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10.0
81956
10.0 |
Digital Spy
It takes a big artist to follow-up the tremendous commercial and cultural impact of an album like 21, but an extraordinary one to do it in their own time to make it a worthy sequel
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10.0
81958
10.0 |
The Arts Desk
25 is remniscent of all the best things we love about Adele – the soaring, passionate powerhousing along with a fragility and honesty in her exploration of who she used to be
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10.0
82120
10.0 |
Rolling Stone
The nostalgic mood is the perfect fit for an artist who reaches back decades for her influences, even as her all-or-nothing urgency feels utterly modern
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9.1
81979
9.1 |
A.V. Club
A lot of people can sing, and sing marvelously, but it’s far more rare to find someone as authentic in their delivery as she is
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9.0
81974
9.0 |
The 405
25 is a saviour record for a quarter life crisis, a sing-a-long for one of life's most difficult stages
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8.2
82136
8.2 |
Paste Magazine
Adele proves herself to be the true vocalist of the day
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8.0
82391
8.0 |
Under The Radar
Nearly everything about 25 seems to operate on a grander scale than anything in this still young artist's catalogue
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8.0
82085
8.0 |
The Music
Million Years Ago is gorgeous in its vocal delivery and understatement, as is All I Ask, with the last jumping around with a melodic hook that Elton John at his best would swoon over
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8.0
81981
8.0 |
Evening Standard
The retro soul that earned early Amy Winehouse comparisons has evolved into a relatively more modern sound
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8.0
81954
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Her voice remains a vehicle for her personality and is immune to the album’s few low points. It's so good to have her back
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7.8
82168
7.8 |
Earbuddy
If you’re a fan of Adele or pop music, there’s no reason to not hear 25 or purchase 25 no matter what criticisms I or other critics lob against it
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7.5
82062
7.5 |
Consequence Of Sound
25 doesn’t necessarily meet the fire of its predecessor, but it meets its mark
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7.5
82063
7.5 |
Pretty Much Amazing
She’s a legend in the making and an auditory comfort food, but I can’t help but hope that the next time around, Adele throws me for a loop
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7.3
82055
7.3 |
Pitchfork
She is, inarguably, the greatest vocalist of her generation, an artist who instinctively understands timbre and pitch, when to let some air in
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7.0
81965
7.0 |
PopMatters
Adele is a singular talent, and the moments of brilliance are well worth wading through the few flashes of average
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7.0
81970
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
It would be nice to see someone with her sheer star wattage try to add a few extra strings to their bow third time round
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7.0
82028
7.0 |
Exclaim
Rather than picking up where 2011's 21 left off, 25 ushers in a new era for Adele — one that hears her sounding stronger, more assured and, well, older
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7.0
82050
7.0 |
Clash
These are mostly decent songs but the lyrical landscape feels wearily well-trodden and it’s hard not to just want a bit more from an artist with the freedom to risk anything
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6.0
82051
6.0 |
Crack
These are heavily produced, radio-friendly belters built to simmer in their own vast success
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6.0
82054
6.0 |
musicOMH
While she’s earned the right to stick to that tried and trusted formula, a little bit of experimentation could go a long way
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6.0
82032
6.0 |
The Observer
The bulk of 25 is more mindful of using the correct knife and fork, with piano chords dialled up and crunchy specifics dialled down
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6.0
81986
6.0 |
The Irish Times
Wrapped around a pervasive piano-and-strings combination that runs through the album, things soon become a little predictable, and her co-write with Ryan Tedder, Remedy, is simply boring
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6.0
81992
6.0 |
The Independent
Her vocals are clearly the central matter of 25, as they should be, both in deft little touches like the final title-phrase of “Remedy”, and majestic layered chorales like that on the moody, Danger Mouse-produced “River Lea”
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6.0
81960
6.0 |
The Guardian
25’s big issue is that, in every sense, it dwells a little too heavily on the past
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6.0
81955
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
Adele's voice is a powerful, versatile instrument, evocative of the era's R&B greats (Chaka Khan in the case of “I Miss You”), and it deserves arrangements that are bold enough to match
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6.0
81957
6.0 |
NME
You just can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing is just far too safe
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6.0
82060
6.0 |
The List
Sure, she can sing, but will she ever stop going on about that guy?
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6.0
82079
6.0 |
Spin
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more well-considered and commercially savvy release this year
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6.0
82164
6.0 |
State
Adele has shifted through four years of emotional muck, she has revisited pain, reassessed and contritely moved on. The only problem is she kept her Marigolds on
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6.0
82411
6.0 |
Spectrum Culture
It goes down easy, but there’s a reason albums like this don’t come around that often: it’s exhausting to feel this much emotion
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6.0
82707
6.0 |
Beardfood
Unless you've recently suffered a heartbreak, this album will drone, drag, and annoy
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6.0
82186
6.0 |
DIY
Adele could’ve done whatever she bloody well liked at this stage – it’s a bit of a shame to see her so content to settle into old habits
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6.0
82197
6.0 |
Mojo
Her third album is strikingly authoritative, tending towards the imperious even when expressing vulnerability yet rarely coming over as soullessly efficient
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6.0
82274
6.0 |
Gig Soup
Maybe she’s playing it safe particularly because it’s such a widely regarded return and it’s easier to do this than come back with a sound that goes against your normal modus operandi
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5.0
82056
5.0 |
The Quietus
It says a lot about the modern record industry that Adele’s success hasn’t properly freed her up in the directions that always seemed to be there
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4.0
82116
4.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Safe as houses, emotionally manipulative, a touch depressing and entirely forgettable, this is a dreary lesson in how to manage expectations
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4.0
82238
4.0 |
Time Out
The whole album is smothered in so much monotonous and melancholy piano that all the songwriting, and all those vocal details, blur into one
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4.0
82172
4.0 |
NOW
Adele no longer sounds wise beyond her years, but like a songwriter searching for a raison d'être and not finding it
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