm, to save a leg, think again. It happens all the time.
Cincinnati is plastered with dead bodies of products that P&G developed and produced and that then died the death of lack of support from the top. It happens, and the pain for those that have put their complete energy and conviction into that product is big. And whatever a predecessor of the new management has approved it fair game in the process of puffing up the brilliance of the new team and therefore a previously approved album cover that caused controversy is becoming the chosen punching ball in the storyline and yes, I agree, it is totally mean. And while the album cover may have been a controversial choice, the song selection and direction for TP was well chosen and would have been a success, had they (the new management) supported it. So, that part is about as unfair as can be. And that part sucks.
TP was a great album, that was not allowed to live, and I also believe that Clive Davis and his folks do not support Adam as a song-writer, but they do support him as a singer.
I also believe that Adam knows this whole change in direction since a long time. I believe, he somewhere last summer had a similar experience with Clive Davis as Kelly C. has described, and it is well reported that Clive Davis, has cut down many singers, some of them big names, notably Whitney Houston, in very aggressive ways. So, that all adds up. Adam also
started his talk about giving up control at that time. I said last year that under Clive Davis, Adam will never have EP control again, because I never liked that guy (all biz, no art and totally divide et conquera) and was pelted with tomatoes here at Atop. I did not guess, it would go so far as to deny him original music though, so, this totally caught me by surprise. But obviously,
this is just the next step in the same line of managerial thinking. Yuk, or as Adam recently observed, its all about the money now.
So, where does that leave Adam as well as the fan-base?
Here are my thoughts. Adam's fan base loves him and is tied to him as a person, most folks are not tied to Adam doing a specific type of music. The fans are not going anywhere, and we’ll probably even like the album, even if we may not like the
concept of a cover album. Then, if Adam does a next album of hopefully original work, then the core fan base is going to be
still on board, just like they always were.
The casual fans out there are not thinking in these same terms anyways. The question is, whether new folks can be brought on board with cover music and RCA seems to think they want to try it. So, worst case, Adam ends up with the same amount of fans as he had now, but it is one album later, best case, he gains many
new fans. Little to lose, right?
So, the screams that Adam's career is over, if he puts out a cover album, are to me just doomsday talk. The question is, whether the fan base will buy a cover album or whether the core fan base will give it the 'beg for money' treatment.
Valid question, but I think that there are tons of people out there who probably would come on board and buy a rock album, who may have held off with FYE and TP, so I think that financially, RCA is probably doing exactly what is safe and will fill their coffers. Low cost, high reward.
Adam did not have radio support last time around and they don't have to rely on radio for that cover album either. Adam is famous enough that he will always have the market's attention. And he is famous for his song interpretation, not his song-writing and therefore a cover album will get noticed, especially if there are some gems on this, and we all know what Adam is capable of.
So, where does that leave Adam? imo, in the short term, he makes lemonade out of the lemons, makes covers that are so original and new, that all these comparisons with Clay Aiken are out the door because everyone uh-s and ah-s over how new the old songs sound and gets tongues waging like he had them waging after RoF and after IICHY, MW, ACIGC, etc. He changes the songs up in such ways that it gets people talking. And also he does it with rock and pop and dance and not with standards. He also has contacts to original artists that lots of others can only dream of and I bet there will be some nice surprises on
there.
His core fan base will stick with him 100 %. None of us is going anywhere. Adam gets through A3 much quicker and if that cover album sells then he gets to tour and he can tour both TP and A3 together.
The reality is, Adam is contractually stuck for another 3 albums, if RCA does not release him sooner and they clearly want A3 right now and are not thinking about letting him go. That is both the good and the bad news.
Clive Davis is a business pro and he knows that, given a 5 album contract, right now is the point in the artist-label relationship where the label position is the strongest. Towards the end, the artist gets more control again, because they are able to walk away, and RCA knows that Adam will walk, if they use him only as cover singer, so they are not going to do that. They will give
him more chances to do original music, I am convinced of that, but right now they are fighting for the bottom line and Adam needs to do a round of 'bringing home the bacon'. I think it is that simple.
So, my gut tells me, that article is probably mostly correct and is planted by RCA. Maybe, the end result is a mix of new releases (from the 80s) and covers. We will have to deal with it and have patience. And then either RCA lets him do new music again afterwards or if they don't then eventually, one way or the other, we the fan base will get to carry Adam independently, which I totally think would be possible to do, btw. Adam is a star and will be a shining star and this news is not pretty, but it will not change the ultimate career outcome for Adam.
For those who say that at age 31, this cover album will reduce his ability to break through to the top as a typical pop star, I want to respond. Has this train not left the station a while ago? And is it not such that Adam was always on a trajectory to world star without being the typical pop star? His path is a bigger one, not a smaller one, imo, and the fact that radio does not play his music of covers does not phase me, because they f-ing do not play him now either, so it does not make one hoot of a difference. Maybe it buries a dream for some, but the reality is, that was already looking bleak prior to this 'planted' rumor about the A3 strategy. Radio just was unwilling and Adam will have to work around it and a storyline of bringing back rock and
making it new again may actually be a good one to spin with the public right now, independent of what radio thinks or does.
I am positive that this will ultimately work out alright for Adam. Remains of course the disappointment of no new music for a while and that is tough news right now for me. Looking back, I am glad we got such a personal album with TP, little did we
know, how precious that part would turn out to be in the context of time.
Did not think I would say that so soon.
On an anecdotal note, here is a little story from the past:
Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead occasionally changed the lyrics of the Dead standard Jack Straw in concert from "we used to play for silver, now we play for life," to "we used to play for silver, now we play for Clive.
I got that anecdote from Wikipedia, btw.
Adam seems to be walking in a long line of tradition. For great artists these things work out, because fans stick with them. For mediocre artists, such stuff can be the end, but it will not be that way for Adam. He is too great for that.
YMMV.
ETA: Crap, need to fix the editing. Will do, just want to respond to Kay directly:
CREATIVITY: Adam will have tons songwriting creativity long-term (in the future), and in song interpretation even short term
POP STAR: He wanted it, and I think it will not be his route to stardom
LONGEVITY: I am convinced that he will have that for generations to come
I presume that is your Birthday present.. 
