I am a big fan of Adele’s previous CDs--19 and 21–so it came as shock to find her new CD, 25, is a dud. “Hello” dominates the local pop music radio stations. 25 is the the biggest selling album in the U.S. right now. But for all of that, there just isn’t much worth listening to on this album. Part of the problem may be that Adela and an army of “partners” wrote all the songs on this disc. Maybe recording some stronger songs would have made this a much better listening experience. Even the BONUS TRACKS are weak. Not worth the extra money I spent. I love Adele and her powerful voice, but 25 sucks. GRADE: C
TRACK LIST:
Hello
Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
I Miss You
When We Were Young
Remedy
Water Under The Bridge
River Lea
Love In The Dark
Million Years Ago
All I Ask
Sweetest Devotion
BONUS TRACKS:
“Can’t Let Go”
“Lay Me Down”
“Why Do You Love Me”
George, I liked her theme song for Skyfall and I’m going to listen to some of her other songs.
Prashant, Adele’s 19 and 21 albums are great! This one…not so much.
Sorry it’s such a disappointment…definitely not Underappreciated. I haven’t been moved by any of work enough to seek out an album…but clearly this one isn’t the one to start with…
Todd, despite the fact that 25 isn’t very good, sales are through the roof!
Sales never have had any relation with quality.
Todd, over time quality does influence sales. But, as you point out, it’s a weak relationship.
I’ll respectfully disagree, except with the weak relation notion. There’s a fair amount of brilliant music which stubbornly remains obscure, and people still keep buying Bee Gees records, among other sad expressions.
Todd, the Bee Gees are still “Stayin’ Alive”!
I just don’t buy CDs anymore. Too easy to listen to stuff for free online now.
Patti, none of my students buy CDs anymore, either. I’m a dinosaur.
Well, she was trying to force purchase of the album as a whole, through various online access restrictions. Pity it seems it’s at best mediocre…perhaps she thought so of it as well.
Todd, Adele was under enormous pressure to put out an album after five years of pretty much nothing. That might explain all the “partners” and handlers. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Wow, a C rating from George for an Adele recording is a shocker. It certainly has been getting incredible hype on a zillion television spots and has had huge sales.
Jeff, Adele’s been on SNL, the Today Show, and a dozen other venues. Adele’s music is being hyped to the max. But this album just isn’t very good.
In other news, millions of Adele fans seen marching on North Tonawanda with torches and pitchforks.
Bill, I love Adele and her powerful voice, but 25 bites the moose.
I like Adele and I can appreciate what a tremendous set of pipes she has, but I agree wholeheartedly with George: she needs to switch up her writing team(s) and maybe even record some old standards or obscure songs from days gone by. Now that’s a CD I’d buy!
Btw, totally off- topic George, but have you read Joyce Carol Oates’s THE LOST LANDSCAPE? I just finished it–it’s about her childhood in and around your neck of the woods and references to Tonawanda appear frequently.
Deb, I’m glad we agree on the new Adele CD. And, yes, I have read and reviewed Joyce Carol Oates’s THE LOST LANDSCAPE. You can find my thoughts about it here: http://georgekelley.org/the-lost-landscape-a-writers-coming-of-age-by-joyce-carol-oates/
You know, now I think about it, it was probably your review that made me add the book to my tbr list in the first place!
Deb, I tend to work in mysterious ways…
I’m not surprised, as I think there were only a couple of really good songs on each of the other albums. I just bought the ones I like individually from iTunes. She needs a better writer / arranger and I like Deb’s idea of doing covers of classics or hits. Also, I rarely hope for much from “bonus tracks” except to spend extra for little.
Rick, I liked the BONUS TRACKS on Meghan Trainor’s new CD. Buy (and listening) to a whole album by a single artist seems to be a vanishing behavior.
testing
this is strange earlier today I tried to post a comment, and it didn’t go thru, got a message about an embarassment not being able to find what i was looking for so I did the testing comment. When that worked, I tried the comment again, and got the same embarrassment message
Maggie, sorry for the difficulties. We’re working on it.
I wondered if i used a taboo word, though none were 4 letter maybe boy from oz offended them
Maggie, could be…