Capitol Hillbillies — A gay webcomic, updated Tues and Fri

So I’ll confess; I am not an American Idol fan. I have never watched anything beyond the first couple episodes where they showcase the bouquet of tragedies in the preliminary auditions. I am a big fan of Kelly Clarkson and I’ve sung, “Before He Cheats” once or twice at karaoke (badly, of course) but beyond that I couldn’t even tell you who any other winners of the show have been. Mr. Lambert here was apparently the runner up on the most recent season of American Idol. I have no idea to whom he lost. The internet tells me that he may have lost the win because it came out mid-season that he’s an open homosexual (because the hair and the eyeshadow were only circumstantial evidence, apparently).

I heard the name, “Adam Lambert” a few times here and there and did not pay it much mind. I had a vague notion that he was a musician and that his relationship with MAC products might be a little too friendly. I heard that he was openly gay and became only mildly curious. He was mentioned on our favorite fashion blog Go Fug Yourself wearing a particular pair of couture black leather fingerless gloves that are ALSO owned by yours truly (purchased for an amount of money that I will not disclose at a small shop in San Francisco but TOTALLY worth it). Then he caused a big ruckus by kissing a boy during his performance on the American Music Awards (because boys kissing each other on network television is still a big deal. Go figure). At this point I threw my hands up and said, “okay universe, fine. You win, I will listen to his album on iTunes” and so I did.

Somewhat to my surprise I was pleased. The songs are catchy and his voice is good if not overly taxed by the slightly generic pop-rock quality of most of the tracks. For Your Entertainment sounds like exactly what it is, a very calculated pop album with hooks meant to be driven forcibly into your brain, taking up residence there while you try in vain to go about your day and think about other things. Some of the tracks such as, “For Your Entertainment”, “Fever” and, “Strut” have that kind of sexuality often witnessed in songs by the Train Wreck of Our Generation, Miss Spears; that is, risque and sexy without being overly interesting. Other tracks like, “Soaked” and, “Sleepwalker” are I’m sure supposed to be deep and meaningful but are in reality muddy, incomprehensible and ultimately a little boring.

All of that said, I’ve been listening to For Your Entertainment for two days at the exclusion of everything else. My “Glee” playlist has been pushed to the side and even Our Lady Gaga has taken a back seat for my walk to and from work. Those things in themselves say something for how catchy this album is. There are gems to be found on the sixteen-track list like, “Music Again” and, “If I Had You” and listening to the album as a whole is to hear what a well-orchestrated pop attempt should be. Yes it’s a little generic but that doesn’t make it bad. Pop music is generic by it’s very definition, it’s what’s popular and therefor it’s what’s going to be reproduced until it is not popular any more. I look forward to future albums by Mr. Lambert, perhaps upon which he’ll have a little more freedom of creativity to create something interesting.