Though Adam Lambert made this week´s karaoke challenge a recent hit for his incredible rendition of the single on American Idol this past year, the haunting Mad World has been around long before Adam was hitting high notes.

Mad World was originally written in the 80´s by one of the greatest bands from that era (at least in my opinion) Tears for fears. It was the group´s first international success, gaining them recognition on the Top 40s in more than a few countries.

Still, most people my age know the song from its resurgence two decades later, when Gary Jules turned Mad World into a somewhat creepy, but equally moving teen anthem for depression, or as Curt Smith of Tears for fears described it, a ¨voyeur´s song¨ from the ¨eyes of a teenager¨, not to mention the key component to the cult classic Donnie Darko. Jules´ version became a number 1 hit… and possibly the favorite rendition, until glam-idol Adam Lambert came along and added his enigmatic vocals to the mix.

Lambert´s performance, though risky for the Idol contest, paid off well for him in the end, whether he won or not. Though no one can stand against Tears for fears in my book, even Jules himself raved about Lambert´s performance, ¨He totally understood the vibe of it and the power of it and delivered it in a unique and beautiful way. … I think Adam is straight-up the most interesting, for my personal taste, of anyone I’ve ever seen on the show.¨ High praise from the man who made Mad World a massive hit.

Do you think Gary Jules would have the same thing to say about your rendition? Why don´t you give Mad World a shot, be sure to post your rendition in this week´s karaoke challenge thread, and you could end up in next week´s newsletter.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 19:34 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.