Brian Mansfield's Review of 'Cuckoo'

Cuckoo (Adam Lambert, Bonnie McKee Anne Preven, Josh Abraham, Oliver Goldstein).

Where Adam's kitchen-sink approach with For Your Entertainment meant it had some Europop, some glam rock, some dramatic ballads and a little of just about everything else, he's more precisely focused, lyrically and musically, on Trespassing. Like much of the album, Cuckoo is built for the dance floor, with EDM's synthesizers and buzzy bottom end. Adam's vocal abilities add a new dimension, though: Listeners can lock into the beats or the singing or both. Here, the result's a 21st-century synthpop.

Review by Brian Mansfield

The Hollywood Reporter's Review of CUCKOO

“Cuckoo”

The sweeping choruses on this party anthem come courtesy of Bonnie McKee and crew (Anne Preven, Josh Abraham and Oliver Goldstein) who extol “getting crazy” going “cuckoo” and partying “’til they take us away.” Throw in a Duran Duran-like breakdown in the bridge and the unique inflections of Lambert’s voice throughout -- where one line can sound super sweet and then gritty the next -- and this is a song that shows off his skillful singing. Not many vocalists can do that David Bowie jump from approach to approach.

Billboard Magazine's Review of "Cuckoo"

In "Cuckoo", Adam Lambert leaps from MJ to Daft Punk, with a waterfall of synthesizers raining down upon his chest-thumping party plans. The line "Gonna get out of this straitjacket!" smacks of double entendre.