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25

Adele

25

Third album from the London-born pop / soul singer-songwriter working with a number of producers including Greg Kurstin and Danger Mouse

ADM rating[?]

6.8

Label
XL
UK Release date
20/11/2015
US Release date
20/11/2015
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  1. 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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  2. 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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  3. 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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  4. 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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  5. 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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  6. 8.2 |   Paste Magazine

    Adele proves herself to be the true vocalist of the day
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  7. 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. 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
    Read Review

  9. 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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  10. 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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  11. 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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  12. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    25 doesn’t necessarily meet the fire of its predecessor, but it meets its mark
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  13. 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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  14. 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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  15. 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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  16. 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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  17. 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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  18. 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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  19. 6.0 |   Crack

    These are heavily produced, radio-friendly belters built to simmer in their own vast success
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  20. 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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  21. 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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  22. 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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  23. 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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  24. 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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  25. 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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  26. 6.0 |   NME

    You just can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing is just far too safe
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  27. 6.0 |   The List

    Sure, she can sing, but will she ever stop going on about that guy?
    Read Review

  28. 6.0 |   Spin

    You’d be hard-pressed to find a more well-considered and commercially savvy release this year
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  29. 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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  30. 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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  31. 6.0 |   Beardfood

    Unless you've recently suffered a heartbreak, this album will drone, drag, and annoy
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  32. 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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  33. 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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  34. 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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  35. 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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  36. 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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  37. 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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  38. 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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  39. Back to main chart

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Adele: 25

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Hello £0.89
  • 2. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) £0.89
  • 3. I Miss You £0.89
  • 4. When We Were Young £0.89
  • 5. Remedy £0.89
  • 6. Water Under The Bridge £0.89
  • 7. River Lea £0.89
  • 8. Love In The Dark £0.89
  • 9. Million Years Ago £0.89
  • 10. All I Ask £0.89
  • 11. Sweetest Devotion £0.89
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