During his promo rounds in New York, Adam performed an acoustic WWFM and a plugged-in BTIKM at radio station Z100, with Kevin doing the instrumentals.
There's something a little dissonant with the guitar near the start of WWFM which makes me think it's not perfectly in tune, and a very rare flat note from Adam. This rocking rendition sounds quite different from any other WWFM so far, with his voice being harder and raspier than usual. For the first time in a while, he remembers all the lyrics and there's a lovely low change on 'You could save my life'.
Maybe it wasn't the guitar after all but a very dodgy sound mix as when we get to the BTIKM introduction, the synthetic drums sound like they come from a cheap toy that even five-year-olds would turn their noses up at. The beat is key to the song and without drums and bass, the amateur effect is quite comical, distracting from the intended mood. I hope that as funk features heavily on the album, this drum machine won't be used again. Better to go acoustic than sound like this plugged in. Perhaps it sounded much fuller live and it's just the recording. Anyway, when Adam's voice comes in, the little ants hammering on the hamster-sized drum kit take a back seat. Beautiful and sweet with that little bit of scrapeyness I love. The crescendo is another spine-tingling moment where he palms the air, tongue out, and his endearing glory-note lever of a leg rises up. The ending is simply divine.
His performance on BTIKM gets better each time I hear it. Beautiful vocals! You rock, Adam! Can't wait to get 'Trespassing' when it comes out!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, the constant evolution of his live performances never ceases to amaze me! He learns and gets better each time.
DeleteDo you know guys where is Tommy and Isaac?
ReplyDeleteI guess they weren't needed. Much cheaper and easier to travel and set up just having Kevin.
DeleteI just love how every performance of his always has a twist or new edge. Second, he has to be one of the few artists who can sing with a couple of people in a room, but deliver as if he is in front of a crowd of thousands (technically he is, but in the room itself, no). Third, his music is so completely satisfying with fewer instruments than more; he should record an album like the Foo Fighters next time, in a garage without studio remixing, just his music. Everytime he sings live, it's brand new, amazing:)
ReplyDeleteAgree, I think it would capture that quality that's usually missing from the studio recordings.
DeleteHave to say I missed Kevin's back-up vocals on BTIKM, although I still loved Adam alone. I think Kevin is such a wonderful addition to Adam's band - sings back-up very well, plays keyboards AND guitar. Great! Lambosessed, you have a much better ear for the finer points of Adam's performances. I actually didn't notice the drum sound, as I always just listen for Adam's voice. That's not a criticism - just an observation. Always do love your comments tho.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why he didn't sing back-up on this one. Hope I didn't spoil your enjoyment in pointing out the drum sound! Looks like I got my wish though as it hasn't been used since.
DeletePan 2/16/2012 2:10 PM
ReplyDeleteGood,we all agree .BTIKM is a song which depends entirely on the peformer's trained vocals,on his subtlety to suggest an intimate atmosphere.Yes,using a drum machine cannot replace the bass and the drums, Adam played a little with his voice"to fill in the blanks". Maybe it wasn't his best rendition, but WWFM was.For more than a year my favourite acoustic version of it was the one done for RadioNRJ. I have a dilemma now, was the New York performance better?I don't know but it was surprising.Each time you listen to the song,Adam takes you by surprise:you expect to hear the same song you have heard a hundred times and....he changes it into something unexpected and exciting.
Back to my dilemma,which version I prefer:the soft, soothing or the rock-ish, soul-ish (am I wrong, Lambosessed?)Predictable.Both!In an interview Adam only mentioned a subject dear to me:someday the bounderies between rock and pop will vanish.His latest acoustic rendition is a proof.And let's be fair,Chris Martin, Jared Leto and even Matt Bellamy sound pop-ish, sometimes.
PS Off-topic Golden Collar Awards=another motive to love America.
Pan, I know the feeling when trying to decide on favourites! I haven't managed to watch all of the WWFMs from the radio promo yet but I think there are some gems in there. My favourite is still the NRJ one though I am partial to the Moscow one too where he rocks out!
DeletePan 2/24/2012
ReplyDelete"I can fly, my friends..." Queen Redivivus and Adam will be their front man. what a joy! It's been a long and hard way for a karaoke-show contestant, hasn't it? F...k/ Forget the haters and the hypocrites, the homophobic haters would have hated Freddie Mercury if he had lived now.
They would have hated his flamboyant appearance, his operatic performances, his ambiguous sexuality, in a word his trademark.Ambiguity...
I don't mean necessarily homosexuality but they being bold and defiant in playing with YinYang, in acting their sexuality.Think of Adam's early MVs, of their evident sexiness, bizarre humans, odd creatures chasing,touching each other, magic places, lush vegetation and Oberon, the master himself ruling over everybody.And now go and re-watch "Living on My Own".Both Freddie and Adam shattered so many common seemingly solid and safe ways.Your professional articles, improved versions, love for Adam made me overcome(kinda) my "technophobia"(my PC is not my PF(riend). Sleepwalker, WLL, OOL are my favourites.
PS Damn you, Monte!(you were good)
Pan, it's funny isn't it? Almost everything in pop culture has been done before but now it's much tamer. Somehow it still manages to shock though, and it seems that parts of society have become more narrow and conformist.
DeleteThank you for taking the time to write so many thoughtful comments and I'm glad you are enjoying Adam with the full arsenal of technology at your disposal!
Again, thank you for my interest in your post. When Adam and Kevin played at the Kid Craddick show if you recall, Kevin hit a real clunker of a chord.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I think this New York performance is one I missed.
To my ears, that first chord sounds terrible. He's using jazz chord voicing which change the overall sound of a song we all know so well. Not bad, just different. I'm glad they lost the keyboards and the "drum kit" sound, too. I guess Adam finally figured he didn't need all that. His voice is so flawless and that's what I want to hear, anyway.
Thx for sharing all these performances!
More musician blather.
As well as different chord inversions, Kevin is also using different chord extensions, which just means he's adding some major sevenths for example instead of just a major chord.
Just another thought on Kevin's fingering. The way he's tuned his guitar (which I could've figured out by playing around with detuning strings on my guitar, but I decided I didn't like it enough to try and figure it out) makes the fingering really hard. If you look at how far he's stretching his first finger and his pinky apart… Ouch! And he does play rhythmically, which I had criticized earlier. But his approach is so different from a rock guitarist's perspective. I prefer the simpler version played by Monty and Tommy.
I think Kevin was trying to orchestrate and cover every part, which can be a great thing. But on such a familiar song...just overkill.
Hope this helped in some fashion. I'm so tired from work I feel like I forgot what I was going to say this morning.
As always, keep up your good work. Please let me know if you have any thing else you want to talk about, or clear up from our earlier conversation via the little bluebird.
Cheers!
Please forgive the obvious typos. I was in a hurry and I promise to proof-read next time.
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