When you see that the current front man of Queen has teamed up with Nile Rodgers, one of the most influential guitarists of the last century you’re already intrigued as to what they will produce.

With Nile Rodgers’ distinctive funk rhythms and Adam Lambert’s powerful rock vocal, we’re probably in for a huge treat. It’s certainly been a busy few years for both artists. Since the release and huge success of Bohemian Rhapsody, detailing Queen’s history, Adam Lambert has found himself even more in the public eye, which he has dealt with excellently. Even Freddie Mercury’s most diehard fans are going to struggle to say he isn’t doing a great job of keeping Freddie’s legacy alive. 

With a strong base line and early nods to Chic’s classic 70s sound, you’ll be hard pressed not to smile from the very beginning of ‘Roses’. The guitar work is, as you would expect, exceptional with great rhythms and funk fills, accompanied with an edgy bass that drives a real foot tapper. What Adam Lambert brings is a great pop vocal, which is softer than I thought he might go for. When you hear the blend of voice and instruments, you completely see why the tonality of the melody and lightness of the vocal is chosen, it works so nicely. The chorus has a break before it and then the powerful ‘All I got was roses’ can be heard and the crescendo hits you, with great supporting vocals, more synths and edgy guitar, it’s a wonderful masterpiece of sound. 

If I'm honest I smiled all the way through this song, I smiled because the musicality is amazing, the production is excellent, combining funk, pop and electronic genres and the songwriting and vocal works to combine these two powerhouses of music. This is a great combination and I hope they work together again. 

 Rock      Pop 

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.