It’s surely fun and also sad watching American Idol as contestants struggle in the hope that the judges and the audience will give them a pathway to instant celebrity, a recording contract and a future in music.

San Diego’s homegrown musical hero’s first studio album (he is an American Idol second-placed contestant)is a wonderful collection of intoxicating tracks that move from electro pop / disco / rock to powerful, emotion-laden ballads. Lambert is more of a performer on stage than a songwriter or composer.

‘For Your Entertainment’ (FYE), opens strongly with Music Again a catchy club anthem with distinct traces of Queen and Mika accents here and there. Adam sets the pace right on the 14 tracks with the heavy punch in Strut. The rhythm falls to a beat with the heart-wrenching ‘Soaked’ showing the softer side of this rocker. Time for Miracles is another superbly crafted ballad. The pace picks up in the middle of the album as we cue in on Sure Fire Winners that really rocks. Glambert as some call him, does have co-writing credits on four of the album's tracks.

For the rest he has pulled in well-known writers and producers, like the opener Music Again penned by Justin Hawkins, while the title track, is co-written and produced by pop Svengali Dr. Luke. The anthemic Whataya Want from Me rocks like a feisty Pink track, and not surprisingly, she has co-written it. He has taken the help of a galaxy of music stars to reach the pinnacle of this album.

Adam tries his best to stay on top of the charts and make his voice heard, but with so much synthesized sounds, and the use of auto tune at times, percussion, his voice is slightly shadowed sometimes. Lambert’s impressive vocals are the threads that hold the album together, and get you……entertained.

Includes Lyrics.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira