Season 8 Favorite Performances is a compilation album by American singer Adam Lambert based on his American Idol performances. The album was released digitally through iTunes and consists of studio recordings made by Lambert during season 8 of American Idol. It does not include live performances at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. A similar album was also released through iTunes by season 8 winner Kris Allen. It sold 16,000 on its first week,[2] and has sold 35,000 by July 23, 2009.[3]
| Season 8 Favorite Performances | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | May 20, 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:01 | |||
| Label | 19 | |||
| Adam Lambert chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Background
editThis digital-only album is a collection of studio recordings of songs performed on American Idol by Adam Lambert.[4] Starting from Top 13 of the final rounds of the competition, each contestant recorded a studio version of the song that they had performed live on stage. These recordings were released immediately after the result show each week and made available for download exclusively via iTunes.[5] No sales information however were released for the recordings so as not to prejudice the competition. At the end of the season, a collection of these recordings were made available as separate albums for both the winner and the runner-up, namely Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. These albums were made available immediately after the season finale on May 20, 2009.
This album contains studio versions of some live performances by Adam Lambert such as "Mad World", "Tracks of My Tears", and "Ring of Fire". Adam's version of "Mad World" is based on Gary Jules' interpretation of the Tears for Fears' song from the film Donnie Darko.[6] Gary Jules himself praised Adam's performance of "Mad World", that he had delivered the song "in a unique and beautiful way".[7] His "Ring of Fire" is a further elaboration of Dilana's version of the Johnny Cash song,[8] while his "Feeling Good" was inspired by Muse's version of the song.[9]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Original artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black or White" | Michael Jackson | 2:59 |
| 2. | "Born to Be Wild" | Steppenwolf | 2:53 |
| 3. | "Cryin'" | Aerosmith | 4:27 |
| 4. | "Feeling Good" | Cy Grant | 3:21 |
| 5. | "If I Can't Have You" | Yvonne Elliman | 3:54 |
| 6. | "Mad World" | Tears for Fears | 3:04 |
| 7. | "One" | U2 | 4:08 |
| 8. | "Play That Funky Music" | Wild Cherry | 3:27 |
| 9. | "Ring of Fire" | Anita Carter | 3:02 |
| 10. | "The Tracks of My Tears" | The Miracles | 3:02 |
| 11. | "Whole Lotta Love" | Led Zeppelin | 3:24 |
| 12. | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | Sam Cooke | 3:50 |
Charts
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200[10] | 33 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums[10] | 4 |
Chart performance and sales of individual album tracks
editNo chart position and sales information were released during the competition, therefore these figures are only for sales and chart positions attained after the finale.
| Single | Hot 100 Peak[11] |
Hot 100 Bubbling Under |
Hot digital songs[12][13] |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Mad World" | 19 | — | 7 | 256,000[14] |
| "A Change Is Gonna Come" | 56 | — | 32 | 63,000[15] |
| "One" | 82 | — | 57 | 46,000[15] |
| "Cryin'" | — | 2 | 75 | 35,000 [15] |
| "The Tracks of My Tears" | — | 17 | 102 | 26,000 [15] |
| "Feeling Good" | — | 21 | 107 | 25,000 [15] |
| "Ring of Fire" | — | — | 112 | 23,000 [15] |
| "Whole Lotta Love" | — | — | 113 | 14,000[16] |
| "Black or White" | — | — | 141 | 11,000 [16] |
| "If I Can’t Have You" | — | — | 145 | 11,000 [16] |
| "Born to Be Wild" | — | — | 155 | 11,000 [16] |
| "Play That Funky Music" | — | — | 186 | 9,000 [16] |
References
edit- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ American Idols dominate weekly sales charts
- ^ Idol Chatter 07-23-2009
- ^ Allmusic.com - Season 8 Favorite Performances
- ^ American Idol 8 Top 13 — Studio Recordings Available Now
- ^ EW - Michael Slezak's Idolatry - Adam Lambert interview Part 2 on YouTube
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ EW - Michael Slezak's Idolatry - Adam Lambert interview Part 3 on YouTube
- ^ Adam Lambert's 'Feeling Good': The Story Behind The Cover
- ^ a b http://m.billboard.com/album/adam-lambert/season-8-favorite-performances/1266554#/album/adam-lambert/season-8-favorite-performances/1266554 [dead link]
- ^ "Idols Inundate Hot 100, But 'Glee' Gloats With Top Debut". Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ Week Ending May 24, 2009: The Kris/Adam Duel Moves To The Charts
- ^ Buzzjack
- ^ Bonus SoundScan numbers for Kelly Clarkson, David Cook, more!
- ^ a b c d e f Idol Chatter 6-3-2009
- ^ a b c d e Idol Chatter 05-28-2009