As a 42 year old “straight” male, I have heard more pop music and laughed at it as being a passing fad, and then been proven right, than many of young people who were at this artist's Auckland concert last month will have ever heard.

I've watched I think maybe two episodes of any version of Idol. I'm so totally not in the target audience for a modern “pop” performer it's just not funny. I own more music as actual records or cds than most people can imagine ever trying to put on an iPod and I have played music since I was 7. I'm spending some time here writing this review for one reason only.

A close friend in Atlanta USA told me I should listen to this guy maybe 6 months ago. I got around to it a week or two later while doing other stuff and realised hey a few of these tracks are a bit better than just OK, so it got moved onto my iPod for my morning walk for a week or so. A few listens later and you find actually some of the other tracks are even better as time goes by, and nothing at all has started to bore you, it just seems to settle into a rhythm that gets stronger and stronger.

I know that feeling well from other classic albums so I know when to give up and when to let music have its way.

Lambert is a performer for sure; he has a distinct visual presence, and style. It's tailor made to look pretty and very now. I actually find it very cool, as it reminds me a lot of the adoration and ridicule that KISS went through in the 70's and 80's.

But it's when you strip that away, and especially if you look at his history, then what he does have underneath that IS something quite special. Two somethings in fact; he has a lot of stage and entertainment experience, but most importantly of all, he has a voice and a vocal range that even the best singers would kill for. The songs are well written and well structured, but by god it is that voice that will have you coming back over and over again.

As a performer he knows exactly what is required and his showmanship is great. Trust Stadium is quite terrible acoustically – but Vector was being used by Simply Red the same night so the almost impromptu agreement to even come to NZ didn't have a lot of options. But from where I was 12 or so rows back you just knew he was doing an amazing job even all that way into the tour, he STILL sounded quite incredible. And then we got the ONLY one off song version he's done – when he serenaded Tommy his bass player with Metallica's Enter Sandman as the encore. That's a song I know well, and it was full of energy and close to perfect. He had the lyrics on the stage floor, with apologies that he thought he knew them all but would probably stuff up and to forgive him if he did. He didn't.

I left wondering if there was any style he could not pull off, and I think that's the thing – there actually isn't.

And that's the reason (finally) that I'm here now, after looking at the DVD that comes in this tour edition set of the already well known first album. It ends with the released videos for the singles. They would be great to end with, but they are cropped 4:3 format and are visually quite awful, especially on wide screen. So forget them if you were hoping for good versions to store away.

But what comes BEFORE those is amazing, The three “I Heart Radio” Stripped videos are very distinctly different takes and great quality video and audio. The five AOL session videos that follow are five classes higher than that again. These are simply awesome recordings, designed from the ground up to mimic the CD versions in every respect, but to be live at the same time. The drums are sound boothed so as not to reverberate, and the performances are laid in with all the backing tracks from the CD sessions, with Adam and the keyboardist/backing vocalist giving utterly brilliant vocal performances. There are several cameras and the editing between them is insanely good, with the synchronization both perfect and also leaving absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it was live, AND that it was NOT a rip of the actual CD sessions, since there are a number of distinctly different vocal touches and they are not just dubbed in as you see them performed in time. These 5 tracks alone are worth the price of the set if you are a fan. With 5 star video to go with them.

Don't be fooled by the hype – if you think you might be interested in this new rising star, then I can tell you at the end of the day you wont be sorry you invested a little time and money and found out for yourself why this is one star that won't be falling any time soon.

CD & DVD living up to the title, very good entertainment!