Adam Lambert’s “Ghost Town” Voted Summer 2015’s Best Sleeper Hit By Idolator Readers

Robbie Daw | August 13, 2015 8:27 am

We knew Adam Lambert‘s glorious pop-rock/house hybrid “Ghost Town” was the very definition of smash upon first listen back in April. And given that, plus the song’s confounding (and frustrating) lack of mainstream airplay, the lead single off The Original High was a no-brainer for inclusion in our Ibrawlator poll on the Best Sleeper Hit Of Summer 2015.

Another thing we were also aware of going into this latest bout of letting readers demonstrate their democratic right: The power the Glamberts. Of course, we had no idea if that might was a match for the Beliebers, Lovatics, Harmonizers and, um, whatever Calvin Harris and The Weeknd‘s fans are called. But lo and behold, between Adam’s core fanbase and Idolator readers who simply dig “Ghost Town,” the song won our poll by a landslide after racking up 15,554 votes — 64% of all the clicks, when all was said and done.

Personally, I feel like Adam Lambert hasn’t had a fair shake with this album just yet. It’s gratifying to see “Ghost Town” still on the Billboard Hot 100 for an eighth week now, but you can pick out 10 singles, maybe more, currently within the Top 40 that don’t stack up to Adam’s. Seeing that “Ghost Town” hasn’t climbed higher than #67 is where that confounding and frustrating part comes in.

None of this should be seen as a shortcoming on the artist’s part. The music video for “Ghost Town,” directed by the unparalleled Hype Williams, is easily Lambert’s most artistic to date, and the fact that it’s been viewed nearly 17 million times on YouTube — where radio programmers can’t control what is ingested by the public — speaks volumes.

With regards to The Original High as a whole — which has so many other great tracks lying in wait, if you’ve yet to check it out (you really should) — I’ll just restate what I told Adam two months ago during our interview: The album plays like a very solid, cohesive effort. Actually, it’s one of the only pop albums released this year that you can make that claim about. (Lambert responded with this: “It feels like the most cohesive thing I’ve done. I realize that. I think that was one of the goals.”)

But here we are with our latest round of Ibrawlator, where “Ghost Town” has beat the competition to emerge the victor. Hell, if it gets a few more people to take notice of the song, then great. And, on the flip side, if “Ghost Town” does go down as one of those perfect, under-appreciated pop songs that the mainstream somehow slept on, well, it’s their loss.

So congrats, Adam, on a well deserved win.

Do you think the right song won our Sleeper Hit Of The Summer poll? Let us know your thoughts below, or by hitting us up on Twitter and Facebook.