Adele‘s third album is loaded with flawless production, stunning vocals and vivid lyrics. But when you’re last album sold 30 million copies and you can out sing anyone on the planet, who the heck cares?
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Just past year, at 25, I realized, for the first time, that I was going to die.
Zane Lowe and Adele trade stories about an earlier time. Unlike most stars vetted, groomed and controlled by the industry, Adele rose on her own. “I’m heading straight for you / You will only be / Eternally / The only one I belong to”, she sings nearly like she’s skipping through a field of flowers, hearts and unicorns. Adele is in top form on the song, which has broken several sales and chart records and brilliantly sets the stage for the next chapter of her career.
Bakula noted that Taylor Swift’s “1989”, which was released last October and sold more than 3 million albums in roughly two months past year, helped 2014 close on a strong note. When We Were Young – co-written with Tobias Jesso Jr – might be an unmemorable song, but it opens with a great example of that, as Adele finds herself at a few party, where “Everybody here is watching you / Cause you feel like home / You’re like a dream come true / But if by chance you’re here alone / Can I have a moment / Before I go?” He makes me proud, he’s made me ambitious for this album.
“I was blown away by how much having a kid can change your life”.
Adele is one of a small number of A-list artists who can make potentially more money by foregoing sites like Spotify and Apple Music.
When We Were Young is a wonderful nod to nostalgia, forgotten loves and melancholia. There is no denying that 21 served as Adele’s launching pad into music superstardom, but it was not her first taste of critical and/or commercial success. Still, the song did manage to break onto worldwide charts and received critical acclaim, even if it marked the final step in wrapping up 21’s reign atop the charts. Adele devotees looking to weep with their heroine will get tearjerkers (the singer says she’s happy but “Love in the Dark” will have you blubbering).
Her CD sales rank with the all-time best ever – despite the fact that, compared to the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s heyday, basically no one buys albums anymore.
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While songs like I Miss You, Water Under the Bridge and Sweetest Devotion (to her son Angelo) adopt modern beats with Adele on piano and soaring above them, there are many trademark pared-back tracks with Adele and a variety of pianists.
