Adam Lambert Album Cover Art: Glam as He Promised

Adam Lambert is counting down the days to the release of his new album, "For Your Entertainment," which he previously announced would drop on November 23 and might or might not contain the single, "Time For Miracles," the cover of the Queen power ballad that was recorded for the apocalyptic film "2012." In the meantime, fans and industry aficionados had been speculating about songs, videos, touring venues, American Idol appearances, and exactly what his new album would look like, including the cover. With a "leaked" photo from the supposed album cover photo shoot already on the internet, the looming release date has brought the album and its cover back to the fore. That, and the fact that Adam Lambert's new album cover for "For Your Entertainment" was released Wednesday.

(One must wonder: Kris Allen's debut album from 19 Recordings is due to be released on November 17, so where's all the hullabaloo over his album and its cover? Just askin'.)

And it's as glam as he promised. In an earlier interview with Entertainment Weekly, Adam Lambert said, "It's as if a '70's time capsule blasted off into space and you're watching it through a holographic filter. That's my big vision. Glam is back, mother f---ers!"

The "For Your Entertainment" album cover, which has gone viral on the internet, shows a very stylized close-up of Adam Lambert's face, taking advantage of his dark good looks and giving them just enough make-up and airbrushing to make him pretty. It's as if Elvis came back as Ziggy Stardust. (To tell the truth, Adam Lambert looks a helluva lot like Lisa Marie Presley in this album cover shot. Hmmm...)

Last week, Adam Lambert debuted the video for "Time For Miracles," he got to walk through a future where the landscape was being obliterated around him. He was searching for a lost love and singing from the rooftops (of perhaps one of the few buildings left standing in Roland Emmerich's "2012" apocalypse). This week he has already tweeted his fans that the first single from "For Your Entertainment" should be released within the week. Now, he has sent the world a digital postcard/album cover channeling the glam rock days of the '70's (David Bowie and Elton John) and '80's (Adam Ant, Cinderella and Poison), when men were men and men with guitars seemed to be in touch with their feminine side (or at least not averse to raiding their sister's closets).

Of course, reaction to the retouched retro cover has been mixed.

Some, like Mark Lorenz at Manolith, are already slamming the album cover, derisively calling it "gay." But Adam Lambert is gay, so what is gained from such a homophobic slur? A testosterone rush of self-affirmation? A high-five at the next football game/male bonding session?

But those who have followed Adam Lambert know that it is pure Glambert, over-the-top stylization that harkens back to the days of album covers enhanced to appeal, to be flashy, and to be sexually edgy and provocative. It is pure glam, period. Mjsbigblog.com writes: "It's Sparkly! Otherworldly! Adam Lambert has landed from the Planet Fierce to lay some sick beats on y'all. Heh. I can't wait to see where the Michelin Man fits into all this..."

The Michelin Man reference points to the aforementioned "leaked" photo, where Adam looked like an extra in that old David Bowie video, "Ashes To Ashes," (which was the sequel to "Space Oddity") that caused a bit of a stir awhile back. Many thought it had something to do with the upcoming album's cover. And it might. There's always the back cover.

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For your entertainment, take a look at Adam Lambert album cover and a picture of Lisa Marie Presley, taken, appropriately enough, at an MAC Viva Glam venue, for whom Presley became a spokesperson in 2006.

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Sources:

Mjsbigblog.com
Fanpix.com
Manolith.com
Entertainment Weekly
TheHollywoodGossip.com