"Idol" Battle Redux: First Videos From Adam Lambert and Kris Allen

What's the deal with PHdude?

He's like a one man argument for eliminating the star ratings. I did my best to go through and counter balance his douchebag 0 star ratings, but it still left most of you at only 2.5 stars.

 Some people. 

I'm sorry, I don't care if I get flamed for this, but both of these songs are pretty awful: "Time For Miracles" is an over-produced, cliché-ridden anthem that sounds 10 years old while "Live Like We're Dyin'" is an un-melodic, forgettable mess. (What hook? "Time For Miracles" at least does have a hook.)

If we're voting strictly on the video, I'll go for Adam's: at least we get to see the world ending.

I love Live Like We're Dying and For Your Entertainment equally.  I think there are plenty of fans who will purchase both and who love both songs.

I don't really think it's fair to use Time for Miracles as a guage to examine what Adam's musical career will be like but I get why you used it for this column.

Both Kris and Adam are great pop songs with a totally different vibe and feel that hits all the right notes for each artist.

I don't really care about Time for Miracles.

I can't really think of any male pop star (gay or straight) right now who's doing the kind of thing Adam's doing and I think that will serve him well.

I do wish people leave the whole "was Adam in or out during Idol" thing alone. 

The man was clearly not closeted (as his sex and love life were plastered all over the media and he owned all of it and never once denounced it) and so many things have happened since the competition ended including the large number of articles written about him and the 3 magazine covers and the 50 stop tour all during which he could not have been more out gay and proud.

The most you can say is Adam never talked about being guy during the idol competition.  That's really it. End of, done deal.

Can't we just celebrate him as an out gay man who's got an incredible voice and who's having a fabulous cultural impact with his style and charm instead of being so pissy and negative about things?

One is friendly homo the other is homo friendly. Adam's song has that Celine Dion Titanic theme going. After like 5000 time being played over the radio across the world I'll probably get sick of it. Kris's song is more low key perhaps more durable. It's not a either or for me rather if there's more songs I like from both albums. I like my apples and oranges, they are both fruits...erm I should stop before I get myself in trouble.....

Is it a personal thing?  I haven't been able to rate for a couple of days.

I'm not into music that much, but I prefer Adam's song.  There's just something about him that appeals to me.  Kris is nice, but he's a bit bland, and his song didn't have any kind of hook for me.

glitch. I need to know which threads you are having trouble with and what kind of browser you are using plus any other details you can think of. Thanks!

Ok, so here are my thoughts

Didn't really like "Time for Miracles", thought it was too overdone, though Adam clearly has a voice. Video was bad in my opinion, not awful but not good. BUT I listened to "For Your Entertainment" and liked that a lot better.

Really liked "Live Like We're Dying". It was catchy and honest. Video was OK too. And Kris is also quite talented.

Personally, Adam's stuff is just not my style. I like that kind of music, along with Lady Gaga, Britney, etc when I'm out, or when I need an ego boost, but in my everyday kind of mood I'm a Kris Allen, Taylor Swift, Bryan Adams kind of girl.

But really, this is just music, it doesn't mean anything except that we are all diverse. And I like it that way.

You too can be saved by the blog! www.savedbytheblog14.blogspot.com 

I may be straight, but I'm not narrow.

and thanks to those who found the link for us non-Americans.

It's been long since I posted any comment here but I've been reading and silently agreeing or agreeing to disagree with the comments.

And so with that, I'm not voting. Time For Miracles is a bad choice to "compare" with Kris'. It's not Adam's first lead single off his album. I'll wait for For Your Entertainment video to come out before I give any judgement.

And talking about For Your Entertainment, Adam tweeted that he loves this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jctnmDniRg

It's a bunch of people dancing to that song. They are from Singapore. They really got the groove of the song.

 

Both music videos suck, but I like Live Like We're Dying more.

I have been a fan of Adam since I first heard him back in February. Adam has an amazing voice, and I liked that he was a bit different than most Idols. Kris never did anything for me, I thought he had a weak voice, and I always thought Adam was MUCH better.

I was surprised when i found myself liking Kris's album so much more than Adam's. Well, I've only heard the snippets, but I just can't stand the disco/electro-pop album Adam is releasing. Nothing I haven't heard 100 times before, and it doesn't give his voice any justice at all.

Kris on the other hand has some sweet songs. Yeah, some are "boring", but most are actually really good. Live Like We're Dying is very catchy and I like the lyrics. So far I've listened more to Kris's LLWD than Adam's FYE and TFM.

 

Harvey Milk: You gotta give 'em hope.

... not sure what to think about this "AI redux" in the first place.

"Time for Miracles" sounds like the typical end credit song of a main stream movie - power ballad, over produced, pretty much interchangable. Adam's performance is OK but not outstanding from my point of view. Not sure though whether another performer could have done more with this material.
The song will certainly do what it is supposed to do - promote the movie, especially with the video - which follows the basic rules for the end credit song video as well mixing some short scenes of the singer (some made to give the impression of him performing the song "in the movie") with extensive excerpts of visual highlights of the movie. whether the song will become a success IMHO depends on the success of the movie. However, I understand that Adam's upcoming album sounds different, so the song might not really represent him. Which, in turn makes me wonder: with the release date of the album coming up, will this video help him or not? I could see parts of the audience assuming that this song is representative for the album and then beeing disappointed after getting the full album, when learning that it sounds different and might not be to their liking.

Kris Allen's song on the other hand seems to be rather representative of what he is / will be doing. So ... the video was IMHO well produced looked interesting and got me to actually watch it to the end (and not just listening to the music while doing something else). The song itself? I found it rather well performed and enjoyable, with lots of well you could say "soul" and emotions. However, as mentioned before in the comments as much as I liked the song I didn't found it having a hook. I listened to it repeatedly but I still think you can't whistle or hum the song easily. That might have a negative impact on its standing power. But then AI always does wonders for the first release of its candidates, doesn't it? Kris Allen better hope for that as he certainly is aiming for a market that many similar performers are also targeting that - at least from a view point of someone outside the US - doesn't have really soemthing to stand out from the crowd besides his AI background ... so he really must bet on his material and his performances of it.

Anyway, in direct comparison I voted for Kris' video - just because of the soul and emotions I felt in the song performance.

I always vote for the artist that I want to go to bed with. So Kris won in a landslide. (kidding... i think)

But seriously, Kris more than proves he's a capable, charismatic artist in his first video. Good song, okay video. Look forward to hearing more from him.

allowed back on the site is up to him. Unfortunately, I can't undo his zero ratings, but I did go through and put five stars on any post he zeroed. As editor, I don't normally vote on any posts (seems unfair) but this was the only way to do what is a clear violation of the rules.

Didn't like neither much. They are equally bad/good. Not terrible, but nothing exceptional. Over-produced indeed. I am a fan of Adam Lambert though (will buy his CD), so I'll vote for him.

Thank you from another non-American, for the YT links!

i have to decide by the song, the truth is that i don't like either of them (i don't dislike either). I think Adam's is like a 90's soundtrack of a blockbuster, and Kris is a cover of the script (and the truth is that i don't like the script too much).

This is the first year that i follow post idol (i start follow in sixth season, and that season was really bad, i like the seventh but this is the first time that i follow the contestant works daily after idol), And being an American idol is a big stress. Kris and Adam were declared failures a thousand times in the last month, i think the followers are a bit impatiente.

Kris and Adam, are very very different. Kris is a nice guy, but he doesn't atract the media, he is not controversial (i remember the ridiculous attempt of a tabloid to sell Kris and Adam as foes, but body language doesn't lie, and it's pretty obvious that they like each other). During the contest, he was very bad treated by the jury, specially by Simon (he wasn't the only one, Simon treat really bad Alison too), i could understand Adam pimping, they know the audience of AI is conservative, and Adam was a controversial contestant (not only for being gay), and the truth is that Adam deserve the pimping and the hype, but i never get Danny Gokey, his performances were weak and they guy is really awkward socially. Kris is a nice guy, he is married, he is a christian but not a narrow minded. He made some good covers during the show, and i think he has the potential to make a good career. He probably never will be a media favourite, but there are a lot of singers with good sales that are not usually in the media.

Adam is totally different, he is an entertainer, he has probably the best vocals on idol, with a wide range and a great control of his voice. And the media loves him because he is different. But he has some big handicaps, the album is eclectic (he can sing anything) but the first single FYE, is in a new territory, not in europe, where there are some male singers doing dance songs, but in america this is usually female territory. On the other hand in the USA, there's no openly gay mainstrean singer. I think he has a good opportunity to be one of the first AI contestants to do great in europe, but on the other hand i think he'll face difficulties to break in america.

LLWD is starting to doing well, after a month or so of it's release. Some idol fans declare the song a failure, because only peak at 89 in billboard top 100 and then drop of the chart, but after a couple of weeks, the song is hitting top 40 radio stations, and it's slowly climbing at itunes chart.

FYE is not doing great in it's first week, the truth is that the release was a bit complicate and the song was able to download in itunes 36 hours later that the prevision (and it could be dowloaded on other sites). But it start to be played on radios, and the big promo will be after de AMA's where Adam will perform.

I think both songs have a chance to do well on charts. TFM will be another story because it¡s only the song of the movie, and i don't think there's any plans to add the song to radio playing, so the probabilities of being a hit are poor (even when the song make the top 50 on billboard in it's first week with downloads only).

Everybody said that they have less fans than the davids last year, but one thing is the songs and other different the albums. Some Kris fans feared that he became the less selling AI winner, but i'm optimistic. And Adam released his album in a very competitive week (Rihanna, Britney, Susan Boyle, Shakira), but i think he'll do well too, but he probably will get a good promotion with his performance at the AMA's and he'll be on Oprah and probably make a cameo on Glee (Leah Michelle really want to sing with him)

It's a pity that being them such a good friends (there's a lot of nice tweets from each other, even some really nice from Kris parents about Adam) that some fans don't respect that, But i think it's some kind of Idol think, because the Davids have an older/little brother realitonship, and their fans seems to hate each other

First, I agree with those who point out Time of Miracles is not really the first real Adam video since it came out as a movie tie-in. I think it's an awful song and most likely not representative of what will be on his album.

I like Kris's first single but I'm not crazy about it. I think the video is interesting because it didn't go the predictable route, it's a little darker than you'd expect, but it showcases Kris's talent for the playing instruments.

From what i've heard of Kris's album, there are quite a few songs better than LLWD.

I expect Adam's songs will be much more exciting when they are performed live.

I know the media keeps wanting to compare Adam and Kris because they were finalists on Idol. But I wish it would stop. They really are very diffrent from each other and don't even perform in the same genre of music.

I've always leaned toward Kris over Adam but that doesn't mean I don't think Adam is talented or less deserving of success. And I certainly don't want to be attacked for not loving Adam as much as many others do.

Is it just me or does Kris Allen's song sound like a song that the Script would do? Of course I love it. But I like Adam Lambert's song too....however I had to vote for lovely Kris since he did deserve to win American Idol in the first place! ;)

Kris Allen. I already gave my thoughts on the Adam Lambert track last week.

Definitely not to be confused with Tim McGraw's #1 country(#10 Hot 100)song "Live Like YOU Were Dying" which i thought this was a remake of but pleasantly surprised to know it isn't. Both he and Adam were amazing on the A.I. tour when it came to Ontario California awhile back.

"Oh please! It's ten days bitching for every two days bliss with these two." Simone on Roman & Deniz "Alles was Zahlt"/"All That Matters"

Love Kris! I agree that the song has a good hook. The vocals aren't his best but I'm sure that is a problem with the producer. I hope the vocals on the other songs on his album are better.

Adam's vocals are good but just not to my taste. This particular song is boring. I also agree with the comment about his facial expressions.

Adam's is from that disaster-porn piece of crap "2012," which explains all the hysteria and destruction going on as he manfully strides through the chaos.  Kris, meanwhile, is singing inside of giant numbers that look like the destroyed "Hollywood Squares," festooned with torn draperies circa 1984.

Adam's voice is a gorgeous instrument and he never allows it to go over the top as he sometimes did on "Idol," but this song just isn't quite worthy of his talent.  Though Kris' voice doesn't match Adam's, his song is more consistent and thus showcases him better.  (Shades of the "A.I." final!)  I'll probably buy both CDs, admittedly on sale or via Costco. 

(First person who says "You still PAY for music?"  or "You still buy CD's?" gets it from me.)

AOL listening party has the whole Kris Allen CD available for listening. LLYD is far from the best song on the album, which I think as a whole is going to please Kris fans and surprise those who find him boring or too laid back. This is a good album and certainly full of life -- and for me there are three standouts, Alright with Me, which they should release as a single fast; I Need You; and Red Guitar, which Kris wrote on his own as a a tribute to his wife. Let It Rain is another song on the album that should become popular. I've already read one positive review of the CD in the Miami Herald by someone who didn't like Kris on the show. So I think some of the other music critics are going to be kind.

The album is well produced but I have to say I wish Kris had sung a few more songs with just his guitar; that's all he needs really because his voice right now has a purity that is refreshing.

The one misstep on the album is the bonus track of Heartless--yet another arrangement and the best version is still Kris just singing it alone with  guitar.

I'm curious to hear Kris's song that he wrote with Daughtry which appears as a bonus track on the Wal Mart release.