Oozing with dark synths, confidence and intimate feelings Adam Lamberts triumphant third studio album will leave you impressed. “The Original High” is a mature release that will appeal to a wider audience and still have his loyal fans raving. While he is the prince of Glam this album really lacks the glam elements that “For Your Entertainment” and “Tresspassing” cemented into his music. Opening with the mediocre lead single “Ghost Town” it quickly becomes noticeable that this is one of the weaker songs on the album compared to the high caliber of other material featured. Title track “The Original High” delivers an 80’s influenced synth pop track that boasts high notes and groovy beats. Along with the infectious and clear standouts “Evil In The Night” and “Another Lonely Night” these songs probably bring the closest reminiscence of the glam sound with big choruses, stompy beats and sassy vocal displays. He wrote a majority of this album in Sweden and the Swedish influences he picked up with the writers and producers come across strong. One of the pure highlights on the record is the collaboration “Rumors” with Swedish pop gem Tove Lo. This song is a RNB bop that see’s both their unique voices colliding perfectly. The production is done crisply and I wouldn’t be surprised if this hit the airwaves and charts very shortly. “Try to keep an open heart, try to just let down your guard. Don’t, don’t care about the rumors babe”. One thing this album is lacking is emotional ballads that steal your heart. “Underground” comes close with the moody dark synths and haunting lyrics. “I’m hooked on how you make me hooked, I’m gonna say it straight; I want you, I need you, I want you to take me underground”. “There I Said It” is a mediocre piano led pop ballad that sadly gets forgotten in the midst of the other tracks.

The one major influence that was expected on this album was from the work he has done with Queen. Surprisingly he hasn’t let this affect his sound too much but seems to be a lot more confident with his vocal techniques. Brian May features on the epic rock track “Lucy” which after a first listen will be stuck in your head. The storytelling is very similar in structure to the way some of your favourite Queen songs are constructed. His vocals are the showcased in a whole different light with this track and show strengths that we have only seen a couple of times. “Things I Didn’t Say” and “The Light” are catchy and likeable pop songs and with each listen they grow on you but its album closer “Heavy Fire” that is skipable. The production in the chorus is disjointed and sounds confused.

Adam Lambert delivers some strong and fresh sounding tracks that will ignite his live show on the eclectic “The Original High”. This is a darker and more independent sounding Adam from what we have heard before and this incredibly different style suits him. While you may skip a few tracks the majority of these tracks will have you singing and grooving along.