Adam Lambert, 'For Your Entertainment'

Release date: Nov. 23, 2009
Record label: RCA
Official Web site: http://www.adamofficial.com/

The buzz: The real winner of this year’s “American Idol” arrives with a seriously hyped debut disc. Lady Gaga, Linda Perry, Pink, Muse, Justin Hawkins (the Darkness) and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) all contributed to the songwriting process, with several tracks produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance).

The verdict: “For Your Entertainment” is exactly what its title suggests: an excellently eclectic party album. There are delightful dance tracks with thumping disco beats and soaring, fist-pumping rockers that swing. There are even power ballads for when that fourth glass of cabernet kicks in and it’s time to sloppily slow dance with a complete stranger—or make out on the sofa. Lambert has enlisted an army of talented artists to catapult him to stardom, and their contributions can’t be overlooked. But neither can the singer’s tremendous Broadway vocals, which contain just enough nuance and rock edge to transcend the campiness implied by the terrifically over-the-top—and weirdly controversial—album cover. The production is massive and tricked out to the max with plenty of gimmickry (yes, we’re subjected to some unnecessary Auto-Tune), but Lambert owns each song as if he were born to be the leading man in the year’s most expensive glam-rock musical.

Did you know? Claude Kelly (“Circus” by Britney Spears) and Dr. Luke (“I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry) penned the title track, which also serves as the album’s first single.