ONE on American Idol?

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I just got around to watching this, after a bunch of my friends mentioned this to me at school (they all thought the song was butchered, and none of them are as big of U2 fans as I am).

But I couldn't make it through more than thirty seconds. Time to listen to Modena.
 
Slapnutz said:
The real depressing thing here is that U2 fans watch American Idol.

Actually, it explains a lot.
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What other forum in mainstream media is exposing young and old alike to classic songs/bands? This may be the only way some people find out about Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Doors, U2. I commend American Idol for doing that at least. Many of these people singing ARE big music fans. I think Adam is one of them.
 
corianderstem said:
Where does the "imitation" come into play, when he butchered changed up the song so that it pretty much sounded nothing like U2 or Bono?
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People here would have hated it even more if he DID try to sing it like Bono. Plus, the band would not have been able to recreate the sound of the band. I think he was smart for singing it the way he did. Otherwise, it would have been a bad imitation.
The audience loved it and loved the song though. I am glad they talked about U2 and the song the way they did.
 
Slapnutz said:
That fact that anyone, U2 fan or not, watches tripe like this is depressing. It's not even good cheesy pop, it's bad karaoke by prefabricated entertainers who have absolutely no artistic merit and who want to be famous for the sake of being famous. It represents the loss of substance and soul. It's everything that is bad about pop culture. It's like we're back to the pre-rock era, before Elvis and co. shook up the scene.

Or something like that.
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I love how you use Elvis, who by all means would have fit your same definition of prefabricated, as the one who "shook up the scene".

:lmao:

Another great :lol: brought to us by: Slapnutz
 
I see nothing wrong with any U2 fan watching Idol..or anything else. Being a U2 fan doesn't make one culturally (or in any other way) superior. Personally I'm not an entertainment snob.

As for Adam, I didn't like the screeching-at all. I literally had my hands over my ears. But I do think he's a charismatic performer with potential. He's much more suited to singing Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin songs than a song like One.
 
hahah can you imagine Edge on dancing with the stars? The most annoying thing would be when the judges dont like their dance and the announcer says "Looks like The Edge still hasnt found what he is looking for" :doh:

I will admit that they have officially sold out if I ever see any member of U2 on dancing with the stars. Actually, I take that back, I would like to see Adam or Larry do a ballroom dance. :wink:
 
Finally got a chance to watch the performance. Absolutely horrendous on all counts. The arrangement was choppy and altogether laughable (one verse, chorus, ending), and he completely fucked the vocal melody. Yeah, I get there are time constraints and I get that he was trying to do something different with the song, but I'm not judging those qualities. I'm judging how much it sucked.
 
BVS said:
I love how you use Elvis, who by all means would have fit your same definition of prefabricated, as the one who "shook up the scene".

:lmao:

Another great :lol: brought to us by: Slapnutz
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Elvis was prefab?? you mean, even from the beginning? how?
 
corianderstem said:
From the little he actually got to sing in that "duet," I'd agree with you.

I'm bummed that Elliott'as albums are a genre of music that I don't much care for, because I really loved his voice.
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I agree, though I haven't heard Elliott's albums except for the couple of singles that got airplay, and I didn't care for those :sigh:

Acrobat51829 said:
David Cook also did a great job last year with ISHFWILF. He didn't alter the song, just kept it as is and let the power of the song and his vocals coincide and naturally take over and dominate. If Adam had done the same thing and kept the tempo of the song as it started out in the beginning, let the power of the song and his voice just flow naturally, we could've heard the strength of his voice much more clearly.
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:up:
 
believer75 said:
Elvis was prefab?? you mean, even from the beginning? how?
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Well by definition given by music snobs that throw that term around loosely, yes Elvis would have been considered "prefabricated".

He was chosen because of his good looks and the fact that he was white, but to do what was at the time considered black music. He hardly wrote any of his own songs, and really wanted to do gospel music...

Sam Phillips admitted that he was looking for a good looking white guy who could do black blues and boogie woogie music.
 
Lila64 said:
I agree, though I haven't heard Elliott's albums except for the couple of singles that got airplay, and I didn't care for those
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Yeah, I heard enough to realize that he was doing R&B stuff, and that's not my favorite kind of thing.

But I'm glad he's had some small amount of success.
 
BVS said:
Well by definition given by music snobs that throw that term around loosely, yes Elvis would have been considered "prefabricated".

He was chosen because of his good looks and the fact that he was white, but to do what was at the time considered black music. He hardly wrote any of his own songs, and really wanted to do gospel music...

Sam Phillips admitted that he was looking for a good looking white guy who could do black blues and boogie woogie music.
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Elvis might have been chosen by the public and by Sam Phillips, but that was after he had already arrived. His talent/attitude/swagger got him to where he was. He was an outcast in high school because of who he was. He had no fear. He was not a conformist. He might not have "written" the music, but he made it his. Elvis did not need anyone to tell him to gravitate toward that music he made. He liked R & B and gospel/soul music. Elvis wanted to make the music he made, in the beginning and in the end.

By the way, I usually agree with a lot of what you say BVS, our opinions on Elvis just seem to be different. He's one of, if not my favorite (at times), so I have to take up for the King.
 
I actually think the guy is pretty talented...but he killed the emotion of the song by oversinging it. Less is more with that song.
 
believer75 said:
Elvis might have been chosen by the public and by Sam Phillips, but that was after he had already arrived. His talent/attitude/swagger got him to where he was. He was an outcast in high school because of who he was. He had no fear. He was not a conformist. He might not have "written" the music, but he made it his. Elvis did not need anyone to tell him to gravitate toward that music he made. He liked R & B and gospel/soul music. Elvis wanted to make the music he made, in the beginning and in the end.

By the way, I usually agree with a lot of what you say BVS, our opinions on Elvis just seem to be different. He's one of, if not my favorite (at times), so I have to take up for the King.
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I think you're missing my point, I'm a huge Elvis fan, I'm not knocking him, but by today's music snob standards Elvis would have been considered "prefabricated" by many... You don't think any of these AI contestants were outcast in their own way and were looking to do the music they do, they still get called prefabricated due to the means of which obtain their fame.

That was part of my initial response regarding Elvis, is that these terms get thrown out far too often and a little context goes a long way.

The one part I will disagree with is that Elvis had already arrived when Sam Phillips met him, in fact the first time Sam Phillips met with Elvis he thought he didn't have what it took, he wasn't impressed with his demo(in fact he thought he was shy), but decided to still book him some studio time, it was then he realized he had something.
 
BVS said:
I think you're missing my point, I'm a huge Elvis fan, I'm not knocking him, but by today's music snob standards Elvis would have been considered "prefabricated" by many... You don't think any of these AI contestants were outcast in their own way and were looking to do the music they do, they still get called prefabricated due to the means of which obtain their fame.

That was part of my initial response regarding Elvis, is that these terms get thrown out far too often and a little context goes a long way.

The one part I will disagree with is that Elvis had already arrived when Sam Phillips met him, in fact the first time Sam Phillips met with Elvis he thought he didn't have what it took, he wasn't impressed with his demo(in fact he thought he was shy), but decided to still book him some studio time, it was then he realized he had something.
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Cool, I see what you are saying and you are probably right on how Elvis might be viewed by the "music snob patrol" if he came onto the scene today. IMO, he is unfairly slighted by a lot of people and not given the credit he definitely earned. Most of that is due to some of the less artworthy movies he made in his mid-period years (and a lot of those, not all are guilty pleasures to me). I do think I misunderstood your original post. Sorry about that, BVS.

I knew that about Elvis and his first demos and recording and all that. I think what I was trying to say is that even though Elvis had not arrived musically per se, he still knew what he was trying to become even from his days in high school. His musical direction was not "prefab." He tried to sing and play what he knew, and then a lot of that came out in his records. In other words, he showed up in the studio and was what he was and then Sam Phillips took what Elvis was, built him up, and then he became a star. It's late, so not sure if I am making sense, but that's kind of what I was getting at. Long live the King.
 
U2isthebest said:
^So you're saying the fine folks at Pitchfork wouldn't be fans of Mr. Presley?:wink:
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Haha...no, most likely not!! Their loss. His voice was an instrument. Anyone that does not respect Elvis should watch that performance of Unchained Melody he sang in his later years. It's unbelievable. Elvis's voice, like Bono's, is coming from a different place.
 
U2isthebest said:
For those interested in comparisons, here's Adam's studio version of "One". It's much better with the whole song. Time constraints killed it, not his singing.

YouTube - One - Adam Lambert, studio
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Much better than his live performance on Idol, but still not even in the same universe as the original...but refreshing nonetheless considering just how horrific the live version is.
 
zooropop40 said:
It was called U2, but it certainly wasnt.

the beauty of U2's One was that it was understated and sung in a way where it was about the poetry of the song. When you scream out the lyrics the song loses all significance if you ask me.
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I didn't hear that kid on AI sing it, but my guess is he sang it closer to the way Blige sang than Bono, and that's a shame.

First, the song is a classic. If the kid never heard of it, it's time to do some serious history and stop listening to the "it" group of the moment. Plus, anything released in the 90's is hardly "old".

Second, Blige, and from what it sounds like, this kid (and if it's Adam, then blech - that guy is one of the ugliest f*cks they've ever had on the show. If he wins, I dread the thought of seeing that mug for the next umpteen years), completely missed what the song was about. Belting or screaming it out is NOT the way to sing it. There are plenty of songs to "diva" - this isn't it.
 
doctorwho said:
I didn't hear that kid on AI sing it, but my guess is he sang it closer to the way Blige sang than Bono, and that's a shame.

First, the song is a classic. If the kid never heard of it, it's time to do some serious history and stop listening to the "it" group of the moment. Plus, anything released in the 90's is hardly "old".

Second, Blige, and from what it sounds like, this kid (and if it's Adam, then blech - that guy is one of the ugliest f*cks they've ever had on the show. If he wins, I dread the thought of seeing that mug for the next umpteen years), completely missed what the song was about. Belting or screaming it out is NOT the way to sing it. There are plenty of songs to "diva" - this isn't it.
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Uh, Adam is 27 years old, so I'm sure he's heard plenty of music from the 90s. Also his favorite bands/artists tend to be "older". He's mentioned U2/Bono, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Queen, Madonna, etc. as some of his favorites. Also the comments about his looks are really unnecessary. Jealous much?
 
The greatest compliment to a song you have written is when it does not "belong" to you anymore....it is a song that belongs to everyone, which is fitting because of it's universal, unconditional theme. It is not sacrilege to have someone sing this song other than U2. It is the greatest compliement they can get. This song is like Imagine, Can't Help Falling In Love, Always on My Mind, etc., etc, etc. It will live forever and people will be singing it long after U2 is unable to anymore. It makes sense to get used that idea now because it will happen again and again.
 
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