Trespassing (2012)

Adam Lambert might be the only American Idol alum who considers purple eyeliner a daytime look. So it's hard to understand why it took him so long to make his big gay dance-club album. Even after he came out in 2009, the eighth-season runner-up didn't stop flirting with the straight crowd, indulging in classic-rock guitars and gender-neutral pronouns on his debut, For Your Entertainment. But on Trespassing, he's left the closet far behind — defending gay marriage (''Outlaws of Love'') and celebrating what happens when two consenting adults love each other enough to share their safe words (''Chokehold''). He's also officially coming out as a superfan of funk, '80s-night house, and Studio 54 grooves, tapping Chic's Nile Rodgers to produce, along with Pharrell Williams and Dr. Luke. Thanks to these pop vets, Trespassing's first half is a study in fabulosity: ''Kickin' In'' is stripper-heel disco at its finest, and the rousing ''Shady'' plants its freak flag in the uncharted territory between Nine Inch Nails and Michael Jackson. Too bad the ballad-heavy second half is so laughably over-the-top. By the end, our hero is wailing about fallen Towers of Babel and ripping away his flesh and bone to a ''red river of screams.'' Cheer up, Glammy. It's nothing a little makeup remover can't fix. B-