Adele

[Fordham Rd 120]

she sounds amazing on this album. I just wish it had come out later bc my mind is still all encompassed by by Red (Taylor's version ) and I can't bring myself to stop listening to it yet so 30 will have to sit on the back burner.

[Lentilus 25,720]

Wild Wild West is the only good song on 30, and she decided not to add it to the standard version... 

[Make me your Dream Life 87,828]

eeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaszyyyyyyy on meeeeeeeeeeee 

[ChaoticLipster 24,618]

Quite a boring album, Adele has an incredible voice one of the best of the generation. But she lacks the visuals, excitement factor and versatility of genres.  Easy On me still the best song. 

[Glitter Boy 16,558]

I am not feeling the album at all. Only songs I liked in my first listen are Oh My God, Can I Get It, I Drink Wine (kinda), Wild Wild West and Can't Be Together. Her voice is immaculate and her lyrics are great too, I just didn't connect with the songs as much as I would've loved to. Guess it'll take a few more listens. omw to.

[Glitter Boy 16,558]

Ugh I had it al WRONGGGG and I'm glad. I listened to the album again and paid close attention and definitely enjoyed it way more than the first time. Here my notes.

Spoiler

1. Strangers by Nature. 5/10. Works amazing as an introductory track and she sounds good, but the chorus and the second half throw me off. Not really fond of the track though it has very plausible elements like her vocals (as well as in the rest of the album so I won't mention it anymore) and the production. Particularly the chorus I dislike. Even sounded off key somehow. Skip for me.
2. Easy on Me. 7/10. Found myself enjoying it a lot more than the first time I heard it, but pretty much because of the melodies of the chorus. Lovely images in the lyrics (the drowning line had me floored), but my issue is the production, in my opinion it needed more power. Still I like it as opposite to my first listen where I didn't really enjoy the track.
3. My Little Love. 10/10. Okay I'm sorry for my first thought on that song, it really is beautiful. Besides the lovely production and the layering in the vocal harmonies, the thing I love the most is the vulnerable and intimate tone of the lyrics. All of the voice notes besides the one where she cries could have been tossed out, but I get why they were included. I also got very emotional with it because of my relationship with my mother, so it got me in tears (something rare when I listen to music, so it def meant something).
4. Cry Your Heart Out. 7/10. This one is good, and I like it opens the different styles she explores in the album, but something was missing. Found the vocals of the chorus (the initial ones mostly) kinda off - they would sound better in a closer range/pitch as the rest of the song. But it kinda gave me jazzy/wintry vibes and I was digging it.
5. Oh My God. 10/10. Definitely one of my favourites. Surprisingly energic, loved the midtempo refreshing style. Loved the lyric themes of being herself without regretting it, it's a great step to open to different themes in her past songs (mostly about relationships).
6. Can I Get It. 10/10. Screams single treatment, as well as the previous track. The guitar + Adele vocals combo >>>>>>>. Sounds very catchy and could work great as a single I think. It was giving Music and American Life Madonna and I'm here for it. Not very sure I got the lyrics well but the production made up for it.
7. I Drink Wine. 9/10. Loved the lyrical tone, very relatable, so experience-telling oriented. The R&B/soul vibes from this and a few of the following songs is, in my opinion, improved from songs of her previous catalog, so that's a good thing. Maybe I would've cut out the last minute of the voicenote, but I don't mind it much.
8. All Night Parking. 10/10. Another song I initially didn't enjoy, it felt so right listening to it, like something playing in an elegant restaurant during a winter rainy night. Loved the oldies vibes. I don't consider it to be an interlude, but having some of these songs' lengths in mind, I kinda get why it gets that treatment.
9. Woman like Me. 8/10. Sonically, it reminded me of Lana's "Dark but Just a Game" and Adele's own "He Won't Go", two tracks I really enjoy listening to. Lyrically is very straightforward and confident, I loved it. But I would've loved a little variation in the song's production, it feels very monotonous as it remains almost without any changes throughout the track. The outro was great, how her vocals remained while the drums were fading out. 
10. Hold On. 10/10. Loved the analogy between the title and message with the production - it really was telling you "be patient" and then the song switched up - and yet a second time! I feel it was made on purpose, and I loved it. Beautiful lyrics and amazing vocal delivery. 
11. To Be Loved. 7/10. Lyrically and vocally is great. I think the instrumental needed something else other than just piano, maybe some strings and a few soft drums would've made it better for me, 'cause this is the only song in the album that really feels very long. Still very lovely and vulnerable.
12. Love Is a Game. 8/10. It's giving Amy Winehouse, particularly "Love Is a Losing Game", even made me thought it is kind of a homage for her. Didn't like the high-pitch-sung background vocals in the second verse. I think it works better as a heartbreak song than many of her previous releases, so good for it. Maybe I would've cut a minute or two from this one, but not necessarily. 
13. Wild Wild West. 9/10. Impeccable production and vocal layering. Love the autobiographical tone of the lyrics, though I'm not a fan of the lines where she mentions the names of the cities (San Francisco, San Bernardino), felt kinda forced to me. But I would really love a whole album in this midtempo vein (same as Oh My God and Can I Get It), she has to do something like that in the future. The bridge >>>>>>. I would've put this song at the middle of the album just to keep a better songs run (Cry Your Heart Out/Wild Wild West/Oh My God/Can I Get It and To Be Loved/Love Is a Game/Can't Be Together).
14. Can't Be Together. 10/10. Beautiful melodies. Though mostly piano driven, I loved the production in this one, maybe because of the addition of the bass towards the second verse. It makes the song feel richer than, say, To Be Loved or Easy on Me (even with the drums), for a reason I can't point out. In my opinion, it's a better closing song to the album than Love Is a Game.
15. Easy on Me (feat. Chris Stapleton). 5/10. Instead of improving the song (though his vocals are not bad in any way) I feel Chris' contribution to the track made it worse as it feels mediocre because it was, in my opinion, not well executed. He should've had the whole second verse solo, and more powerful moments, than instead just providing background vocals to the original song. This and Strangers By Nature are my only skips.

Overall. The album shows a mature Adele expressing situations and emotions she began exploring in previous albums (most notably 21 and 25) but in a perfected, brilliant way. We find vulnerability, honesty and heartbreak, but also confidence, love and healing. Her vocals are so on point, and I feel productionwise this album could be just her best yet. A really good experience. 8.5/10.

Favourites: My Little Love, Hold On, Oh My God, Can I Get It, I Drink Wine, Can't Be Together.

Least favourites / didn't enjoy: Strangers By Nature, Easy on Me (feat. Chris Stapleton).

P.S. Oh My God and Can I Get It have to be singles. Same thought back in 25 with Send My Love and Water Under the Bridge and it happened, so fingers crossed.

 

[bluechemtrails 26,746]

Devil and angel at the same time:

 

She ended an interview, because the Australian reporter had not listened to her album

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59370263

 

Thanks to her, the shuffle function for albums on Spotify is no longer enabled by default

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/21/entertainment/adele-spotify-music-streaming-album-shuffle-scli-intl/index.html

[Thunder Revenant 20,943]

Tried to give it another chance, but this is just such a sorry collection of "heard-before"s. Everything that is not a 21 or 25 rehash sounds like it's an outtake from Duffy's Rockferry. And then there are those few tracks like Oh My God that sound straight out of 2012, when mainstream pop rediscovered sad songs.

It's solid but it's definitly not worht all the limelight and praise it gets. At this point, I seriously doubt most people actually listen to her music, they just hype it for the sake of it since the GP decided that "ADELE IS GREAT!" at some point.

[Coney Island King 26,002]

Album has grown on me more.

 

I love hearing her talk about the album too, her Zane Lowe interview is good.

[Honeyyoung 17,096]

9 hours ago, bluechemtrails said:

 

She ended an interview, because the Australian reporter had not listened to her album

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59370263

that is completely false, the reporter confirmed she didn't do it. page six bullshit

[Gravitate 3,921]

I could not care less for her music but I love watching her interviews lol. I’ve probably seen all of them at least twice. She’s such an entertaining and funny person. I see why so many people love her

[That Venice Bitch 28,150]

Can I Get It, Woman Like Me, and Oh My God are still the best songs on this album 

[TrashMagiq 58,573]

On 11/18/2021 at 8:12 AM, TrashMagiq said:

Listening rn, just finished track 1 and omg? That was amazing wow. I’m not even That into her music but whew what a song that was. Fearing the rest of the album.

 

The way when I first heard this album I really thought I was about to experience a showstopping masterpiece cause Strangers by Nature and My Little Live were So good like I had a whole moment where I was like “I’m experiencing a masterpiece for the first time right now oh wow” but then not a single song after that was doing anything for me except All Night Parking which was an interlude  Cry Your Heart Out was cute tho

[honeyslow 5,931]

huh so I just saw that Adele has announced a four-night residency in Munich this summer... I'm debating whether I should try to get tickets, to be honest I haven't actually listened to her music in forever but 21 had pre-teen me gaggedddd....and Munich isn't that far away from me at all like if I can find a friend who would go with me I think it could be kinda fun 

 

if anyone's seen her live how was it?