21

One of the Saturday chill and clean day favorite albums

I'm very familiar with Adele's hits but have never listened to one of her albums start to finish, this should be really enjoyable, she has an incredible voice and sings very catchy pop songs. There's two songs on this album back-to-back, "Turning Tables" -> "Don't you Remember", where things really slow down quite a bit. They're not bad songs but I'm not crazy about the ordering. It would be nice to inject some energy in there. There are a couple of times where the album felt long. While I enjoyed most of it it's not one I'm likely to revisit. 2/5

21 Rolling in the deep is a great song. Rumour has it is good too, it’s a decent start. Starts to drag after that. I don’t think her voice is actually that great. It can be really good on certain songs but she is very pub singer in lots of ways. Her voice lacks shade and warmth and despite being powerful and mostly having a good tone, it’s always sounded a bit ersatz to me, an impression of the big soul singers rather than something more personal. Don’t You Remember is a good example, a pleasant song with some nice country and blues touches, but her vocals really don’t suit it and it’s sounds a bit of mess really (the arrangement is a bit annoying and doesn’t help either) Set Fire to the Rain is a decent song. I’ll Be Waiting starts well, but it as it builds up it loses itself and becomes an overwrought motown pastiche. Despite a couple of decent songs, this is pretty dull fare. The more up tempo songs work better than the slow ballads, but I don’t feel either enriched or diminished after listening to it. It probably doesn’t help that so much of it has been x-factored and reality tv montaged to death. I do believe the sincerity of her feelings, but as a whole experience it feels inauthentic - a sense of making an album of songs and arrangements that sound like the kind of album that someone like Adele would make, rather than finding something ‘true’ (whatever the fuck that means). I also found this album had the kind of bass playing and bass tone that I hate - supreme session playing that is tasteful and perfectly played but irritatingly dull. That goes for a lot of the playing actually, very skilled but just kind of soulless. It’s a 2 for me. It’s not terrible but apart from a couple of songs it’s pretty boring. ⭐️⭐️

Adele has an absolutely beautiful singing voice, and I enjoy hearing her sing; whenever a live performance of hers appears on my social media I thoroughly enjoy it. I do not like this album. It starts strong but fizzles quickly. Even Adele cannot make a good album consisting only of belted sad songs over uninspired instrumentation. I like Rolling in the Deep, I actually really liked Rumour Has It, but other than that, I did not particularly enjoy any of the songs. If Adele was the lead singer of a band filled with excellent musicians, I would probably love that band. As it stands, I find most of her music interminably boring.

Tedious, an album for shopping malls. Weird how most of these songs are imbedded into my mind without ever once intentionally listening to them.

Yk that thing where a song that played constantly on the radio gets so annoying that you can’t listen to it, but years later you randomly hear it and it actually sounds good? Well this is not one of those cases. ‘Rumour Has It’ makes me want to listen to John Coltrane. Fortunately this album ended with its 2 best songs. However, when the only song I truly enjoyed is just a cover of the Cure, then I can confidently say this album is just not for me.

Meh

Pretty goofy bruh 🧶

Im 50/50 on this album. There are the songs that have been played to death in grocery stores and on the radio and then there were three non radio hits that were quite good. Lovesong, I'll be waiting, and He wont go. Adele is a very talented singer but the the mixing and instrumentation of the album felt like it driven by corporate investment. It is the type of music that can only be made in a studio doing 1000 takes. I cant even imagine this version of Adele singing with a live band. I'm torn, I really hate the radio hits and the bland songs are very forgettable, so 1 star. But the three that I liked are 4 stars. I will give the album 2 stars to split the middle.

Incredible voice, unbelievable boring and unlistenable as more than one song at a time.

- She just sings too much. - I suppose that there are some good tracks but they get really annoying, really fast. - It's just too much. All the time.

Adele rose to fame at the crest of The X Factor's power. Audiences in the UK had been conditioned to respond to a powerful voice, especially when backed up with a back story. (The emotional power of the back story never mattered, add in some twinkling pianos and any story would become sufficiently emotional.) The worst clichés and tendencies of the genre and era are in full force on this album: bland arpeggios, unnecessary key changes, perfunctory Phil Collins-esque percussion. These shortcomings could have been overcome by Adele's voice, but alas, it is only on the first and last song where her singing breaks free from the shackles of dullness. Adele is the pop diva for the Simon Cowell generation. Her voice is better than we deserve; the music and production, sadly, are exactly what we deserve.

She's a wonderful singer but I found the album quite grating. The second half is much better than the first. I still can't get over the difference between her talking and singing voice.

Can't really be fucked with her music, not for me at all

I gave her a 2 only because I love her song Skyfall that’s not even on this album

Boring

Adele does what she does well - and she’s got a great voice But this is overly polished, overly dramatic and I will not listen to it again. And she absolutely murdered The Cure’s Lovesong.

Adele

Adele is amazing. But I always hear her like I hear Aretha's Columbia output - the talent is undeniable but the producers just don't know how to use it. 19 is a pretty decent album. This one starts out OK. But gets so boring so fast.

29Based on this scale: 1 - 0 to 19 2 - 20 to 39 3 - 40 to 59 4 - 60 to 79 5 - 80 to 100 Decent first song and last song, forming the bread around an otherwise uninspired album. Good voice, but poor songwriting and worse composition.

I am impressed someone managed to write an album with every single song being about heartbreak. Is there anything else going on in Adeles life? I thought that's Taylor Swifts thing. The instrumentals were nice, a bit safe for my liking. Adele can sing, and she does so extremely well, but it gets samey fast. Lyricism is decent, but as I said earlier, its all heartbreak songs. Id love a song about long drives across the country, or what she thinks is a perfect breakfast, or anything else but love, actually, Id give a point just for that.

Yes, she has a good voice and writes a decent song but it’s all a bit bland for my taste. I’d take Amy Winehouse over this any day of the week

Nothing here.

Can we have our Transformer back? I get why this is in The Project, because you can't ignore the influence that Adele had over the decade that this album kicked off, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. What I will say, is that the songs with a bit of get up and go (Set Fire to the Rain, Rumour Has It) are much better than the weepies. In particular the stench of Someone Like You really leaves you with a bad taste at the end of the album.

My mom loves this album.

I know she has talent but I’m not a big Adele fan. I think I just don’t care for artists where vocal acrobatics are the main focus. A lot of these songs were also really overplayed, so it wasn’t too fun to listen to again.

Adele is obviously an extremely talented vocalist. This record is full of hits which are pretty good. The problem is, most of the record sounds the same to me. I feel like she could've done so much more with her vocal type. Some funk songs with her vocals would be sick. Even some jazzier ones. I think she was kept in too small of a range to keep her "hit" sound going.

Good beginning, some songs get me, some don’t. Fine album, nothing special

Meh

Worries me that this thing will have an Ed Sheeran album at some point. 1 extra point cos she can sing

Good voice, bland music

Ugh. I'm guessing this is one of those popstar albums written by other people for the star to perform. This album is lazy, it's such a boring generic pop album. The focus is on Adele's ability to go from high to low notes so quickly, mad skill, but used so poorly. Bland.

No offense Adele, not my cup of english tea

Some good songs but the slow, depressing, whiny songs are not for me

Don't really care about this one

Love her voice, but the album is disjointed and just drones on. She has much better albums than this.

Really not my thing, but a pleasant lesson

Listened to a couple songs, not my thing.

Super boring, super generic. Adele has a great voice, but this type of pop music is just soul sucking.

This might sound jaded, but a classically beautiful voice on its own is not impressive to me. Look, I’ve heard a million beautiful voices in my life, so what? This is not an anti-pop take either, because I would even argue that other pop artists (like Ariana, Beyoncé, and Gaga for example) either have unique qualities to their voice, or just use it in a way that’s more effective. Adele’s voice does not make up for this albums shortcomings. The singles are pretty good, the non-singles are rough. Most of 21 is very boilerplate and impersonal. Production is hit or miss, and on songs like “I’ll be waiting” the track is so thin it sounds like she’s singing to a karaoke track. All filler no killer. Strong 2, like a 2.8

MEH

Ofcourse heard this album before, I liked this when I was younger but when I listen to it now I’m not really feeling it anymore. Heart it a bit to much I think 2.0

2.1 listen, does it sound pleasant? yes. is she a great singer? yes. is it exciting? ...not rlly. am i ever going to listen to it again? very likely not. fave songs: the singles fave songs:

Its fine. Adele is extremely talented and its a decent collection of songs. Besides being the age of 21 when writing and recording this album, there's no cohesive narrative, goal or theme. The singles are the (strong) highlights but there's no real reason to stick around past them.

Just not my thing. Sorry. Stuck with it for the first half dozen tracks. Too polished for my tastes. An extra star for The Cure cover.

Derde keer Adele, in vind echt maar niks

This is the second Adele album I've had and both have been removed from the book, leaving zero Adele albums. I do at least recognise two of the song titles on this one. 5 Singles though, and I've only ever heard 2 of them. In fact there are only 2 albums from 2011 left here at all. Having a scroll at first it seems fair enough, some good albums but nothing earth-shattering. There's a Mogwai album, (no Mogwai or Godspeed Y!BE in this book renders it incomplete) and REM but while good it's not their best. Arguably Helplessness Blues should have been included instead of Fleet Foxes debut but two by them would be overkill. Ah. The Wild Flag album, Strange Mercy by St Vincent, M83's Hurry Up We're Dreaming, that's harder to justify excluding. Probably detectable that I have very little to say about Adele. Such is my commitment to this though I did listen all the way through once, even after being severely tested by Don't you Remember. Tbf Set Fire to the Rain got things back on track quickly after that stinker. Lovesong surprised me at the end, it actually is a cover of that Cure song. Anyway, polished pop croon music for people who like that sort of thing.

The singles hit hard, The rest is filler, At best this album, Is a boredom killer.

If you were alive in 2011 there was no escaping this one. Adele has killer vocals and can sing the hell out of anything, but unfortunately the music industry has conspired to saturate her music in every aspect of daily life. I did enjoy what songs hadn’t been ruined by repetition already, but noted that the non-single tracks (i.e. those that didn’t break into the mainstream) felt lacking in songwriting power relative to the others. Just a shame, as there are great tracks on here that deserve their (non-forced) moment in the spotlight.

First two songs were incredible, the rest were actively boring to me. If it was just up to the first two, I might even give it a 5!

Got pipes but not really my interest.

I don't like the music style..

I'd give this 2.1 to keep in line with the album title. Adele has a beautiful voice but this album is so bland it could have been called magnolia

Adele can certainly sing, but the compositions and lyrical content are too one note. Rolling in the deep is an amazing song though.

Hard to write a review - very commercial pop with a powerful voice behind it. Can't really say much more.

Besides “Someone Like You” this album is pretty bland. Her vocal ability is impressive, but there’s not much else going on.

Great voice, terrible music.

It’s hard to fathom that the opening and closing tracks on this album have over 1 billion plays on Spotify. With that alone I can understand why this is on the list. Even the least played song has 67 million plays. And these stats are from just one streaming platform. The album itself is as dull as dishwater though. I mean it’s pleasant and unoffensive but there’s nothing here that makes me go wow! “He Won’t Go” was my favorite track but even this doesn’t sound like Adele is exploring any new ground in the world of pop music. I guess this is the kind of album for people who don’t really want much from music except for some emotional connection that they can draw parallels from.

Really great voice and implemented elements of soul and gospel styles, but the pop ballad structure comes through in an annoyingly potent way.

Her voice is beautiful and she is extremely talented, but it was a time with so much exposure about Adele that I can't listen to the songs anymore. The songs are not my style, but I don't see that as a problem, we can always learn something new, but I can't listen to them anymore...

The first song was much better than expected. I am pleasantly surprised so far (1:17 into the album). But can Adele keep it rolling? She kind of did for the first three songs, but when Don't Your Remember hit I wanted the ejector seat button.

Her voice is a joke. It's so good but I don't think there's anything special about this album. Whilst the songs are decent enough, there's no major standout other than Someone Like You which is a banger. 'Rumour Has it' is a song I have always disliked, I just hate the chorus. As I say, it's all thanks to her voice. If I could sing like that I reckon I could knock an album out of similar quality.

Rating: 2.5 Very radio-friendly, over-produced and safe pop album. Nothing too bad but nothing good about it either. Vocals can get overwhelming at times. Few tracks are quite catchy though. Not fan of the lyrics. Get over this asshole Adele already! Best track: He Won't Go (good intrumentals, nice bluesy-soulsy vibe) Worst track: Someone Like You (rightfully turned into a meme song, can't stand the vocals)

A really strong start but it overstays its welcome. Some where around track 5 I just got bored with it.

Radio ruined her for me

Begåvad men lämnar mig oberörd.

Ok, it's a good album, and her voice is fantastic, but after 3 or 4 songs, I was annoyed. Too much repetition musically and thematically.

boring

Hitit ovat hyviä, vaikkakin hieman vanhentuneen kuuloisia: esim. Rolling In the Deeping jumputtava taustarytmi häiritsee. Kokonaisuudessaan levy on myös aivan liian hidas, ja sen puhtoisen popahtava estetiikka tekee pitkitetyn kuuntelun mahdottomaksi.

A bit dull. Not for me

This album could've done with just the hits. The "Lovesong" cover really ruined it for me. So cheesy.. The songs that weren't released as singles were too whiny. Was going to give this album 3 stars but Lovesong was the straw that as an album it's really not passable besides the, admittedly many, good singles.

Great start and finish. Bit samey in the middle.

It's hard to not know many of the songs on this album, so many have become hits. It's the kind of album I would have on in the background and could listen to from start to finish but not one where I would pick out individual songs to listen to. Adele's vocals are impeccable as expected and powerful - what a set of pipes she has. However I do feel like other than the singles most of the other tracks are fillers and not particularly unique or memorable. Standouts songs - Set Fire to the Rain, Turning Tables, Someone Like You

Sold a lot of records. I wonder if anyone plays it now? It's not exactly a fun listen.

2.5. At times soporific, doesn't encourage relistening. Adele's vocals are good but the music is often insipid. Standouts: Someone Like You is still great.

De beste dame heeft een dijk van een stem, en een aantal liedjes zijn enorm catchy, maar toch kan ik er niet zoveel mee.

Okay voice, massively over produced.

hon kan ju sjunga tjejen men det är lite för tråkig pop

That was a lot of radio hits!

She has an amazing voice, obviously, and these songs are written to showcase it. I still think "Rolling In the Deep" is a great song, but the rest is a little dull. Still I'll take Adele a thousand times over Celine Dion.

It was fine. Soundtrack to a boring rom-com. Very same after a while.

Her music isn't really my thing but DAMN does she have pipes. What a gorgeous voice.

Everything sounded good. Adele has a nice voice and I appreciate the use of real instruments/musicians on a popular pop album, but it was boring. Nothing new or interesting, not for me. He Won't Go was pretty good.

I’ll be straight- I don’t like Adele. I think her range as a performer is limited (almost all she sings about is her ex) and her voice is all technicality with little power. It’s not fun or exciting to listen to, and I don’t understand her massive appeal. Listening to her mega album all the way through for the first time since it came out confirms this. Sorry. D

cheesy!

Miserable pointless pop

Not terrible pop, but not great either.

Perfectly boring.

i've heard this album about 3 times in my life. that's about 2.5 times too many. sure, she can sing and has a nice voice, but there is nothing new or exciting here whatsoever. great marketing and above average production can polish a turd of an album for todays clientele. obviously a clientele that liked to bee spoon fed crap.

Amazing voice, she is a powerhouse for sure. I wish that the recording studio was willing to adjust her voice less, as it is very evident that the vocal track has been poked and prodded until every aspect of Adele's voice is in pitch, and it just gives this really eerie, unnatural vibe, not dissimilar from a drum machine being "too in time". She does not need to be auto-tuned ad nauseam, and I think natural tones would help give this album some sort of identity. The music is pretty vanilla once you get past the point of Adele having a great voice. There's really nothing else to stick around for. I thought He Won't Go had a fun sounding arrangement and ventured off the beaten path, and the gospel take on I'll Be Waiting was pretty charming; 21 was a bit of a snooze fest aside from these takes. Fave tracks: He Won't Go, I'll Be Waiting, Lovesong

A "perfect" voice that sounds like a million other perfect voices. A collection of generic, factory-produced AOR. Offers very little that is new or interesting.

A couple of bangers bookend well sung average songs. A 'meh' sandwich.

imitation is the sincerest form of tedium

First listen. Not unpleasant but otherwise totally anodyne. Don't need to listen again.

Jedna z tych plyt ktorych nie sluchales nigdy, a wiesz dokladnie jak bedzie brzmiec, bo chyba jeden z ciezko znalezc cos bardziej ogranego w radio wizji 2k1X niz Adele, glownie wlasnie z tego krazka, ktory jest jej drugiej studyjnym krazkiem, a sprzedal sie tak dobrze, ze przez bite 10 lat kawalki z niego sa stalymi bywalcami popowych smutaw top list, jak ja kocham albumy zaprojektowane na popularnosc, tematyka bolesnej milosci, mialem nadzieje, ze tylko na trzech utworach ktore slyszalem wczesniej sie skonczy, ale niestety cale 11 trakow i 48 minut jest naszpikowane bolesna miloscia, strasznym jest miec tak bogate zycie uczuciowe juz w wieku 21 lat, jesli tytul oznacza wiek artystki w chwili nagrywania matrialu, wiec check na tematyke, liczba trakow odpowiada prawie liczbie producentow tego materialu, podobnie ma sie sprawa z lirykami, bo obok pani Adele sporo dodatkowych creditow pisarskich, wiec z instrumentami musi byc podobnie, tlo dla wokali tworzy ekipa skladajaca sie z przynajmniej 50 nazwisk, dodajac do tego 20 osob od dodatkowej produkcji i pewnie osoby niecreditowane widac jak duzym przedsiewzieciem potrafi byc stworzenie popowego krazka, a ile w tak swietnie brzmiacych wokalach pani Adele i emocji plynacych z jej glosu jest artystki, a ile wizji kogos kto pomyslal jak ja sprzedac, bo co jak co spiew na tej plycie jest jej najmocniejsza strona, potrafi ona zmienic sie w zaleznosci od traku i pomimo lirycznej nudy, to zonglerka pomiedzy soulowymi, akustykowymi czy r&bikowymi klimatami wychodzi jest dobrze, no i moze w tym wypadku tych 11 producentow rowniez ma w tym swoje trzy grosze, bo jesli kazdy trak byl nagrywany osobno, to nie dziwne, ze brzmia tak odmiennie, ale jednak zamykaja sie w schemacie popowego grania, jakie sa szanse na kojene krazki pani o tym nazwisku, biorac pod uwage, ze jest ona skarbem narodowym wyspiarskiego narodu obawiam sie, ze dosc wysokie

Adele comes through on the singles and cover, but is let down by the production too many other times. 21 is an unfortunately flat album, and it can't seem to decide what it wants to do musically. That's not a recipe for success when every arrangement relies on the lead vocals: They're the only thing holding the tracklist together and are not given nearly enough space.

pop

Music isn't bad. She has a nice voice. But the lyrics seem childish. They don't resonate with me.

I like this album but not in the mood for it today. Plus I've probably heard half these songs about one billion times.

100% meh. One track on it, "I'll be waiting", appears very much to be trying really hard to be Pauline Evan's 1992 cover version of Bad Company's "I feel like makin' love". Other than that, it's entirely skippable.

Rolling in the Deep is a great song and Adele is undoubtedly a talented vocalist, but the rest of the album just falls flat. It's nothing special and a bore to listen to.

21 by Adele (2011) Here’s an album where the artist bares her soul, and I, for one, wish that she had put some clothes on it. In “Rolling in the Deep”, for instance, her indignation not only lacks subtlety, it also puts vengeance, spite, and unwarranted finality into an overfilled shopping cart of disillusionment over a failed relationship. This is not the wholesome expression of anger and self-worth of “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor, Love Tracks, [1978]). This is more like, “I may or may not survive, but you damn sure won’t.” It’s not passive aggression. It’s active aggression to the point of toxic femininity. And in “Rumor Has It”, while the rumor is that “I’m the one you’re leaving her for”, the final dig is “He’s the one I’m leaving you for”. Bitter. Bitter. And it’s not as though she’s unaware. In “Don’t You Remember”, she admits “I know I have a fickle heart and a bitterness”, but she doesn’t care. She’s gonna slam the door on your fingers, turn the lock, and walk away anyhow. In “Turning Tables”, the sentiment is slightly more mature (“Under your thumb, I can’t breathe”) and hopeful (“Next time I’ll be braver”), but it’s still stuck in unredemptive finality. Likewise in “Set Fire to the Rain”, she declaims, “I threw us into the flames . . . Let it burn.” It’s like the Götterdämmerung mentality of the leaders of Germany in March, 1945. In each of these songs, it’s as if she’s unwilling to forgive the other of the smugness, gamesmanship, manipulation, and inconstancy that she reserves to herself. This is not a formula for psychological health. These are not so much songs as they are splenetic ejaculations of self-generated misery. Now there’s no question that her voice excels in power, range, and tone. And the musical settings are suited to the mood and are all well executed. But this album gives expression to a disordered psyche. 2/5

You and me baby Baby me and you. You and me together Nothing is better You and me baby Baby me and you You and me together That was an error Lalalalalala... Admittedly, "Rolling In The Deep", the track opening this record, is an all-time masterpiece. And of course, Adele's got techinical chops when it comes to vocals, plus that warm deep voice. But almost everything that follows that hit single misses the point of what interesting music and lyrics should be about. The music is often made of bland, unimaginative, generic pop ballads that get on you nerves as they follow one another. This album lasts 48 minutes but it feels like an hour and a half. As for the lyrics... well, what more can I say than what I wrote at the start of this review? It's often quite embarrassing, to be honest. I've also read in one review in here that this album is not part of the latest editions of *1001 Albums...*, that it was dropped. If that's the case, it's a damn shame it's still here on *this* list. And not because I don't like it, but because I signed for this thing thinking there would only be the albums from the last edition. (I only have the names of every album *once* part of that list, not the last edition, so I can't check if *21* is there or not myself). Tally: I've temporarily lost count about the number of albums I've listened to up to now, but I've taken notes and it's there somewhere. And of course *21* will NOT make my final list. I mean, seriously, gals and guys... *This* can't be an "essential" listen, right? Baby, me and you, You and me baby La la la la laaaaaaaaaa....

No longer in the latest editions of the book. Everybody has already heard the good songs on this album, and the rest isn’t worth it imo.

Très belle voix, j'écouterais peux-être pas sa tout les jours, une belle voix sur de l'instru minimaliste, mais je sais reconnaitre son talents

A couple of nice tracks, but on the whole, the subject matter of most of the songs just bores me to tears and I don't like her cockney twang

Not as bad as I was fearing (although that bar was quite low). It started off quite well but then the ballads crept in more frequently and eventually sapped any life out of proceedings. I did actually like her voice on the tracks when she let it sit with the rest of the band to create an overall song and wasn't all about showmanship but it's the ballad tracks where the vocals have to take centre stage that just puts me off completely.

And another album that you can easily miss before you die. There are better songwriters and better singers than Adele. After 21 came 25 and 30, and I guess this will go on until we have 72 or 83.

I heard this before and it's just not my thing

Why is this in this list? Sure, talented singer, but those album is nothing special at all

An album I would replace this one with: Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock (1999) 5/5

I won’t deny that she has a wonderful voice. Unfortunately, music is highly subjective. This is just not my thing.

like i js dont like adele sue me.

she was looking at 2 stars until that cure cover

Not for me

I do not like the way Adele sounds. Simple as that sometimes.

Dude you’re still not getting

Absolute garbage

I preferred this to 25 - more variety and better songs. But still have no intention to ever listen to this again.

Rolling in the Deep is quite good but overall this is quite annoying and I slightly preferred 25

FFS…will there be more AC/DC too? Higher among the one stars than “25” due to “Rolling In The Deep”. Tom.

🙄 another chick with a technically good voice and the music absolutely sucks!

Hated it then, hate it now.

I didn't like this at all. Her voice is either hooting or hollering and I don't like any of it. I do not understand her appeal or why these songs were so big but she's British so I guess she just has to be on the list. It's the rule at this point

Shite, music for people who don't like music, don't care she was only 21

It's shit, garbage, awful, meaningless. And for some reason she mispronounces a lot of words.

I like Adele’s voice but her music is not for me sorry

Ahhshs

Adele (for me) is like the Ron Howard of music. Safe, uninspiring content that sells well and wins awards, yet without making any noticeable impression on the art form (see Apollo 13, the da Vinci code et.al) and Adele is just that, safe uninspiring music, professionally crafted, produced and marketed to women who have endured heartbreak and buy one album every 18 months. Good voice? Obviously. decent company ? More than likely. Included in this list as rank recency bias? Definitely. 1/5

I personally do not like Adele ive heard lots of her music ( this album in particular ) and it's just not my vibe. im very picky in my music but this album I find cringy. please don't suggest music like this to me.

I've heard of Adele, but I doubt I'd recognize any of her songs if one came on the radio. After giving her album 21 a full listen, though, I see I had nothing to worry about, none of the stations I tune into would ever play this style anyway. The whole record comes across as generic, assembly-line pop. Her voice is decent enough, but nothing about it grabs me or stands out as special. While working my way through the tracks and trying to settle on a rating, I was hovering around a weak 2 out of 5. Then came her cover of The Cure's "Lovesong," and that alone dropped it straight to a 1.

2011 was Peak TV Reality Show time, was it not? When the general public were impressed by loud singers that made dogs howl... This was so bland. The only time I normally ever hear music like this is at the dentist where they play Radio 2. Thus, I associate stuff like this with anxiety and pain. It's certainly painful on the ears. Also... it's 5 years since her last album. Must be due "35" in 2026? God help us all 😬

Unlistenable, appalling vocals.

I didnt enjoy it. I managed 5 tracks of it or was it just one long one? It was boring and I cant explain it but there was something very unpleasant about it.

Oh no. I've dreaded this day. Since 2011, I've had five different next door neighbours who've blasted 'Someone Like You' at inopportune times, presumably whilst crying into a sharing bag of Maltesers. I naturally wince at even the thought of that song. They were all sad, fat and lonely, so I can only assume that has to be a prerequisite to listening to her music. I am none of those things. It triggers me already because of that, but then her voice has something horrible about it that's irritating. It's not that she can't sing, but the tone or something (don't know music words) is really unpleasant to me. The album cover makes her look like she's doing what I call picking her nits - when people scratch their head then inspect their nails. What are they looking for? Reminds me of chimps. That just adds to it all. Objectively though: this was just a bit shit. She's bland. She isn't half as powerful vocally as people claim, and the songs are naff. Music for people who don't like music and only listen because they think that's what they're supposed to like.

The terror of this list is at times unbearable...

The first thing that struck me about listening to this album is that Adele can’t sing, it’s more controlled yelling. I find very little subtlety in her voice and her extended notes can sound flat and hollow. The second thing I noticed is the songwriting is pedestrian and unimaginative. The last thing I noticed is that I don’t like listening to Adele.

INPUT = {"artist": "Adele", "album": "21"} LINEUP = {"men": 0, "women": 1} FEATURED_ARTISTS = {"men": 0, "women": 0} TOTAL_MEN = 0 TOTAL_WOMEN = 1 WOMEN_PERCENTAGE = 100 OUTPUT = "Minimum score awarded. 1/5"

Singing is emotional and the louder you do it, the more emotional it is.

Самое обычное, неинтересное, скучное, скудное, коммерческое, попсовое говно, с пустым звучанием. Просто пустой вайб, это слушать неинтересно.

Did not listen

48 minutes of Adele ranting at the top of her lungs about a bad breakup. About as fun as sitting next to a deranged person on the bus.

Not my type of music

Det första jag tänker är att jag längtar efter Jamie XX's bastunga närmast instrumentala remix av "Rolling in the deep", den är grym. För här var det wailande i sjönöd igen. Jag förstår inte vad ni andra hittar i den rösten och sånguttrycket. Det är fruktansvärt! Singeln "Set fire to the rain" är direkt hälsovådlig att lyssna på, enbart pga sången. Musiken här är om möjligt ännu mer förutsägbar och generisk än den andra plattan vi hade, där fanns i alla fall en produktion som stack ut lite grann. Den här skivan hade inte funkat som indtrumental. "He won't go" har nåt annorlunda, även om den inte är bra och fanskapet försöker fortfarande sjunga, så fimns där en ansats mot nåt annat och bättre. Resten skickar vi direkt till slutförvaring i Forsmark.

No

not my thing

Ad nauseum in the Pearse Hotel. Well written songs but not my taste

Rubbish

Adele’s 21 is the sonic equivalent of beige wallpaper: overwrought vocals, lifeless production, and faux soul for people who think volume equals emotion. Perfect for tearful latte drinkers; unbearable for anyone craving music with actual pulse or surprise.

Nope.honestly I did try. Ps 5 from for Urban Hymns

Ah, the foghorn lady. I don't like her voice. The music is sometimes OK, but mostly too sterile. This is not for me, but now I understand why it's so popular: it's bland and inoffensive. Vanilla music.

2011 Not interested. Not wasting my valuable listening time. Not messing with my streaming algorithm. Heard before ❌️ only singles on the radio Listened this time ❌️ not a chance Revisit ❌️ Just no ★☆☆☆☆ (2/10)

Ugh

Soundtrack for your fainting couch! Couldn’t finish it. Dramatic, samey, screechy.

Dude I was just thinking; “hey, my long weekend at home is missing the ambience of a grocery store.” I open my browser, and what do I see?? An answer to my problems. I will play this quietly and interrupt it periodically with loud, indecipherable PA announcements to feel like I’m really there. I need to feel like I’m at the bottom of a depressive cycle in the produce aisle. We’re just a press of a button away from crying next to the avocados. I’m ready to feel (miserable) again. Rolling in the Deep - This is the most 2011 song ever. Perhaps besides anything by the Lumineers. Anyway, here’s the thing, she can absolutely sing. It’s an incredible talent. If I had heard this song for the first time, I might even like it. Rumour Has It - The second most 2011 song of all time. Well I suppose the time would be 2011. Whatever. Some people peaked that year. I however, was a grumpy teenager who wished to not hear this song anymore. As a grumpy adult, it’s fine. We were really enamoured with the “stomp clap” motif. This one feels like a sell out moment. Still an incredible vocal performance, but far too commercial. Turning Tables - The first of the deep tracks. This one is going triple platinum with the moms who fantasize about divorce crowd. That demographic pretty much runs the daytime radio rundown. This sucks. Don’t You Remember - This is so basic and middling. I wish I didn’t remember this era. Although with my rapidly declining short-term memory, I probably won’t remember this song by this afternoon. Set Fire to the Rain - Damn, another hit. This one is so theatrical and her the top. Even just the “touching your face” line. It just reads like a theatre kid imagining their ultimate broadway closing scene. This might be more fit for the Neptune Theatre in Halifax. Ugh. Maybe Dartmouth. He Won’t Go - Yeah there he is officer. Yep, the guy in the oversized Gene Snitsky” t shirt. He won’t leave and we’ve been trying to close this grocery store for a few hours. He keeps shouting about it “not being his fault.” I don’t care whose fault it is, but we’re in the deep tracks here and I can’t really handle any more 2011 radio ballads. Take It All - Take it (take it) take another little piece of my time, and blast into the oblivion of time via another 48 minute slab of music. I suppose I’m the one asking for it! Perfect. This song was meh. I’ll Be Waiting - Errm whatcha waiting for? A good song? Me too Adele. Me too. One and Only - Oh boy, another wedding ballad. This really is the way I wanted to spend my day. Lovesong - this just makes me think about the death metal band “Grave” who have a song by the same name. It’s from their obligatory groove metal era that so many death metal bands ended up in. I will say, Grave’s “Hating Life” is actually heavy as all hell. I stand by it. Someone Like You - This song encapsulates everything I hate about pop music and how we consume it. Not because it’s a bad song, because it isn’t. This is actually a beautiful song and pulls at the heart strings. However, this song is devastating. Listen to it. Tell me why this is playing in the background when you’re shopping for toilet paper or waiting to pick up hemorrhoid cream at the pharmacy. Tell me. Why do I need to listen to someone pine for a love they weren’t ready to lose while getting fleeced at a mechanic? People claim to enjoy music, but don’t listen to it at even a surface level. We could play wasps buzzing for these simpletons, as long as it replaces the silence. Careful. If we don’t have heart wrenching breakup ballads playing, you might have to think! Ugh god. Maybe they’re right. Somebody spin up a catchy ballad about suicide. I’ve got some shopping to do. Every grain of passion typically gets expunged from pop music before it hits the dental office speaker, but it remains intact in Adele’s voice. The problem here isn’t the performance of the vocalist, it’s everything else. Every song is so generic. Each track was crafted with the hope of playing at an outdoor wedding engulfed in those millennial string lights. After 24 karat Magic, you need to bring the house down with the first dance song. Every wedding DJ knows the score. Listen, I don’t hate this, but I also don’t care. See my pop music rant in the last track review for my full thoughts. Don’t want to harp on it again. Oh what the hell, one more time. Stop playing emotionally dense music in public places. I don’t know who I have to reach about this issue, but some of us actually hear the shit that’s playing everywhere. 1.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Someone Like You

Why is this here? Music for office buildings. YES she has so much talent and can SANG.

Dreary, boring, miserable.

I wasn't looking forward to this one and physically groaned when I refreshed the page this morning. Got it out of the way quick though and can report that this album is exactly what I expected it to be which is largely very bland! It's all very well written, put together and produced, but it feels like a dull cosplay version of much better things. It's magnolia paint, generally inoffensive but there's no oomph or wow and it's exactly what I hate most about music! The bluesier, stompier tracks were the most listenable but most of it was just 😩 and it frustrates me greatly that it’s artists like her that are championed by the industry.

Sigh. I probably should’ve expected this record, but I didn’t and here it is and I’m not looking forward to it. The upside is that I’ve heard so many of the songs on this record that I don’t have to punish myself by really trying to pay attention to them again. The downside is that I already know that this record is not for me, but I’m going to try to go through the motions here and listen to it for the sake of this project. Ok, so Adele has a powerful voice, and this record has some slick production. Technically, it sounds great. There’s some great big pop hooks all through this thing. But, fuck, it’s boring to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve already heard 3/4 of the record, and each song represents a dead horse that was beaten in 2011 mainstream culture. You couldn’t escape hearing most of these songs for a season of life. And, talent, slick production, and sweeping pop hooks aside, there’s really nothing of the songs themselves that’s actually interesting, at least to me. I would even say that Adele can hit a frequency that actually hurts my ears, and that note/frequency comes up often. But there are no risks taken here, it’s paint-by-numbers pop with some soul undertones. I imagine this record crops up fairly often across a Starbucks loudspeaker. Truthfully, I hate this record. I hate it so very, very much. I know that ratings are completely subjective and that I shouldn’t feel bad for trashing this completely milquetoast effort by an admittedly talented singer (and writing and production team); she doesn’t express anything that’s lyrically compelling at all. But also, realistically, it probably doesn’t actually deserve the 1-star rating that I want to give it. The production is tight, the musicians are competent, Adele has a strong voice that’s clearly being showcased here, even if it’s not for me. But, I also ask myself: if Adele never performed any of these songs, and if they never existed, would it matter to the landscape of American music? I don’t think it would matter at all. The closest she got to “interesting” on this record was a completely tepid cover of the Cure’s masterpiece, Lovesong. I’m honestly not sure why Adele’s 21 was on the list, but I’m really not the target audience and I’m sure there’s some folks that enjoy it. 1.4/5 Fuck it, maybe this is not a fair rating but I don’t care. Adele might be a talented singer, but after slogging through this record, I’m just angry. The music she sings is next-level dog shit that I never want to hear again, and I feel some sort of way that I had to listen to it today.

Turgid and overblown

Prestige American Idol cringe that sounds like it was made exclusively for both the greater Grammy’s electorate and recent divorcees reclaiming their sense of self after years of settling. Nah.

point9.

Ça me tape sur les nerfs solide. La musique générique quétaine se tient dans un range de pas très intéressante à pénible pour mourir. Du vocal fry à pus finir. Un album qui essait de nous passer un sapin. Je serais plus indulgent si chaque toune durait 4 minutes de moins. Objectivement, je donnerais un 2 mais y'a tellement de 5 que j'ai envie de faire un peu plus la différence.

Zzzzz

I knew I didn’t like the singles, and it turns out I don’t like the others either!

This is the 135th album I’m rating. I think Adele is very similar to SZA in a way that I can't separate her music from listening to her on the radio in my mind. Adding to my Playlist - Rumour has it and I'll be Waiting. Not Adding to my Playlist - Rolling in the Deep, Turning Tables, Don't you Remember, Set Fire to the Rain, He Won't Go, Take it all, One and Only, Lovesong, and Someone Like you. Rolling in the Deep - I've gotten tired of this song after listening to it ever since it released back in 2010. Rumour has it - I've listened to this song a bunch of times before but I haven't gotten tired of it just yet. All in all I liked 2/11 songs. I have listened to Adele far too much. When will people just stop listening to her. Frankly I think her music is very boring.

Too whiney…

Как я понял это попса так что тут навряд ли будет оценка выше 5 Первая песня (Rolling In The Deep) как же она меня заебала, обычная попсовая песня (3/10) Вторая песня тоже самое (2/10) Третья песня ещё хуже (1/10) короче мне стало скучно и я выключил этот альбом, простите

Not my genre!

The singing frog.

At least when Alanis Morssett did an album about her failed relationships there was some emotion to it (ok, it was anger) but it gave the songs some oomph. This was just bland and boring. And her voice seemed to change part way through to become just plain annoying. Part of me is expecting me to give it a 2 but I'm not going to, 1

First couple of tracks are pop belters , her voice remains great but the rest of the album is so tame. 1.5

She's great but not for me. 1/5

honestly i was so bored for so much of the album....really such a laughable difference from listening at age 12 with basically a blank slate of musical taste (my parents had little to no interest in music so did not shape my music tastes whatsoever) to listening now with much more knowledge and distinguishing preferences. Adele has a good voice, but she doesn't do anything interesting with it except belt with a good tone. it's kind of the textbook example of how a good voice is simply not good enough if you don't put emotion and a distinct perspective behind the music. and it's not because she isn't primarily a songwriter either, there are many amazing singers who are not songwriters who are still great interpreters. this was just boring! the maybe two exceptions were "Turning Tables and "Someone Like You", but after 45 minutes of album filler that isn't even well-performed, it isn't enough to save the album

First album I wanted to end. To much singing with basic music.

Before listening: Am I going to really listen to Adele?? During listening: Break up albums are always a bit meh with me, especially if the focus is on a singer and not the band as a whole à la Taylor Swift, Lorde and other countless starlets of bygone days. This album seems to not be an exception. She is a very good singer, but for me it has to be an interesting package as a whole, be it with interesting composition, instrumentation or whatever. He won't go is a very good track. After Listening: Boring with a nice highlight. Probably never going to listen to it again. I find it hard to imagine that people actually get passionate about this album.

not listening to this shit, thanks and not in a thankful way

Adele has one of those voices I just can't listen to. I get physically uncomfortable. "Rolling In The Deep" starts things off promisingly, though there are moments in the tune that trigger me, and from there, the rest of the album just pulls me into a stupor. Her insistence of going for that no-holds-barred register makes me recoil. Sorry. Can't do it.

Naježe mi se dlake na leđima kad čujem. Kasnim puno albuma, pa se neću predugo zadržavati, ovo što sam čuo je dovoljno

The music isn't just boring - it's a simple amalgamation of pre-set drumbeats and basslines, with nary a melodic lead apart from Adele's voice. And this is where the album really fails. While Adele has a strong voice, her vocal meoldy choices also feel like pre-sets. It's like she went with the first melody that came into her head and never tried actually writing anything. The result is a thoroughly boring and unimaginative album with no surprises.

Maso

NEEEEEEXT

Nope, sorry . Can't

Dreadful

Shite

I hate Adele. It's shite.

I don't fw adele maybe

I like some pretty noisy discordant stuff, more horrible than the stuff with the lowest average scores on here. However, when Adele hits those notes where she really forces it, gets close to bellowing the note, albeit tunefully, I find it really painful to listen to. I feel like I can hear her vocal chords ready to snap. It's most obvious on Someone Like You. If it wasn't for that this would be a 2.

This is well made music. But it's not something I enjoyed.

I don't sense any real emotions coming out of Adele.

Please no more Adele

I just couldn’t do it. I listened to 25 minutes before I gave up. I do not connect with Adele’s music. It’s the musical equivalent of watching paint dry.

1. in the deep - 1.5 2. rumor - 0 3. tablez - 0 4. remember - 1 5. fire to rain - 0 6. uuont go - 1 7. take it all - 1.5 8. uuaiting - 0 9. only - 0 10. lovezong - 1 11. like you - 1.5

Not for me

1 star, for the opening song

TRASH DONT LIKE ADELE

Ugh. Just gave me flashbacks to working retail, stuck listening to top 40, & not able to change the station.

Not going to listen to this trash

It’s crazy that Beyoncé really ended up being Destiny’s child after all.

Expertly performed and produced music that I do not really care for

Extremely not my shit

Not a fan. Turning tables best previously unheard of song. Rumour has it is my least favourite.

Never listened to Adele constructively but because of her worldwide stardom was aware of her and her music on the radio. The way she presented herself on the TV and her speaking voice always annoyed me and I do not like potty mouthed ladies! That said I accept she does have a strong singing voice but I can’t get away from thinking that it’s X Factor manufactured. As I’ve recently began to listen and really appreciate other female vocalists previously off my radar, Tori Amos, Diana Krall, Lana Del Rey, Norah Jones, I was hoping that Adele could offer something I had previously missed in her. I read that the album is about a relationship break up. I quite like the melancholy and sadness this subject sometimes brings out in artists who have experienced this (Peter Hammill’s ‘Over’ been the best example of this) so I was expectant. Not so and I was very disappointed I’m afraid. I felt nothing of the pain and anguish she may have been trying to convey. Instead it was more a case of look what you’re missing I’m a superstar and loaded! I found my mind wandering and wondering when the album will end. Ended it myself in the end before the last song. This didn’t matter as I had subliminally heard all the songs previously anyway somewhere but hadn’t took no notice. Adele comes nowhere near the aforementioned ladies and I just hope that 25 or 33 or whatever number she comes up with naming her albums stays off this list.

I hate adele, this isnt personal

I always thought Amy Winehouse was vastly superior. Nothing has changed my mind. This is very safe and bland- no bite or edge to it. Just sort of generically well done.

Yeah, it's just boring and soulless to me. Big anthemic ballads with so little variety in timbre and tone. It's like a sterile, edgeless Amy Winehouse without the nod to vintage Wall of Sound music. I'm never impressed by virtuosity or super amazing vocals. Music isn't a sporting event. "Look how many notes I can fit into this phase" "Look how long I hold this note". These radio singles were HUGE when they came out though.

skipping this. NEXT!

I think we should hear from Adele’s exes before we choose sides

i give up

One or two semi-enjoyable tracks, the rest was just filler. The singers voice was very jarring. Hard pass from me.

Pure rubbish.

Good vocals, song writing is ok, but also super whinny. It's just so boring

no me gusta adele

If this is one of the top 1001 albums I clearly don't know much about music. Generic emoting set to bland, over-produced, obvious backing. I don't get what is meant to be 'classic' or ground-breaking about this, other than the sales figures.

Why?

This is a very long 48 minutes. So. Fucking. Boring.

Milquetoast, good voice, uninspiring music

No

Bland pop music. Good voice, dull sound. Not for me

Same as the last Adele album on this list, she has a great voice and uses it to make various versions of the same song. There are some limited differences in the music but it's ridiculous how every song to a tee is a vague love song about nothing in particular. Surely she must sometimes consider writing about a slightly different topic? Who cares, will never intentionally listen to her anyway.

She has a great voice and it sounds well put together... But she has one trick and it's utterly dull and does nothing for me. Someone like you is a good track but I had to listen to 45 minutes of suffocating dross to get to it and the terrible lovesong cover annoyed me

I'm with the other hipsters handing out 1s and 2s on this. These idol show "graduate" albums are just written-by-the-production-team-in-the-studio fluff with two aims: 1) show off the singer's vocal range, and 2) hammer home how "emotional" it is. It's a whole album of those "huge moments" they try and spotlight in the TV ads for the show. Yes Adele has a large vocal range (would love to know how much of that was touched up in post), yes she is obese and yes she seems to have had a bad relationship- or at least someone in the writing team did. So what? I guess I'm too cool for the PR team's spiel. The idol ads always try and spin it like if you don't care you have no soul. Pull the other one. 1/5.

The singles are OK but incredibly overplayed, the rest is pretty bland and unoriginal.

I don't like It

Tack men nej tack.

Ik vind Adele gewoon echt kut, geen idee waarom eigenlijk en ook geen zin om dat uit te zoeken of te veranderen.

NAH

Music to accompany junk TV shows like The X Factor. The pathos is laughibly juvenile. It's no surprise that Heart FM plays this sort of music when a notable public figure passed away.

I guess I'm not the target audience here and she performed the duties of pop that was required. The album is tye template for pop in 2010s, basically of warbling mega chroneing. The imagery, ideas and music are all absent slave to the sole perfect voice. The tyle of the TV pop star generation a bit of a backstory but nothing creative. It doesn't do it for me it's not exciting it's kinda the beige wallpaper of pop. Soz

for an album i skimmed through in about 5 minutes i have a lot of opinions. most of them bad. the production of this made every instrument sound fake. don't know if that's the desired effect but it sounded shit. singers who's apparent main purpose is to show off their really good singing voice is up there with country music for my most loathed music forms. fair play for making the most of your god given ability to wail, i'd just prefer it if the song was sung without the unnecessary showy bits and displays of 'range'. i suppose we've got to thank simon cowell for the talent show thing where you contort your face, do a knee bend and stick your hand out like darth vader strangling someone as you do the heartfelt bit of the song. to the albums credit, it does have her big ones on it. However they've been absolutely rinsed by every man and his dog so despite this being the first time i have ever actively chosen to listen to adele, i probably know all of the words for about 4 of these tacks on here. i did not enjoy this.

Not for me 😴

I've tried my best to avoid this Brit-School music for mums but it seems this list has forced it on me much like every fucking piece of media that exists tried to as well. It's bland and inoffensive; it's like the aural equivalent of a digestive biscuit. It's the best argument for the need for music snobbery I've heard in a long time. There. Done. Best Tracks: Rolling In The Deep; Rumour Has It; Someone Like You

Hugely overrated. Belting out pap for people too scared of Aretha Franklin.

Overrated rubbish. Should not be anywhere near a list of all time great albums.

Mierda total.