[8] Trespassing debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 77,000 copies in its first week, making Lambert the first openly gay artist to do so in history.
[11] It performed very well internationally, charting in all major territories and was met with positive reception from most music critics, praising Lambert's musicianship and the "catchiness" of the record.
After completing his Glam Nation Tour in late 2010, Lambert took his time working on his second album, and changed direction in both sound and creative process.
Whereas his first album For Your Entertainment featured a glam rock sound, Lambert turned to funk and pop music to create a more dance-oriented record and began collaborating with a new team of producers, including Dr. Luke, Pharrell Williams and Bruno Mars.
These include "Broken English" which "reflects the challenges and rewards of this relationship", "Naked Love", and "Shady" which is about the night they first met.
[citation needed] Lambert recorded the track with Printz Board and Nikka Costa, later tweeting that it was indeed a leaked outtake.
In a five-song acoustic set, Lambert and his band performed three songs from the new album—including a debut unplugged version of the title track "Trespassing", described as "fierce and funky" in this rendition.
[22] Lambert performed a series of promo concerts in various night clubs and festivals throughout North America, Europe and Japan during the summer of 2012.
[37] On July 19, 2013, Lambert performed at the California Mid-State Fair at Paso Robles with special guest Allison Iraheta and her band Halo Circus.
The We Are Glamily Tour began in February 2013 in Seoul, South Korea, before visiting Japan including three nights at the Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo, then to China, Singapore, Indonesia, and to Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Finland across the following month.
On September 5, 2012, after much speculation and a leak of the news by a Dallas radio station, Lambert confirmed on Twitter that "Trespassing", written by himself and Pharrell Williams, would be the next single.
[45] A lyric video for "Trespassing", featuring the album's signature black and yellow colors, was uploaded on the singer's Vevo account on October 4, 2012.
An eight-track Trespassing EP was released digitally on October 16, with a hard copy/digital download combination available from Lambert's official site.
The EP included remixes of "Trespassing" by Pharrell Williams, Benny Benassi, Zak Waters, and vAnity mAchine; "Never Close Our Eyes" by R3hab, Mig & Mike Rizzo; "Better Than I Know Myself" by Robert Marvin and Shearer; and "Pop That Lock" by Johnny Labs.
Rolling Stone gave Trespassing a positive review, stating that it was "the great pop album everybody was hoping Adam Lambert would make."
Entertainment Weekly was slightly more critical and gave the album a B−, finding its second half to be "so laughably over the top" and going on to say that "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."
Slant Magazine appreciated the record sounding "current" and Lambert's "newfound control and knowing when it's actually in service to a song to unleash the full power of his voice", yet criticized the tracks "Better Than I Know Myself" and "Never Close Our Eyes" as "the same kinds of soulless, studio-slick flourishes that have characterized [producer Dr. Luke's] work with Katy Perry and Ke$ha".