Maps of Music

Take One (2009)

Where the lyrics of Take One take you, and where it was really made.

Adam Lambert recorded this album in 2005 as a session singer, before he became known through American Idol, but it was released only after his Idol run.

Key places

Recorded at Paramount Recording Studios (2009)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Discogs lists Paramount Recording Studios as a place where this album was recorded. The listing gives only the city, Los Angeles, so the dot marks the city centre rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Take One: non-official debut studio album by American singer Adam Lambert
• Lambert was the runner-up of American Idol season eight
• Consists of recordings made before his Idol run, released after it
• Released 17 November 2009
• Sold 48,000 copies in the United States

Background

• Recordings made in 2005 while Lambert worked as a session musician
• Released in the same month as his post-Idol debut, For Your Entertainment
• Lambert issued a statement through 19 Entertainment about these recordings
• He said he was a struggling artist when hired as a studio singer for tracks written by someone else
• He said he was broke at the time and took the job to make some money
• The session was his first time recording in a professional studio
• He said the work from 2005 does not reflect the music he was making in the studio at the time of the statement

Recording

• Discogs credits the recording to Paramount Recording Studios and Hollywood Sound Recorders
• Mixing is credited to both studios, and mastering to Bernie Grundman Mastering
• Malcolm Welsford worked as producer, engineer and mixer
• John Armstrong was assistant engineer
• Mark Endert is credited with additional production
• Stuart Pearce is credited as arranger
• Marcus Brown played bass and keyboards
• Monte Pittman played guitar and Steve Sidelnyk played drums

Cover

• Emma Bogren is credited for images and graphics

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• American singer, songwriter and actor born January 29, 1982 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Raised in San Diego, California; began performing with the Metropolitan Educational Theatre network at age 9.
• Attended California State University, Fullerton for a musical theater major, then withdrew to move to Los Angeles.
• At 19 got his first professional job on a cruise ship; later toured in Hair and appeared as understudy for Fiyero in Wicked.

Career

• Rose to fame as runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol in 2009.
• Debut album For Your Entertainment debuted at number three on the Billboard 200; lead single "Whataya Want from Me" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
• Second album Trespassing debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making him the first openly gay artist to top the album charts.
• Third album The Original High (2015) debuted at number three; fourth album Velvet (2020), fifth album High Drama (2023), and sixth album Adam (July 10, 2026).
• Has performed with Queen since 2012, replacing Paul Rodgers in the reunion project Queen + Adam Lambert.
• Made his Broadway debut in 2024 as the Emcee in the revival of Cabaret.
• Founded the non-profit Feel Something Foundation in late 2019 focusing on LGBTQ+ and human rights causes.

Reception

At release

• AllMusic wrote that the songs are not horrible but not memorable, and neither are Lambert's performances
• AllMusic said this is unfair to Lambert, since the recordings were designed to sell middle-of-the-road pop
• AllMusic said the recordings had no room for flair, because the point was to showcase the lyric and melody
• AllMusic said Lambert sounds like a demo singer, which he was at the time
• Critical response to the album has been described as mixed

Reappraisal

• The sources provided contain no later critical reappraisal of the album

Records

• Sold 48,000 copies in the United States
• The chart performance section of the source is empty, so no chart positions are recorded here

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was recorded in 2005 but released in November 2009, after Lambert's Idol run.
• Spanish Wikipedia states that Lambert never promoted Take One.
• Portuguese Wikipedia states that the songs were released only after Lambert reached success.
• The album and its single credits list two recording studios, both in Los Angeles area per the candidate note.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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