Singer
Adam Lambert's musical kinship with
Queen is displayed to full effect on their engaging 2020 concert album
Live Around the World. A compilation, the album includes performance highlights from over 200 shows (chosen specifically by
May,
Taylor, and
Lambert) from such far-flung locales as Brazil, Spain, Australia, Japan, and England. Here's the thing with
Queen, you'll never really replace
Freddie Mercury. He had such a distinctive voice, marked by his wide octave range and crystalline pitch center, not to mention his warm charisma and outsized stage presence. That said, you'd also be hard-pressed to find a better, more compatible stand-in singer for
Queen than
Lambert. Ever since their first meeting in 2009 while
Lambert was enjoying his runner-up journey to fame on American Idol, through their subsequent tours and live appearances,
Lambert and
Queen guitarist
Brian May and drummer
Roger Taylor have displayed their vibrant musical chemistry. Blessed with his own rich vocal sound, extroverted style, and affinity for classic pop and rock (a combination that earned him the nickname "Glambert"),
Lambert is a more than suitable frontman for
Queen -- a kind of millennial analog for
Mercury with a bit of his own Broadway razzmatazz thrown in for good measure. In some ways,
Lambert bridges the gap between
George Michael, who sang with
Queen at the 1992
Mercury tribute concert, and
Bad Company's
Paul Rodgers, who sang with the band on and off beginning in the 2000s. Here,
Lambert nails such classic
Queen tracks as "Don't Stop Me Now," "Fat Bottomed Girls," and "I Want to Break Free." Also included is the group's February 2020 appearance at the Fire Fight Australia benefit concert, during which they re-created
Queen's iconic 1985 Live Aid show, featuring "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Hammer to Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You," and "We Are the Champions." Throughout all of this,
Lambert shines and
May,
Taylor, and the rest of their touring ensemble sound magnetic. The crowds are also audibly enthusiastic, which only adds to the notion that together,
Lambert and
Queen are conjuring a little bit of the
Mercury magic. ~ Matt Collar
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