quinn222

Way back in October I said I'd eventually have something to say about Adam Lambert's album cover. I'm finally getting around to it.

Here's a quote from Adam from an upcoming interview:

"People saw that cover and they were like, 'He looks a little feminine to me, I don't understand.'" Adam says on the show, which premieres at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. "I'm, like, yeah ... I had so much airbrushing on that picture on purpose. The Hunky Dory cover that [David] Bowie did, Boy George and Motley Crue and Prince -- like all these artists that did this over-the-top lipsticky glammy thing. The minute someone Idol does it, who's actually gay, it's like, 'Oh No!

This is sort of what he's had to say about it in one form or another all along. This plus, "It's supposed to be campy, don't take it so seriously!"

I get where he is coming from and have no problem with it. I have no problem with the photograph itself or the 'airbrushing' of it (which obviously did not involve any airbrush of any sort but did involve a whole lot of PhotoShop technique.) Campy is fun. I've done some campy, tacky stuff in the past myself and had a good old laugh at it. It was pretty clear from the first viewing that the designer was given that famous quote from Adam's brother, Neil, in which he called Adam a 'glittery alien from planet Fierce" as her design brief. She certainly conveyed that idea. But (you knew there had to be a 'but' right?) there's one thing I do have a problem with and that's the execution of the idea. This is just not technically well done. There's no excuse at all for having one of his shoulder's missing. No matter how campy, fun and not serious it's meant to be (and it is) it should never end up on PhotoShop Disasters (which it did.)

All that aside though it certainly had people talking about it, which is always a plus. I'd really love to have seen what some other designers might have come up with given the same brief and the same set of photographs.