Maps of Music
Velvet (2020)
Where the lyrics of Velvet take you, and where it was really made.
Critics called Lambert's fourth studio album possibly his best work to date, yet the Las Vegas shows planned to promote it were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Overview
- Velvet: fourth studio album by American singer Adam Lambert
- Released March 20, 2020 through More Is More and Empire Distribution
- Features the singles Feel Something, New Eyes, Comin in Hot, Superpower, and Roses with Nile Rodgers
- Includes all tracks from the Velvet: Side A EP, released September 2019
- Thirteen tracks in the standard listing
- Issued in a digipak case; the release includes a vocal version of New Eyes
Background
- Lambert described the album as thirteen slinky numbers to catch a vibe to
- Five appearances at the Venetian Las Vegas were scheduled for April 18, 19, 22, 24 and 25
- Those Las Vegas dates were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- A European tour from August to September 2020 followed the Las Vegas plan
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com
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
- Velvet received positive reviews from critics, with some calling it Lambert's best work to date
- The album has a Metacritic score of 84, which indicates universal acclaim
- Matt Collar, writing for AllMusic, called the album a new and delightfully retro direction
- Collar also described it as a dazzling, glitter-dipped exercise in 70s disco-era funk, rock, and soul
- Stephen Daw of Billboard said the record continued the late-60s funk rock vein that fueled Lambert's latest releases
- A.D. Amorosi of Variety praised the record and called it Lambert's most accomplished solo work to date
- Amorosi wrote that Lambert went for something less glamorously entertaining and more grimily soulful and sleekly funky than listeners were used to hearing from him
- Mike Wass of Idolator, in the Spanish-language article, described the sound as a wild ride that takes in everything from disco to glam rock
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- Lambert described the album as thirteen slinky numbers to catch a vibe to.
- Roses is a track featuring Nile Rodgers.
- The spelling Love Dont is sometimes written with an apostrophe, as Love Don't.
- The Las Vegas promotional shows were set for April 2020 and were postponed by the pandemic.
- The Velvet: Side A EP from September 2019 supplied all of the album's tracks.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com