25

ABSOLUTELY COLORLESS. British pop vocalist music really hit a high with television didn't it? It was TV programs that birthed these british pop stars that are still making money today. Adele definitely has the voice to back it. For that reason I respect her work. I never loved the singles on this album, and I was busy listening to music that animated and inspired me more than stuff like this: Pop singer songwriter stuff with majority Slow tempo, minimalist instrumentation that opens the center for the vocals to do what they want. Back to those instrumentations - 2015 onward prior to covid was fiiiiilled with shitty pop minimalism, or is it just me? Some 808 hits, guitar plucks, and not much else? Claps and fucking trap beats lmao. Send My Love commits this trap beat crime very blatantly...and I hate it. It was like watching real life cultural appropriation in full force LMAO. There are some moments where Adele is not really making the best artistic choices. On "I Miss You" there are some really rough shrieky and frantic background vocals that I think the producers should've left on the cutting room floor. Also, the human body can only take so much piano...piano fucking ballad after piano fucking ballad and then a little trap type shit. A special "fuck you" type shout out to "River Lea". Wow, I hate that song. That fucking chorus sucks donkey cock. It sounds like she's saying Rirer Leaaa Rirer Leaaa Rirer Leaaaaa. Fuck. Man I'm torn because this is not hot dog shit, this doesn't deserve a 1, this is somewhere around a 3/10 and I will be rounding to a 2/5. I don't think you have to go running to hear the shittiest instrumentation pop had to offer in the 2010s. The most colorless shit I've ever heard.

Anyone else have that "thing" where they avoid engaging in "the popular thing everyone else is doing" because of the excessive hype? Like, you didn't watch La La Land or Ted Lasso, or didn't read Project Hail Mary until way later because people wouldn't shut up about it? And then later, you finally catch an episode of Ted Lasso, your heart swells and your soul begins to heal, and you're like "ah, yeah, this is what the hype was about. Well deserved. My bad." I did this with Adele. My bad. I've been verging on tears for the entirety of this album, reveling in her emotional delivery and powerful voice. Brilliant. I'll be adding this album to my collection. And probably her others as well. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.49

Adele's stuff isn't generally the kind of thing that does it for me, but she is clearly amazing. She has an amazing knack of making you absolutely buy into the story she's telling, so I found a lot of this surprisingly moving. Expected this to be be competent but average, but it's far better than that - glad this project made me actually have a proper listen.

Après avoir traversé le désert de 21 sans y trouver la moindre étincelle de génie, j’espérais naïvement qu’Adele allait redresser la barre ou du moins botter quelques culs dans son usine à larmes. Quelle monumentale illusion, car avec 25, sorti après quatre ans d’un silence savamment marketé comme une retraite quasi mystique, la diva britannique ne change absolument pas la donne. Pire, elle enfonce le clou d’un conformisme sirupeux qui confine au cynisme industriel pur et simple. On nous avait promis l’album de la rédemption, de la maturité et du bilan existentiel d’un quart de siècle d’existence ; on se retrouve en réalité coincé dans un rayon de supermarché entre les adoucissants parfum lavande et les tisanes pour nuits calmes. C’est un produit manufacturé et calibré pour anesthésier les ondes hertziennes et faire chavirer le cœur de la fameuse ménagère de moins de cinquante ans en plein repassage du dimanche après-midi. A l'époque, le rouleau compresseur promotionnel avait déjà matraqué le single d'ouverture jusqu'à l'écœurement absolu sur toutes les stations de la planète, mais se le réinfliger aujourd'hui dans la continuité d'un album complet relève de la punition corporelle. Ce fameux appel téléphonique larmoyant vers le passé tente désespérément de rejouer la carte du déchirement sentimental de Someone Like You, mais la formule est usée jusqu'à la corde : trois accords de piano martelés avec la grâce d'un bûcheron sous sédatif, une montée en puissance vocale prévisible dès la seizième mesure et ce vibrato poussif balancé en plein visage pour arracher des sanglots à un public visiblement hypnotisé par tant de clichés. Il n'y a là aucune spontanéité, juste une démonstration de force technique complètement stérile, où chaque inflexion de voix semble avoir été validée par un comité d'actionnaires en visioconférence avant d'atterrir sur la bande magnétique. Ce qui me révulse profondément dans cet enregistrement, c’est cette couche de vernis corporate impénétrable qui étouffe le moindre embryon d’émotion authentique. En regardant les crédits de production, on comprend immédiatement la manœuvre d'artillerie lourde déployée pour sécuriser les milliards de streams. Adele et son label sont allés faire leur marché chez les faiseurs de tubes les plus redoutables de l’époque, empilant les signatures de Max Martin, Shellback, Greg Kurstin ou Ryan Tedder. Le résultat de cette réunion au sommet du capitalisme auditif est exactement ce que l'on pouvait redouter : une pâte sonore uniforme, compressée à mort pour passer sur les haut-parleurs pourris des téléphones portables et des autoroutes de vacances. On se retrouve devant une succession de ballades au piano et de mid-tempos synthétiques qui s'enchaînent comme des diapositives dans un séminaire d'entreprise particulièrement léthargique. Quand l'album tente d'accélérer le pas pour faire semblant de varier les plaisirs, le naufrage devient encore plus embarrassant. Les rares incursions rythmées sonnent faux, comme si l'on essayait de forcer un éléphant à rentrer dans un costume trois pièces trop étroit. Les tentatives de pop dynamique ou de soul moderne sentent juste le plastique neuf avec ses clappements de mains programmés par ordinateur, ses guitares acoustiques étouffées sous trois couches de réverbération numérique et ses refrains taillés pour les stades qui sonnent creux dès la deuxième écoute. Les arrangements de cordes, grandiloquents et dégoulinants de pathos, viennent systématiquement combler le vide sidéral de l'écriture en espérant faire passer l'ensemble pour de la profondeur d'âme. On n'est plus dans la musique populaire capable de toucher les couches populaires à la manière des géants de la soul des années soixante ; on est dans le décor en carton-pâte d'une émission de télé-crochet du samedi soir, où hurler plus fort que le voisin tient lieu de talent d'interprétation. Et parlons-en, de ces textes qui prétendent nous raconter les tourments d'une jeune femme de vingt-cinq ans devenue superstar mondiale. Quelle désolation, on tourne en rond dans un bocal de nostalgie frelatée, de regrets adolescents artificiellement réchauffés et de séparations ressassées ad nauseam. À l'écouter gémir sur ses amours passées et son incapacité chronique à tourner la page, on a l'impression d'assister au monologue interminable d'une bourgeoise qui s'ennuie fermement dans son manoir anglais et qui regarde la pluie tomber derrière son double vitrage en attendant son thé Earl Grey. Il n'y a aucune prise de risque poétique, pas une métaphore qui ne sorte du dictionnaire des lieux communs de la variétoche internationale. Tout est prévisible, tout est téléphoné, chaque rime appelle la suivante avec la fainéantise d'un devoir d'écolier bâclé un dimanche soir. Cette complaisance absolue dans la tristesse de catalogue finit par anéantir toute empathie ; au lieu d'être touché, on se surprend à regarder sa montre en soupirant d'agacement devant tant de jérémiades manufacturées. Pour ma part, ce sera donc un minuscule 2 sur 5, et encore, je paie là le salaire des techniciens du son qui ont passé des semaines à nettoyer les pistes vocales et à aligner les pistes de batterie sur la grille de Pro Tools. Car malgré la meilleure des volontés, malgré tout le battage médiatique qui voulait nous vendre le sommet vocal de la décennie, ce voyage auditif reste un mauvais trip digne d'un voyage en autocar climatisé au milieu d'un paysage de béton grisâtre. 25 n'est pas un album de musique au sens artistique et viscéral du terme : c'est un produit de consommation de masse haut de gamme, conçu pour rassurer le consommateur et garnir les paniers d'achats compulsifs avant les fêtes de fin d'année. Une coquille vide, brillante et dorée en surface, mais désespérément creuse à l'intérieur, et si c'est cela que le grand public considère désormais comme de la grande soul moderne, alors l'histoire de la musique populaire a de sérieux soucis à se faire.

Får bara Rix FM-rysningar över hela kroppen. Mardrömssöndag

zzzz

Her voice sweeps you along, but I don't think the songs are as consistent as on 21.

The histrionic torrent of “River Lea” delights me, as I used to live right next to the navigation, cycled it often, and I feel I know what she means! Sadly, none of the other songs touch me in an analogous way, leaving me with: “And now I wanna be your dog” “And now I wanna be your dog” “And now I wanna be your dog”

Man, that voice grates quickly, eh? 4 years and one star better than the other one, mainly for the Lionel Richie cover.

I think 21 was more memorable, and even that one blended for me beyond the hits (and the cover of The Cure's "Lovesong"). Aside from "Hello", I don't think any of the songs really stood out to me on here.

I feel like 21 left a stronger impression on me than this one and I can't really tell why. Can't complain about more Adele ballads though! She's great! Standouts: I Miss You • Water Under the Bridge • River Lea • Million Years Ago

This was just great. Wonderful voice and it isn’t just a bunch of slow and sad songs. Adele has an amazing voice and these songs get stuck in your head for a good reason.

Vasst!

Not sure why I don’t like this as much as 21

Adele seems to have an infinite well of heartbreak, and these songs all go deep into that well. It's not bad, and she can certainly move from style to style, whether a piano ballad or a driving beat, she sings hard over the notes. She has a charismatic voice. It's hypnotic and the pain becomes more than just love lost, taking the listener to a cathartic moment. For 25, she seems to be obsessed with having grown "old" and wiser. I remember on 21, she covered the Cure's "Lovesong" making it her own, giving it the unrequited love the lyrics deserve. Unlike 21, this album relies more on piano ballads and not more diverse styles. She's got a voice, but what is she using it for?

3.5/5

Some great songs but rest is boring

Never been my thing

Liked it more than I expected but I'm still not quite into her

Hello - Generic/boring 1/5 Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Wordy/boring 1/5 I Miss You - Oppressive/boring 1/5 When We Were Young - Nope 1/5 Remedy - Tempted to give this song 2 stars because she didn't sing for a measure a couple times, but no 1/5 Water Under the Bridge - Does that mean I can safely jump off to escape this record? 1/5 River Lea - Who is going to heal my ear's pain? 1/5 Love in the Dark - Didn't I hear this already twice? 1/5 Million Years Ago - Approximate starting point of when I started listening to this album 1/5 All I Ask - ..is for this album to finally end 1/5 Sweetest Devotion - Best song, but still flawed 2/5 Thoughts that come to mind: "I am familiar with some of Adele's radio songs and I wasn't a fan. But maybe this will surprise me?" "Is this first song 7 minutes long?!?! Oh, I'm on minute 3." "I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion, but Adele sings too much. Give the music some space, Adele. You're suffocating it." "I feel like there is a guitar that I want to hear, but the drums and singing are just drowning it out. So far this is either too sparse or too dense to the effect that nothing that stands out." "Adele's vocals are oppressive and repetitive. She's often content to sing the same 3 notes over like 4 measures." "A pause in singing! Amazing." "Adele definitely has the ability when it comes to singing. Nothing wrong with the timbre of her voice and I hear no auto tune. She hits the notes. It's her performance that doesn't connect with me." "This is the longest 11 song 48 minute album ever." "This is not for me."

A couple great songs, but overall not a strong album.

But we just had an Adele album... 📞 ...and the other one was better.

she has a fantastic voice but the songs were a bit boring for me

Bien.

Like her

Gotta give it to her, she's fucking good at what she does

Some really good songs on this album. Some of it is very poppy in a generic way and I don't really care for it. Overall I think I prefer 30. Favorite songs: when we were young, million years ago, all I ask, sweetest devotion

Good album. Very sad. She has a great voice. 4 out of 5.

She has a great voice of course and has been hugely successful, so she won't be bothered about what I think. But it's all a bit too whiny for me. I listened to a few tracks and had enough.

She doesn’t put out music very often, but when she does you’d can count on it being something special.

Eu to surpreso que eu nunca tinha ouvido esse álbum todo e com toda certeza não é um álbum para mim. Tem umas duas músicas que gosto, mas Hello tocou tanto que saturou demais.

Aged kind of like milk imo. Adele has a great voice but it hurts me

Meh. I kind of enjoyed the last Adele album I got, but this one bored me. It feels like her music grew stale between 21 and 25. Or maybe it always was, and I was just more receptive last time... She still has a fantastic voice, no argument about that, but I don't hear true passion. The music is ridiculously overproduced - a trend that now seems to be obligatory for anyone selling more than two albums. As a result, like many recent offerings, it sounds very much like a factory product. It's not terrible, there are a few nice songs ("Million Years Ago", which has the simplest production and most down-to-eath vibe, was good). But overall I find the album unremarkable and far too radio-friendly. A pity really - Adele clearly had great potential, but the corporate vampires seem to have gotten to her before she could evolve into more than just another pop icon singing about heartbreaks. 4/10

She has a nice voice, stories to tell, I am not found of the rest. Is she just listening to herself ? I must admit I passed along Adèle's years without noticing.

Better than the previous one. Some songs sound good… but yet, it’s too pop to me.

I paired this with Amy Winehouse's FRANK. In a vacuum, 25 out-sads FRANK (Hello) - but Amy's fate makes all her songs that much more tragic.

Good album, great singer, but just not a lot going from these songs for me personally.

her voice is obviously phenomenal. i just found the instrumentals uninteresting and unvaried. they kind of felt flat to me often. not exciting. the closing tracks instrumentation was good though

top albums of my life

Powerful voice. Some lovely songs, I preferred the up tempo songs, particularly track 2.

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

Actually pretty sweet. I think Adele and Ed Sheeran are responsible for most of the crap on British radio stations tho, which makes her hard to forgive.

Bit depressing but still some good songs. Not typically the music I'd usually listen to but I enjoyed it.

Me ha gustado mucho, muy Adele. Me molan casi más las canciones que no son single.

Now that's singing. Heartfelt, real and striking. Not really my type of music, but as Vince Staples said - "Everyone has an Adele song they like".

Hello (Personally not a fan of adult contemporary)

Enjoyable, but just too heavy for me. Maybe it would fit a specific mood. She is a cracking singer.

Not my cup of tea. Voice may be strong. It's just not the combination of Voice, melody and/or style for me, thanks very

It's pretty good, just not my favorite

Bill Bailey said he’d written a song for Adele. It was called, “You left me, but I don’t want to go on about it”. She can sing, though and is best when accompanied by a simple piano or guitar arrangement. IMHO

Ok for a pop album

2/5 boring, not my music

that nice

Very pleasant, easy to listen to. Girl has talent oozing out of her.

It's Adele.

Weird coming back to this cultural juggernaut when I haven’t listened to “mum radio” in a while, and nice to find out it is more interesting outside of the two biggest singles I’ve heard millions of times over. Adele does have a really strong voice, which the song construction can lean on too much in boring ballad-y ways, but also a solid knack for expressive personal-feeling lyricism that helps her music step up. There are also the odd songs that introduce more interesting sounds (like a little dancehall, some good beats, a little Latin folksing) to the general slow adult-contemporary ballad bag, and that’s a big plus to making the album work as a whole.

She's got a hell of a voice. But it's Rolling In The Deep for me and then everything else....and that song is not on this album, unfortunately. I can see why this is a great album, the production is fantastic. I Miss You is some good baby making music. For the first few songs I've heard, she does a great job of setting a mood and a vibe. It's just not anything I'd want to listen to again.

- listened to before - great album, maybe not as strong as 21 but was a big part of my high school soundtrack - some of her best power ballads - highlights: all of them but if i had to choose - when we were young, river lea, love in the dark, million years ago, all i ask

Good voice, a few good songs. Got a bit sandy by the end tbh

My first impression as I listen is that there are some big moments, like the first sound of her voice in 'Hello', and 'When We Were Young', and she does of course have a spectacular voice. However, there is also filler - some of the non-single tracks are very forgettable. And so while it's a joy to listen to a voice as good as Adele's, many of the songs themselves are pretty average. On the 'song-quality-of-undeniably-good-singers' scale, this falls somewhere between Mariah Carey at the bottom and Janis Joplin at the very top. Thankfully we end on a high with 'Sweetest Devotion'.

The queen of basic luke warm modern music. Like Nirvana, i think that Adele is one of the most overrated artist of our time. She is the color grey, the white bread, the brown sauce and the potatoes. As a person she seems really uninteresting and just... Grey. Cant really say anything harsh or mean about her but cant really compliment her either other than her voice which is alright. I found out that people think Hello is one of the most hard/embaressing song to sing in karaoke and i think that is fucking hilarious. Like the color grey again, the songs have been alright so far. Maybe fitting for certain time and place but still, cant really say nothing much about them. What do you think, how many straight guys in this world say that Adele is their favourite artist? Love in the dark is nice tho.

ela é muito boa mas é meio música de palita né?! eu consigo apreciar mas não é uma artista que tenho vontade de ouvir

não é ruim, só não é pra mim

Nice när det är souligt, men titt som tätt blir det för popigt.

Mycket mycket bättre än förra. Nästan 4a

Rätt bra pop. Svag trea

Epic, sultry, powerful. Not my typical cuppa but it does well to evolve emotion

This was really frustrating for me, Adele is not my thing at all, so I knew going in that this was gonna be a rough listen, and it was very much so. She has a good voice, but I feel like she's not doing anything that interesting with it. BUT "Send My Love (To Your New Love)" is good! When she gets away from the "Hey guys look I am singing real sad and there's a piano" vibes and goes into more poppy stuff, it's way more enjoyable! Which in a way made me more frustrated, cause the potential for me to enjoy it is there, but not being acted upon.

Great voice but I think overall it is a bit one dimensional

This is not the typical type of music I like, but this is great! Her voice is so powerful and emotional, and the song-writing is very sincere.

Expected to hate it. Did not

She's a great singer, but I feel that the album dragged on with too little emotional variation in songs. Not my vibe usually.

She's got a helluva voice.

Doesn't reach the highs of 21 but still a decent enough listen

Միշտ եմ լսել բայց այս ալբոմը ամբողջովին չէր ստացվել, նորց հիացած եմ նրանով ։

Oh look, an absolutely amazing singer with an absolutely depressing eternal break-up album. I don't mind break-up songs, or songs about doomed/past relationships, but for an entire album is stretching the limits of my patience. And that sucks, because I do think Adele's songwriting and vocal chops are incredible. For as good as "Hello" is, I think Leo Moracchioli did it better (IYKYK). I'm happy she's found her niche in the industry that lets her make money, but I will happily go back to only listening to her when she's on a radio I don't control.

i like some of the adele songs, but i have a hard time taking her seriously.

Great

Adele is ultra competent within the domain of making ballads that I don't find particularly interesting. She spends this whole album singing her ass off on songs that I would largely describe as "fine", if pressed. Note that I said "fine" and not "bad", this isn't a bad album, it just has very little it can offer me. Although if you enjoy ballads and melodrama, and can only listen to music sung by people who know how to sing, I certainly do recommend this.

I was surprised that I recognized the first song. Didn’t think I was familiar with Adele’s music, although I’m vaguely aware of her. Considered purely as music this is… OK, I guess? As art, it’s basically nothing. There’s nothing enjoyable about this music, nothing touching or cathartic, there’s no sense of an artist attempting to communicate or express something, not even the joy or satisfaction a craftsperson might experience practicing their craft, having fun or succeeding in creating something, just some songs that are made from words, melodies chords, rhythms, etc. There’s not a single note, a single word, a single articulation that is fresh or new or unexpected. I’m fully aware of how shitty this sounds but I truly don’t believe this is worthy of any more of my time.

5, type of album you cry to

Melancholic yet empowering

She has a great voice, but the songs are so bland. There's one that sounds like The Knife though, so there's probably an extra half point for that.

A bit like 21 but with fewer hits.

I enjoyed this a tad bit more than 21. Still don't find her music to be all that exciting, but there are more melodies here that prick up my ears.

Maldita CABRA. Increible. 10/10

Not as good as 21, still a good pop album

A nice reminder of how many massive hits Adele has, for good reason. I never knew what the hell she was singing during the chorus of "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", now I hear it, that song rocks. "Sweetest Devotion" was also a nice change of pace finisher.

I’m not listening to ubiquitous pop music staples. I’ve heard some of this. It’s not appealing or interesting to me.

I’m still amazed every time I hear Adele’s vocals. So much depth. I’d never listened to this album end to end and I appreciated the cohesiveness of the tracks, although it felt heavy in the piano ballads.

Phenomenal voice. Songwriting leaves a bit to be desired, and the slower pared-back ballads really suck the momentum out of this.

Un talento increíble, una voz simplemente arrolladora, gran artista Adele Solo que si honestamente con este álbum no conecté Sé que la temática principal gira alrededor del desamor, quizás eso influye también en que no conecté demasiado con el despecho, pero increíble voz e increíble artista estoy seguro de que algún otro album de ella que esté por acá lo disfrutaré aún más

Una es espectacular, pero todo el disco usa la misma fórmula.

2.5 - ok

rym 2.91 Pop Soul/Adult Contemporary Hello居然是出自这张专辑，比我预想的晚好多。阿黛尔的唱歌还是无法否定的，只不过我不是大流行音乐的受众。 pick: Water Under the Bridge

Great voice, boring album.

I like Adele's music, and this a solid pop album that was made at a more mature point in Adele's life, and yet somehow, with the exception of songs like "Million Years Ago", it doesn't seem as ambitious or sophisticated as her debut album. It lacks the risks that made her first album so refreshing. And since it doesn't really move her creative bar very far forward, I'm not entirely convinced that this is an essential album to listen to in the way that her debut album 21 absolutely is.

Adele has the most astonishing delivery, carrying this album, with its minimalist arrangements, in its entirety. So it's a shame the subject matter and melodies aren't more evocative or interesting: two great tracks and then it absolutely falls off a cliff.

If I picked up the phone and the first thing I heard was the opening song of this album, I'd hang up immediately.

Potężne się wylosowało! Pamiętam jak ta płyta wychodziła, razem HBHBHB Florence i pisałam pracę na studia o tych płytach i o tym w jakim momencie są obie artystki, wspaniałe czasy. I dopiero ta płyta mnie przekonała do Adele, bo wcześniej byłam jej naczelną hejterką. I Miss You, River Lea, to zdecydowanie najlepsze momenty, ale całość jest w miarę spójna, mocne wokale i dobra historia. Dobrze było wrócić do tego albumu.