So.....Adam Lambert has made it to the cover of Rolling Stone already! This Sun Aquarian is continuing to feel the benefit our current Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in the sign of the water bearer.
Adam pulls no punches in the Rolling Stone interview. He approaches, with candour, the topic of his sexual orientation, his experiences with drug use and life on the wild side, on the road to his current amazing upsurge of fame. He seems to relish the opportunity to shock. That goes with the Aquarian territory for some natives. In spite of his bravado though, he comes over to me in this interview as much younger than his 27 years, and oddly, rather naive, while at the same time trying to be "cool". He lacks the sophistication I was expecting from him.
I hope this wasn't too much, too soon for Adam Lambert. It would be a pity.
The magazine is due on newstands on Friday, but clips from the lengthy interview are littered around the internet, and there's a scan of the complete article HERE.
Adam's sexual orientation is irrelevant to me, though it appears to be a burning issue for many. The image presented by the Rolling Stone interview was probably custom tailored for the magazine's readership. The magazine is likely facing hard times during current economic woes; this was an opportunity for a surge in sales they could not afford to miss.
Rolling Stone's readership is vastly different from the American Idol audience. Most would consider American Idol as musical garbage of the worst sort. Adam's squeaky clean Idol image has needed to be dirtied down, made "cooler"(?) The TV show has afforded Adam a once in a lifetime opportunity, I hope his hunger for fame and apparent need to be seen as "cool" will not blind him to that fact.
Some of his remarks are crude. I thought he was better than this:
I guess he meant that well but, good heavens - it could have been expressed with a little more delicacy!
Maybe I'm "just too old for this shit" (as Danny Glover used to say).
Anyway, as my blog-buddy and welcome regular commenter Shawn Carson pointed out the other day, the Sun/Jupiter square (90*) aspect in Adam's natal chart could be a source of his penchant for pushing things to the limit, holding nothing back, being terminally blunt. Also, as his Sun is in Aquarius, sextiling its ruler Uranus, his will to shock is magnified. Adam's natal chart (with as much detail as I can muster) is at this post.
We've seen other Sun Aquarian pop stars who, each in their own way have pushed the proverbial envelope almost to its limits. Brits Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, and Robbie Williams spring to mind.
I was a fan of Adam from his first appearance on American Idol, and had hoped to remain a fan. This Rolling Stone fodder is but a passing sideline. What will present the real test is the music he will make, going forward after the Idol summer tour is over. His first album is due in the fall.
Adam's quotes about the album (taken from mjsbigblog):
The Rolling Stone article puts Adam plainly "out". For me, the jury too is now out!
Adam pulls no punches in the Rolling Stone interview. He approaches, with candour, the topic of his sexual orientation, his experiences with drug use and life on the wild side, on the road to his current amazing upsurge of fame. He seems to relish the opportunity to shock. That goes with the Aquarian territory for some natives. In spite of his bravado though, he comes over to me in this interview as much younger than his 27 years, and oddly, rather naive, while at the same time trying to be "cool". He lacks the sophistication I was expecting from him.
I hope this wasn't too much, too soon for Adam Lambert. It would be a pity.
The magazine is due on newstands on Friday, but clips from the lengthy interview are littered around the internet, and there's a scan of the complete article HERE.
Adam's sexual orientation is irrelevant to me, though it appears to be a burning issue for many. The image presented by the Rolling Stone interview was probably custom tailored for the magazine's readership. The magazine is likely facing hard times during current economic woes; this was an opportunity for a surge in sales they could not afford to miss.
Rolling Stone's readership is vastly different from the American Idol audience. Most would consider American Idol as musical garbage of the worst sort. Adam's squeaky clean Idol image has needed to be dirtied down, made "cooler"(?) The TV show has afforded Adam a once in a lifetime opportunity, I hope his hunger for fame and apparent need to be seen as "cool" will not blind him to that fact.
Some of his remarks are crude. I thought he was better than this:
"I liked it this season when girls went crazy for me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all hot. Just because I’m not sticking it in there doesn’t mean that I don’t find it beautiful."
I guess he meant that well but, good heavens - it could have been expressed with a little more delicacy!
Maybe I'm "just too old for this shit" (as Danny Glover used to say).
Anyway, as my blog-buddy and welcome regular commenter Shawn Carson pointed out the other day, the Sun/Jupiter square (90*) aspect in Adam's natal chart could be a source of his penchant for pushing things to the limit, holding nothing back, being terminally blunt. Also, as his Sun is in Aquarius, sextiling its ruler Uranus, his will to shock is magnified. Adam's natal chart (with as much detail as I can muster) is at this post.
We've seen other Sun Aquarian pop stars who, each in their own way have pushed the proverbial envelope almost to its limits. Brits Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, and Robbie Williams spring to mind.
I was a fan of Adam from his first appearance on American Idol, and had hoped to remain a fan. This Rolling Stone fodder is but a passing sideline. What will present the real test is the music he will make, going forward after the Idol summer tour is over. His first album is due in the fall.
Adam's quotes about the album (taken from mjsbigblog):
" I could probably see myself doing a little bit of everything–a rock/pop sound with really strong hooks, with kind of like glam edge to it, and a lot of modern production–dancey electronic type of treatment on everything, make it sound really current and futuristic (very Aquarian!). It’s really important to get a song that really sticks with people, that people either love to dance to or they love to sing along to…it’s just getting it into people’s minds I think is the hardest part.......""Getting it into people's minds....the hardest part" - ain't that the truth! There are so few new songs these days that get right into one's mind. I guess it's an old fashioned concept - the song you can whistle or hum as you walk or drive along, one that keeps returning to mind. Maybe Adam will be the artist to bring that back into fashion, a fusion of futuristic with old fashioned. Let's not forget that Aquarius has a co-ruler - Saturn. Saturn is old fashioned.
The Rolling Stone article puts Adam plainly "out". For me, the jury too is now out!
Great post. I was also a great fan of Adam's but now I'm not sure what to think. Regardless, crazy that he is already the cover story of Rolling Stone!
ReplyDeleteHi WinkGamer!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting - glad I'm not alone! :-)Yep - definitely an achievement to make the cover of RS at such an early stage.
I've trawled through a few fan sites and message boards, and most fans seem delighted with the RS article. A tiny minority have voiced doubts, mainly based on that quote I included.
Funny how a stray remark can affect the reader. It'll take a while for me to forget it.
daft, but true! :-(
Guess it depends on whether or not his "quotes" are verbatim. Maybe the need of RS to garner sales means they can spice up the interview to appeal to the "dirty" side of their readers. I tend to view most interviews like this as through a hall of mirrors sort of effect. See what you want to see (or not).
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the green snake coiled round the thigh upwards....been done before, so nothing new. But then he's not quite Alice Cooper is he.....lol
Rossa~~~ Hi there!
ReplyDeleteI wondered about that myself - we'll never know. He could well have said exactly that, after being egged on to "color it up a bit" ...or something. I'd have felt okay if he'd said f...ing rather than "sticking it in" - that is just so....well unnecessarily crude. If he wants to be taken seriously when he sings those emotional ballads he's so good with, then he can't go around displaying what the Americans call "a potty mouth". It's one or t'other, they don't go together.
LOL! I'd forgotten about Alice Cooper - another Aquarius Sun who liked pushing envelopes. :-D
I thought the RS cover was a tad cliched but okay. If he's not careful they'll make him into one big cliche. He'll have to take care!
Hey, that was totally cool, you mentioning me in your story. Believe it or not, I just got home from another long week on the (sales) road and your blog is one of the first things i checked. I really miss your stories when I am away because I don't carry a mobile computer. I had to do a double take when I read my name.
ReplyDeleteAdam is a multifaceted personality, as you've pointed out, that his horoscope shows. I think that possibly part of his initial appeal, particularly to the general public, is reflected in his Mars / Saturn conjunction. I have this aspect myself, and I get on fairly well with older folks, in general. Part of the reason is the painful energy that lies behind Mars/ Saturn. The person with this aspect has problems expressing his masculine energy in a comfortable way, giving the impression that he wouldn't say anything that can be construed as aggressive or offensive. It manifests itself in good manners and respect for elders and superiors. Adam's demeanor during the show was very assuming and respectful of others. we never heard him complain or be anything less than gracious. these are values that older people especially appreciate. This behavior, however, hides an apparent impediment to asserting aggressive energy in a confident way, hence the "aw shucks" demeanor.
What is going on beneath the surface is a Tazmanian Devil dying to come out, as illustrated by the Venus / Pluto square. This shows abundant sexual energy and interest in erotic pursuits, in particular. So, instead of expressing his lasciviousness in a more acceptable way, he used a rather vulgar expression that only represents the inferior side of his masculinity. The truth is somewhere in between these two sides to Adam, and part of his path is to integrate these opposites into a workable solution.
Thanks for the update on Adam
Shawn ~~~ I'm very glad to have your thoughts here - I was hoping you'd chime in :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I can see the astrological links you've made are most appropriate and proved by the way they've been manifested recently.
I'd come to the conclusion, too, that the truth of Adam (at this stage in his life) falls somewhere between the charming sexy character put forward by American Idol and the would-be bad boy image slung at us by Rolling Stone.
I watched a short interview of Adam on 20/20 last night - boringly focused on his sexual orientation - again! He came over as more sensitive there - more in line with American Idol's image of him, and the view I'd had of him.
While he can be a bad boy in print, it's not so easy for him "in the flesh". I can relate to that. I can say all kind of things in print and even over the phone, which, face to face with someone, would be impossible to do.
I just wish the media would stop with the "gay" angle. It's boring... and irrelevant to his musical talent, which is what this is supposed to be about.
I can understand why some would feel Adam is far too revealing and in-your-face in some of his comments in the RS story. However, as someone who's read Rolling Story for 40 years, I actually found it tame compared to many of the hundreds of stories and interviews since John Lennon first appeared on the cover and used the f-word several dozen times in the mag's first interview.
ReplyDeleteNothing really shocks any of us in the 21st century, does it? Which doesn't condone something being tasteless or over-the-top, only states a reality of the times. I just didn't feel uncomfortable about Adam's story/interview. I thought one telling comment from him was that he'd considered "coming out" in news conferences after the Idol finale, but chose to wait for the Rolling Stone article. Indicates he knew what type of audience he'd have in RS, and that he was savvy enough to know most readers of Rolling Stone weren't going to be appalled.
Over the years, I've noticed many young entertainers need to get the "outrageousness" out of their systems by seeing how edgy they can be in print and on video. As the years pass, they usually tone down, which is how I'd anticipate it will be with Adam. (As examples, I'd point at Bowie, Elton John, any or all of The Stones, Lennon during his "lost weekend" years, Madonna, Lou Reed, members of the Ramones, and on and on and on.)
Actually, I think Himself would agree there were even "outrageous" moments by some of the musicians, entertainers and artists from the '20s through the '50s, which we tend to think were such sedate, genteel times. The language could have been a key difference, but a lot of those folks were "letting their freak flags fly," they just weren't getting the intense media coverage of the 21st century.
I've also observed that many gay folks feel "driven" to get their "outing" over with, so they can move on with their lives. Being a WASP who's never felt oppressed in American society, it's difficult for me to relate to some of that desire on the part of gays, women, blacks and others, who've decided to move out from under the thumb of crabby old white guys.
At the same time, as someone who stringently sought to establish himself as an individual for a long time - maybe too long - I do understand the need to say, "This is who I am ... and if you don't like it, go f--- yourself!" In fact. between the ages of 15 and 35, I may have actually used those exact words!! :-)
TNPOTUS ~~~ Thanks for adding your views - I hoped you would, knowing you are a regular RS reader.
ReplyDeleteLOL! We were in Lawton yesterday and popped into Hastings to see whether they had any copies of RS left - they did, so I bought one as a souvenir. The guy at the checkout said "do you want it in a bag", I giggled and whispered to Himself ("plain brown paper envelope please").
I wasn't outraged by anything in the article about Adam, except that one line (the "sticking it in" remark). The drugs are almost a given for youngsters in the music business nowadays, so that didn't shock and gayness isn't shocking at all. I use the f-word myself, when annoyed, so that's has no shock value.
In the UK we've had so much experience of beloved gay stars, in music and other genres, to feel anything but affection for their exceptional talent as entertainers.
I understand what you mean about gay people here wanting to get it all out into the open, and over with. Like you, I'm not a member of any minority -except that I'm a socialist in a Red State now.
;-) So I can't know what drives people in such a situation. Added to which, both himself and I are of a vastly different generation from Adam, with different experiences. We came in just on the cusp of that rebellious youth syndrome, which blossomed into the youth culture we have now.
At 27 Himself had 4 kids to support (I think).
In WW2, young men of 27, gay or straight, were squadron leaders putting their lives on the line in the airforce, or in other branches of the forces. Reference points have changed so much these days.
I'm not 100% sure that Adam does relate to the Rolling Stone persona, any more than to the American Idol persona. He's an actor, we have to remember. He's not just a musician who has played round the clubs for a few years.
I see him being more of a movie star in the future - in a new style of musical movie, than a pop star or recording star.
Time will tell!
I agree with that. He seems more "actor" than anything. The more I hear of him, the more I think he is quite in control of his destiny.
ReplyDeleteanyjazz ~~ Yes, well we Aquarians are like that don't ya know!
ReplyDelete:-)
Ditto on the "actor" part.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, want to amend one bodacious statement I made: Actually, in the late '60s and early '70s, I was as "oppressed" as many others of my generation, who didn't agree politically with our elders. Our elders proved to us that they were willing to kill us - either in Nam or on a college campus - just because of different social ideas.
TNPOTUS ~~~ Oh yes, I can understand how you all must have felt over here during that era.
ReplyDelete:-(