danae
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Post by danae on Oct 16, 2018 21:33:13 GMT -5
Just logged in quickly to say how thrilled I am to hear of a new QAL tour. I have selfish reasons for it- my almost 14 year old is now in love with Queen and wasn’t interested during the last US tour, so while I’ve seen them, she hasn’t. I can’t wait to share this experience with her. As a huge lifelong Queen fan, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Also, as an Adam fan since 2009, YES to Adam live. I’ve only seen him with Queen unfortunately, missed all his own live shows for job/life reasons, however I was blown away by what I heard and I’ll take any live performances I can get to. There will be new music from him too next year, I’m sure. He is getting exposure and opportunities he otherwise might not get. And he looks happy.
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marionm
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Post by marionm on Oct 16, 2018 21:40:00 GMT -5
Yes to that there is no knowing how much queen has, is and will helped/help Adam.
Additionally to the written interview and the Spotify snippet a interview i remember is where Adam also started that queen helped him after the second album when he was doubting himself, what he was doing and if people still wanted to see, what he had to offer. It also reminded him of why he wanted to get into the business in the first place (singing, performing) when business (money and sales) had taken over a bit.
Id also like to reinforce (and someone kind of said this already today) that while I have no worries that Adam will find a good label to sign him i do wish he would find one for a longer time, so he could concentrate on the art and not seemingly constantly be so tied up in the business side which he dislikes so much.
Also yes it should be allowed to say one is over qal. And generally if someone doesn't like some art an artist gives, who's work they usually enjoy it's ok to voice it, as long as there is no harassing of the artist.
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Post by stampsgal on Oct 16, 2018 21:43:05 GMT -5
Re Cuckoo as the first single... Adam was in the UK playing a few select songs for DJ's or focus type groups as the album was coming to a conclusion. Cuckoo seemed to be the one they were most excited about, as per the media leaks...haha. I cannot remember the other song, however neither were chosen for single releases when back in the US.
I can well imagine his utter disappointment. And when it is your own work it must be killing to defer to the label's push and choice.
I appreciate Adam having work as an artist, whether SOLO, TV, QAL, charity, or any other event. I am thrilled he has a "career"--enough that presently he can buy a 1600.00 t-shirt.
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Post by pi on Oct 16, 2018 21:44:39 GMT -5
cleopatra: You make a very good point, and I sorta know where you are coming from. My younger sister doesn't care for Adam. She is crazy for the musical "Wicked", tho. I sent her an article about the special they are filming with Adam participating. She texted back that she will probably watch it because she thinks that is the kind of music the suits Adam's voice. Upon reflection, I realized I agree with her. My very personal preference is to hear Adam singing musical theater, American standards, and jazz/blues. Over the years, Adam has altered his voice to sound more compatible with rock and less like a classical singer. I find I miss that more pure, gentle, floating style he used to create some years ago. When I heard the beginning phrase of Adam singing "As Long As You're Mine" from the special, he belted out the G instead of floating it as he did ten years ago. Made me a little sad. Those who do not care much for Queen still hold out hope that Adam's own music will be coming soon and will be more to their liking. Me, I can't even hold out hope that he will sing the kind of music I prefer in the style that resonates in my core. It is not that he can no longer do it, but that he doesn't want to. Sigh. So I "settle" for Queen + Adam, pop Adam, club music Adam. I would rather hear that voice doing that style than not at all. But, I still revert to my playlist of early Adam recordings to fill my soul. I'm curious what about the bolded part above made you feel a little sad? Are you sad that he decided to sing the song a little differently today than 10 years ago, or that somehow he's not able to sing that way anymore, or... ? I was searching twitter for tweets related to Adam's performance today, hoping to see and hear more of it, but was surprised to see hardly any tweets about him. Just the short clip that was posted earlier. Lots of tweets about Ariana and clips of her performance though.. guess many of her fans got in to the show, but not Adams. :-/
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Post by tinafea on Oct 16, 2018 21:47:28 GMT -5
The chocolate/chips analogy is very apt, as far as it goes. However, it fails to take one situation into account. What about those who became fans because of the chocolate, then find themselves served a seemingly endless supply of chips...but they are indifferent to chips, or even actively dislike them? How long will they put up with a steady diet of chips until they give up on the chocolate? Most of those speaking up in defense of more QAL are already huge chip fans. OK, dropping the analogy - it seems to me that the majority of you listen to every possible livestream, watch the Instagrams on repeat, spend hours on the videos, attend as many concerts as time and finances allow. Nothing wrong with any of that, and I'm not implying for a minute that there is. But stop and think of how you'd feel if Adam were devoting that kind of time and creative energy to another band whose music you don't enjoy - music that, for the record, is not, and will never be, his, no matter how well he performs it. Would you still be as wholeheartedly thrilled, even if Adam were making money hand over fist and playing stadiums? If so, I'd tip my hat to you if I wore one. There's really no way to say this without sounding like a terrible person, but here it goes - I stan artists because they do work that I enjoy, and that speaks to me in a very special way, not because their work makes them happy. I'm guessing most artists do work that makes them happy, and I'm happy for them if that's the case, but that isn't reason enough for me to stan them. For those who are disappointed at the prospect of more QAL, it seems to me that QAL just doesn't connect with them, for whatever reason, and accordingly they aren't happy about more of it. I don't get why that's so hard to understand. It has nothing to do with Adam, or what's best for Adam, or how much fun Adam is having - it has to do with them, and what makes them happy, and for most fans, that's par for the course. Fandom for most is not a selfless activity, and there's no particular reason it has to be, as long as they aren't abusive to the artist for not complying with their wishes. I agree with graciejane in that I believe Adam's solo career would be different if there had been no QAL, and it's sheer speculation as to whether it would be different in a positive or a negative way. Would he be less wealthy? Yeah, probably. Would he have fallen into relative obscurity without the QAL push? Possibly. Or maybe, without that artistic and financial security blanket, the way he approached his solo career might have led him in different and interesting directions that could have paid dividends in ways we can't imagine. There's no way to know. Anyone who states as a fact that Adam's solo career is better - or worse - because of QAL is overstepping themselves, IMO. Speaking for myself, I totally get why Adam wants to ride the QAL train, and I don't blame him for it. I don't dislike QAL - during each tour I try to listen to at least one complete concert, and cherry-pick videos from the rest. That may be lame to the hardcore QAL fans, but it works for me. But whatever the reason for the almost non-stop QAL the past couple of years, I've just had enough of it. I make no apologies for that. I was hoping that 2019 would be QAL-free, but since apparently QAL will be on the agenda, I hope the year will shape up to be something like 2016 - QAL, solo music/promo/tour/whatever, the Playmobil movie, and maybe a couple of surprises here and there. Fingers crossed that 2019 will offer something for all of Adam's fans, not just the QAL subset that has already been very well-served since the collaboration was born.
What I find interesting is that Adam has eclectic tastes and I don't think there is one category of music he will stick with exclusively. I would think that for Adam fans who's musical tastes are more selective there are going to be times where what he is "serving" won't be to your taste. Nothing wrong with being less interested during those times. Personally, I have enjoyed the musical buffet.
And I am probably odd but I never listen to livestreams and only occasionally watch videos. For me they are like eating chipped beef and the live shows are the best chocolate. Just no comparison.
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Post by girldrummer on Oct 16, 2018 21:48:32 GMT -5
Two things: First, Adam has been in the public eye for almost ten years since Idol. That's a pretty good run, in and of itself. I'm sure lots of singers have a couple of strong years and then fade off. Before Queen, he had successful solo tours, worldwide. Not huge arenas, but decent sized venues. Without Queen, he may have maintained some good momentum and would have been able to focus totally on his own music with continued success. We'll never know where he'd be now with that scenario. We DO know that he plans to put out his own music and perform it. Also, I said this before, but once again, I think that without his Queen cred, he may not have been offered the projects he has right now: XF, Wicked thing, Elvis thing, Playmobil, AFTRA/SAG, etc. QAL has raised his profile big-time. There are plenty of singers who would kill to be in his position. I’m not intending to single you our here but this thought seems to be a common conclusion here today in one form or another. I just have more confidence in Adam as a person, as a solo performer and as an artist to conclude he could not or would not have succeeded on his own merits. If that makes me an unhappy fan or a needy fan to board members here, so be it. I haven't lost my confidence in Adam at all. I think his solo career still has lots of potential. He certainly has done well with it so far. The Queen opportunity came out of the blue and he simply couldn't turn it down. Who would? It's the height of flattery and respect to get that gig. When you're handed such an opportunity, you don't turn it down. I just meant that QAL has given him higher visibility and cred in the music world. QAL just happens to take up gobs of time each year, time that would normally be spent focusing on his solo stuff. And as good as his solo stuff is (and how he performs it), it might not have been enough to get him the attention that QAL has gotten him. QAL is a valuable gift with strings attached. It takes priority, at least for now.
We're all hoping that, post QAL, Adam will move ahead with a long career, whatever form that takes. He has made, and continues to make, good connections in the business. He networks well. He is well-liked. As fans, we love to analyze and pick apart every little perceived problem or misstep. I'm just glad he's really busy and getting a few high-profile side projects prior to A4.
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Post by cassie on Oct 16, 2018 22:10:11 GMT -5
cleopatra: You make a very good point, and I sorta know where you are coming from. My younger sister doesn't care for Adam. She is crazy for the musical "Wicked", tho. I sent her an article about the special they are filming with Adam participating. She texted back that she will probably watch it because she thinks that is the kind of music the suits Adam's voice. Upon reflection, I realized I agree with her. My very personal preference is to hear Adam singing musical theater, American standards, and jazz/blues. Over the years, Adam has altered his voice to sound more compatible with rock and less like a classical singer. I find I miss that more pure, gentle, floating style he used to create some years ago. When I heard the beginning phrase of Adam singing "As Long As You're Mine" from the special, he belted out the G instead of floating it as he did ten years ago. Made me a little sad. Those who do not care much for Queen still hold out hope that Adam's own music will be coming soon and will be more to their liking. Me, I can't even hold out hope that he will sing the kind of music I prefer in the style that resonates in my core. It is not that he can no longer do it, but that he doesn't want to. Sigh. So I "settle" for Queen + Adam, pop Adam, club music Adam. I would rather hear that voice doing that style than not at all. But, I still revert to my playlist of early Adam recordings to fill my soul. I'm curious what about the bolded part above made you feel a little sad? Are you sad that he decided to sing the song a little differently today than 10 years ago, or that somehow he's not able to sing that way anymore, or... ? I was searching twitter for tweets related to Adam's performance today, hoping to see and hear more of it, but was surprised to see hardly any tweets about him. Just the short clip that was posted earlier. Lots of tweets about Ariana and clips of her performance though.. guess many of her fans got in to the show, but not Adams. :-/ I have no doubt Adam can still sing as he did ten years ago. With the maturity he now has in his voice, it would sound even better. I felt sad because from that tiny snippet it appeared that he is opting for a more pop/rock sound even when he is performing a song written for a different style. I made the assumption that Adam is choosing to present himself solidly as a pop/rock singer, despite his experience and background with musical theater. Even with that particular piece in musical theater. Of course, I could be out to lunch. I just heard 5 seconds of the song. And I have no reason to think I can read Adam's mind and the purpose in his delivery. Plus, just because Adam CAN sing incredibly, divinely, in the style I prefer, it doesn't mean he enjoys it. And, as others have said, he can perform any number of genres and styles convincingly and wonderfully. I'll take what I can get.
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Post by Jablea on Oct 16, 2018 22:28:37 GMT -5
Re Cuckoo as the first single... Adam was in the UK playing a few select songs for DJ's or focus type groups as the album was coming to a conclusion. Cuckoo seemed to be the one they were most excited about, as per the media leaks...haha. I cannot remember the other song, however neither were chosen for single releases when back in the US. I can well imagine his utter disappointment. And when it is your own work it must be killing to defer to the label's push and choice. I appreciate Adam having work as an artist, whether SOLO, TV, QAL, charity, or any other event. I am thrilled he has a "career"--enough that presently he can buy a 1600.00 t-shirt. I'm pretty sure the other song was Trespassing itself. I remember the stories coming out that the label wanted him to do an album of covers and so he left them as he didn't want to do that. I always chuckle a bit now because yes he's doing 80s covers. Anyway, back then both Glee and Queen came riding to the rescue. When I saw Adam on Idol, especially B&W, my view was that he'd never been on a big enough stage. He just didn't fit on a small piano stage and even the Idol audience was a bit small. He grew into larger stages with his first tour and my gosh, how do you get a bigger stage than Queen. He may be doing covers but he's making all the directorial decisions, a bit of staging input, and total discretion on costuming. And I really think he loves the team atmosphere and that's a bit what makes his solo work more lonely.
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Post by relaxingoceanfront on Oct 16, 2018 22:32:44 GMT -5
Ledisi is not a professional musical theater performer so it’s possible Adam is trying to blend styles with her. He’s always a generous and thoughtful duet partner. And yes just maybe he wants to set himself apart from the other cast members.
Wicked’s score is very pop in style, especially Elphaba’s songs, I’m not surprised he’s singing it less than traditional. I remember the less than complimentary reviews of the score from the traditional broadway critics when it opened. It’s not Carousel, nor does it try to be. And 15 years later it still connects.
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Post by bamafan on Oct 16, 2018 22:35:59 GMT -5
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