Reviewing (Almost) Every Adele Song Ever
Melody maven; picture discourtesy of Unsplash
Happy* new** year***!
*But not solely happiness, because experiencing just one emotion for the whole year would be very boring.
**Well, it's kind of an arbitrary start date...
***mumbles about the sidereal and anomalistic years
My resolution for this year is to not make any (other [because no one likes paradoxes]) New Year's resolutions. I have a 0% chance of achieving my resolution this year because I won't succeed until 2024 rolls around, but it's all good because I'm dEfYiNg tHe sTanDaRd.
Sarcasm aside, I'm excited for the new year! It's always fun to guess what will happen over the next 12 months and then have those guesses completely shattered by the end of the year, and I think life is more exciting that way—both in an event-based sense and as it relates to personal growth. January 1st is a crude and abrupt transition, but it is a transition, and I'm glad that it gives me a chance to reflect on the past and the future.
Speaking of crude and abrupt transitions, let me talk to you about the discography of Adele.
Adele; picture discourtesy of Wikimedia Commons
I wouldn't consider myself a superfan or anything like that at all. I like her songs, but Adele is not my favorite musician, nor is her music my first choice when I'm trying to think of something to listen to or need something to focus (I mean, would you be able to concentrate with someone belting out "Hello" in the background?). A good chunk of the reason why I started working my way through her music is that others seemed to like it, not because I was immediately dazzled at first listen or something—I'm very picky with music and books and media, and I don't often branch out into new styles. And I started listening to Adele's discography primarily out of necessity; I'd run through other artists and simply needed something new to listen to.
With all of those caveats out of the way, however, I really do enjoy Adele's music, for a variety of reasons that I'll get to later on (burying the lede? Absolutely no way!) But first, as promised, here is every Adele song, reviewed and sorted by album:
19
 |
The cover
"Daydreamer"
On a musical basis, I'm not a huge fan of this song. The background instrumentation feels limited, almost restricted in the 4/4 time signature, and the highs and lows of the song generally don't feel that emotionally impactful. It took me a while to come around to "Daydreamer", and it's still far from my favorite piece of music. I will add that the lyrics (in my opinion) complement the music nicely. Overall, though, "Daydreamer" feels better at showcasing Adele's voice than at, well, actually being a good song.
"Best For Last"
It's catchy, that's for sure! I'm not a huge fan of the instrumentals, but everyone has different tastes. This song tends to grow stale, but it's good for a few listens.
"Chasing Pavements"
One of my favorite Adele songs! The lyrics aren't too fancy, but I like the titular metaphor of chasing pavements. The chorus is raw and striking but upbeat, and the emotions hit in all the right places. There are also some nice transitions provided by the instruments, which is an element of the song that I'm coming to appreciate more and more.
"Cold Shoulder"
I like this song because it bears some similarities to a kind of vaporwave music one of my former teachers used to play in class. "Cold Shoulder" is lighter when it comes to high notes compared to other Adele songs, which is neither good nor bad in its particular case. Other than that, I'm not sure there's anything particularly remarkable about "Cold Shoulder". I did look up the lyrics in preparation for this post, and they are surprisingly solid, even if the themes are pretty standard in the pop music world.
"Crazy For You"
This song feels like it's supposed to feel soulful and beautiful, which it succeeds at to some extent. But only to some extent. I've listened to the song a few times and it's already growing predictable. Actually, I'm not sure it ever had an emotional impact on me to begin with. But this could definitely be a personal taste-type thing.
"Melt My Heart To Stone"
Like with many of the songs in 19, "Melt My Heart To Stone" is relatively low-key (no pun intended) when it comes to instrumentation while providing just enough support. Adele's singing is excellent and just the right amount of passionate and raw in the chorus. Overall 10/10, would highly recommend (and yes, I realize that's not the right comma placement, for all of the meme purists out there).
Random picture from Wikipedia to improve readability
"First Love"
"First Love" is one of those songs that I think you have to be in a particular mood to really appreciate. It does a great job at communicating the tiredness the lyrics express, although the most powerful vibe I get is of the cold, throat-tightening, eye-burning emotional sequence of crying. The song is simple, but its simplicity is its strength. In the right mood, I'm a big fan of it.
"Right As Rain"
I'm heavily biased toward the stop-and-start guitar sounds, and I think the guitar is honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole album. The song is decent overall, but the general upbeat, fast-paced nature of it offers a nice contrast with the previous song ("First Love") and prevents the album from feeling like too much of the same.
"Make You Feel My Love"
Is it superb? No. Is it a good change-of-pace song in the context of the album? ...Also not exactly. Lyrically, it's a fascinating contrast with the album's first few songs (a drastic switch-up almost redolent of 30, even?!?!). "Make You Feel My Love" isn't bad, exactly, and it's actually pleasant to listen to. There's just nothing that grabs my ear or is radically unique, so it feels wholly unremarkable.
"My Same"
The rhythm is decent, but feels muted somehow. The lyrics are mostly all right, but mostly just that. There is, however, this bizarre lyric pair that I have to comment on: "I like to sit on chairs and you prefer the floor / Walking with each other, think we'll never match at all" which if you think about it is somehow arguing that seating preference should determine whether people "match" with each other???
"My Same" isn't exactly bad... but I probably wouldn't describe it as a good song, either. It's so-so, and (what I consider the peak of self-imposed irony) pretty similar in that regard to the previous song and maybe even some of the other songs earlier on.
"Tired"
It is absurd how underrated "Tired" is. It is absolutely my favorite song in 19 on musical quality alone, and probably in my top 5 Adele songs overall. There is something about the melody that is so great and unique (to me, at least), and unlike many of the songs in 19 that feel like they were primarily intended for Adele to showcase her voice, "Tired" feels lively and enjoyable beyond the aesthetics.
"Hometown Glory"
On the other hand, I find "Hometown Glory" highly overrated. I started out really disliking the song, and now I find it tolerable. I'm not sure why I didn't like it so much, but I doubt it's for any rational reason. It's strange, because "Hometown Glory" seems to better fit the standard mold of pop music (which I generally like), with the good old 4-chord piano part and greater instrumentation than most of the 19. My best guess is that I don't like it because everyone else seems to like it, which is... a flaw of mine. But I do really, really like the "Do-dily-di-da-da-da-da-day" line!
(An interesting factoid about "Hometown Glory": To my knowledge, it's the only Adele song with profanities, which is apparently completely different from her IRL attitude!)
21
The cover
"Rolling in the Deep"
By YouTube view count, "Rolling In The Deep" is the second-most popular Adele song of all time. This is also the reason why I haven't listened to it as much as I would have otherwise. Yes, it has excellent vocals that unobnoxiously flash her singing talent, a kneebopping beat, powerful lyrics, excellent transitions to and from the chorus, a crisp ending, et cetera, et cetera... BUT it is also a popular pop song, and I categorically refuse to like a song everyone else likes!
...In all honesty, though, the song is great. You should listen to it; it's one of the best songs Adele has ever created, and one of the better pop songs, period.
"Rumour Has It"
It should be obvious to everyone that /ər/ is spelled without a u. I have no idea how Adele could commit such a heinous orthographic error in her title.
"Rumər Has It" is a song I will gladly dunk on all day, and not just because it's reasonably popular and critically acclaimed and even showed up as a clue in a New York Times mini. I'll concede it has a good beat and an interesting concluding lyric, but I am not at all fond of the actual tune. It's too rhythmic and un-melodic for my taste.
But apparently literally everyone else disagrees, so...
"Turning Tables"
"Turning Tables" is another song that was featured in a New York Times mini clue, but one that I have more positive feelings toward (well, well, well, how the turntables). It took me some time to warm up to the beginning of the song because the 4/4 time and piano make it seem like it's going to be a somewhat watered-down version of "Someone Like You" (more on that later), but I really appreciate the melody and its lead-up. And perhaps more than any of that, I appreciate that there is a solid second movement of the song with something unique to contribute to the overall composition. I started out feeling like "Turning Tables" was a good but slightly cliché song; since then, I've grown accustomed to it, and I'm more firmly in the "good" camp now.
"Don't You Remember"
Another song that feels all too formulaic. The lyrics are vague, but I guess they're reasonably original. The rhythm changes are somewhat interesting to me as I listen to the song again, but I'm not seeing anything extraordinary. It gets better/less bad with more listens, but I suspect that's just me becoming inured to it.
"Set Fire to the Rain"
The rare popular Adele song that I have strong positive feelings about! Although that's just because I listened to and liked it before knowing that it was popular, and my tastes don't change that drastically that quickly. The music is climactic in the appropriate places, and Adele has this strange thing going on where her voice sounds distant—but it's effective! It's also strong lyrically in my opinion. I like this song quite a bit.
"He Won't Go"
I always thought it was a little odd that the title was "He Won't Go" when the first three refrains all went, "I won't go". That is really the only intelligent commentary I have about the song. I don't like the melody, or the rhythm, or the lyrics, or the song, but I'm guessing I'm just not used to the song's style. Maybe this is another one of those songs like "Rumour [sic] Has It" that everyone but me seems to like.
Another random (okay, fine, I chose it without computer aid, so it's not technically random) picture from Wikipedia to improve readability
"Take It All"
I really like how Adele immediately jumps into the lyrics instead of waiting for 8-12 measures like in a lot of her songs. Other than that, I don't think there's anything spectacular about this track. Adele displays her singing talent, I guess, which is impressive in an aesthetic sense but doesn't automatically make the song good. I think "Take It All" is decent, though.
"I'll Be Waiting"
Very catchy! There are also some interesting variations within the song. Like many of the songs in the album, "I'll Be Waiting" is lyrically vague enough that it feels a little cliché, but it doesn't bother me because I usually place more value in the music anyway. This is another solid song.
"One And Only"
I see some strong similarities between the beginning of this song and some of the tracks that come immediately before and after it, but it's still a likable tune. The latter half of the song is excruciatingly slow, but other than that, it's decent. It's far from my favorite song, but I suppose someone who likes slow songs might think differently.
"Lovesong"
This is another slow song, but I strangely have very positive feelings toward this one, and it's definitely not because I have positive memories associated with it. Associations aside, "Lovesong" isn't my favorite song, but it's tolerable. Musically, it kind of seems like a cross between the high arching melodies of the rest of 21 and the vocal-dominated songs in 19.
"Someone Like You"
It's actually kind of amazing that 21 has THREE ultra-famous #1-charting songs ("Rolling in the Deep", "Set Fire to the Rain", and "Someone Like You"). This one begins with an enjoyable piano intro before transitioning into a delightful melody. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what is so great about "Someone Like You", which I think adds to the magic! It's a really strong way to end the album.
Side note: I will forever associate "Someone Like You" with the one kid at my school who made a parody music video of it (the video was calculus-themed, of course).
25
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The cover (intimidating close-up included!)
"Hello"
"Let It Go" is the most overrated song of all time, but "Hello" is a solid second. Let me break it down:
- The music video takes forever to really get going
- The music video is, hot take, also kind of bad despite having over 3 billion views
- The melody is basically belting out the same note
- Everyone else seems to like the song
I think that about covers it. "Hello" is decent and maybe even good, but vastly overrated nonetheless, though I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.
"Send My Love (To Your New Lover)"
Meanwhile, this song is amazing. It is completely awesome throughout and there's this cool beat in the background that I find effective. The one serious knock I have with the song is that it loses its flavor eventually, which I suppose is the fate of every song but happened quicker for me with "Send My Love".
But it's a great song with an ineffably awesome melody. You should definitely listen to it if you haven't already.
"I Miss You"
"I Miss You" is a pretty bland song, in my opinion. The music doesn't match the lyrics, and that really diminishes the impact in my eyes (or rather in my ears, I suppose?). I also have a visceral dislike for the way the song starts. Suffice it to say that I do not like this track.
"When We Were Young"
Meanwhile, this song is also amazing! 600+ million views on YouTube probably classifies as "popular", but I still find it an enjoyable song. There are some clever lyrical bits that I really liked and it's just a pleasant song to listen to in general that successfully gets across the lyrics' sense of nostalgia.
"Remedy"
I have conflicting feelings about "Remedy". I really, really like the extended chorus, but I'm mixed about the chorus's abrupt end (and also the sequence that comes immediately afterward)—it's new and unusual for certain, but I'm not sure I really like it. I think what really changes my view of the song is the piano part, which for some reason feels contrived to me. I'd probably like "Remedy" otherwise, but right now I'm feeling very ambivalent about it.
"Water Under the Bridge"
This is a marvelous song. The pause before the chorus creates some great tension and makes the ensuing descending sequence wonderfully cathartic, and I know this is going to sound sarcastic, but I do really love that random sound in the background as Adele sings "bridge". This song has a great vibe, and I highly recommend it.
Thumbnail of "Hello", the second-most overrated song of all time
"River Lea"
So I'm pretty sure my Spanish teacher played this song in class once, which gives me some measure of positive association. The song itself is somewhat catchy and has definite potential to get stuck in your head. That said, it's too rhythmic and structured for me to really get into. Unless it's part of a playlist or something, I probably wouldn't voluntarily listen to "River Lea".
"Love in the Dark"
The start could be better—like in many Adele songs, I feel like it's constrained by the precise 4/4 time, while the choice of an instrumental opening despite the instrumental not contributing much to the song (even as harmony) until the chorus is questionable. However, the song improves quite a bit after that. There is genuine emotion in the melody and the latter half of the song, and that makes it very enjoyable to listen to—although I admit it grows a little stale over time. Still, I think "Love in the Dark" is a solid track on its own, and certainly worth a listen.
"Million Years Ago"
What really drew me in about this song was its initial resemblance to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, a song that I really like. "Million Years Ago", however, is great in its own right. It had a relatively short shelf life before it got stale for me, but I really liked it while it lasted. Again, there is genuine emotion in Adele's singing, and the tune really brings out the wistfulness of the lyrics. The only thing I didn't like was the echo of "a million years ago"; otherwise, I enjoyed this song thoroughly.
"All I Ask"
I really, really like the descending and ascending sequences in the melody. Other than that, my review of the song is the second half of my review of "Love in the Dark" redux, although I personally prefer "All I Ask" and it also seems to have more longevity.
"Sweetest Devotion"
"Sweetest Devotion" is quite possibly the Platonic bookend to this album. In one word, I would describe it as "triumphant"; in another, probably "underrated". It's overshadowed by some of the other songs from 25, but I definitely think it should be appreciated a lot more.
It's also a happy song! I like happy songs. Don't you?
30
The cover
"Strangers by Nature"
There's a fun mysterious vibe in the first half of the song, but it sadly doesn't last. There are some really cool lyrics, too, like "I'll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart". Otherwise, the song—I hate to say it—is blah. I will admit that functionally, it does its job as an intriguing introduction to the album (it's worth noting that Adele was very insistent her songs in 30 be played in order to tell the story properly, so function is a bigger deal in 30 than in most albums). But I still have my reservations.
"Easy On Me"
Nope. Nope. It sounds too similar to "Someone Like You" (and the music video reminds me too much of the music video for "Hello") for me to like it. Next!
"My Little Love"
This is the song that is perhaps best illustrative of the unique format of 30. There is the typical musical progression and singing and instruments and whatnot, but it's interspersed with soundbites of Adele talking to/directly addressing her son, including a long sequence at the end. (This is why the lyrics wouldn't make any sense if you just Googled them without listening to the song.) It's very emotionally heavy throughout, and the music isn't half-bad, either. However, because the concept is to provide a message for Adele's son in the future, meaning the focus is mostly on the words rather than the music, the song doesn't have the same replay value. Functionally, it does its job of moving the story along, but as a piece of music, it lost its sheen for me after a few listens.
"Cry Your Heart Out"
It's a quaint song, and I liked it! (At least until it grew stale.) There are some interesting vocal effects going on, like the tangy sardonic voice that sings the title line, and the replay value is not terrible. The song isn't remarkable by any stretch, but it's decent.
"Oh My God"
The rhythm is nice, but something about the pitch of the song gives me a headache. So I guess my overall review for the song is negative? I haven't listened to this song very much, though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
"Can I Get It"
"Can I Get It" grew stale (side note: That's such an odd combination of words! "Growing" implies vigor, which seems to be the opposite of what's happening when something grows stale???) slower than I anticipated, and it has a pretty catchy tune - I particularly liked the stresses every fourth beat in the pre-chorus (e.g. "I have promised I will love you 'til the end of time").
I feel like "Can I Get It" is a song I'd normally dislike, but for some strange reason I don't. I think it's pretty good, actually.
Thumbnail of "Easy On Me", a pretty overrated song in its own right
"I Drink Wine"
The song appears to be transitioning towards "overrated" territory based on view counts and Adele's own preference for it, but for now, I think it's a good song! The tune is nice in a way that's less "this song will get stuck in your head and loop for hours" and more "hey, this is kind of pleasant to have vibrating against my eardrums". I realize this probably doesn't come off as a glowing review, but it really is a good song.
Another noticeable thing about "I Drink Wine" is Adele's brief return to directly addressing her son outside of the song portion of the track. She mostly seemed to have abandoned the concept after "My Little Love", so either she decided it wasn't necessary anymore or just included it one more time to make it more themeish for the album.
"All Night Parking (interlude)"
The title is kind of misleading - Adele never mentions parking in the song, which makes me wonder if it was only included in the title as a nod to the song it was based on ("Finding Parking" by Joey Pecoraro [and yes, I found that information on Wikipedia]).
That, however, is probably irrelevant. It's a short song (as one would expect from an interlude), but I really like Erroll Garner's part. Replay value probably doesn't matter because of the length, but the song does have a lot of it if you ask me. However, this is a song that's primarily meant to serve a function as a bridge, and I think it's effective in that regard; and since it's an enjoyable listen as well, it's doubly successful.
"Woman Like Me"
The style is VERY different from Adele's usual: The notes are consistently low, and I'm not sure there's a definite chorus—obviously, the stanza with the literal title of the song in it is probably the chorus, but the difference is more blurred than what's normal for an Adele song.
I like it, though! It's a different vibe than the rest of the album and really the rest of Adele's discography, but I really feel the rueful, reflective theme of the song, and it's enjoyable to listen to.
"Hold On"
Far too slow for me, and the apex (the second-last stanza) is painfully bathetic. "Hold On" has its moments, and I'm probably making it sound worse than I think it is, but in the end, it really isn't it for me.
"To Be Loved"
"To Be Loved" is also a pretty slow track, but it doesn't suffer from the same issues as "Hold On" because the speed works for the structure of the song, which is built (rather effectively, and with much better subtlety than some of her songs from earlier albums) around Adele's voice and requires time to develop properly.
"To Be Loved" is appropriately lofty for a penultimate song and I came away loving the lyrics. Aside from the elaborate metaphors in "Strangers By Nature", it felt like 30 didn't focus too much on lyrical intricacy, so it was nice to see in this song.
"Love Is A Game"
Sure, it's maybe not as good of an album finisher as "Sweetest Devotion", but it's a fabulous song that closes 30 out with a flourish. It could just be my experience, but I found the song laced with some powerful nostalgia, and it had a really strong emotional impact on me (that's been mitigated after listening to it enough times, but it was significant for a time). I also associate this song with a book I was reading at the time, so that's certainly another part of it. 30 is far from perfect as a whole, but "Love Is A Game" redeems a lot of it!
Extraneous
Thing from Wikipedia about "Skyfall"
The reason the title of this post is qualified as "almost" is because there are other Adele songs that don't neatly fit into her standard edition albums. Some were released as limited edition tracks, and one isn't in any versions of her albums. I've decided to skip reviewing most of the songs, primarily for time concerns (I've spent too long on this post already), but also to keep this post from getting too long, now that I think about it. However, there is one song in particular that I think deserves to be reviewed...
"Skyfall"
Not every song has to have lyrical weight, and "Skyfall" is probably the epitome of a song with basically empty lyrics but great music. And I'm not complaining! It's an epic song with a great tune and a climactic finish that deserves a listen. Here, I'll make it easy for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeumyOzKqgI
Adele: The Epilogue
Un-random picture from Google to break up the text
I have complicated thoughts about Adele's music as a whole. A lot of the songs feel musically similar to each other, which has this sort of reverse synergy effect for me. On the other hand, she has several really great songs, and quite a few severely underrated ones as well. Her ratio of hits to total songs is also remarkably high.
My view of Adele is significantly skewed by her popularity as a musician, and I think she's a tad bit overrated in general. But that's not because she's a bad artist so much as she's overhyped in the media/by critics. There's a lot of good stuff she's produced (especially in 25! Definitely my favorite Adele album). Like I said at the start of this post, Adele is far from my favorite musical artist, and maybe only my third or fourth option if I'm picking a random playlist to chill to. That said, I think Adele's oeuvre as a whole is generally good and worth a listen for its cultural impact alone. She is also an amazingly talented singer, so there's that as well.
I'm interested in hearing (well, reading, but whatever) what others think! *channels my best John Green* Let me know in the dooblydoo below. Also, comment "I could have had it all" if you read through this whole post! This turned out way longer than I thought it would, so major props to anyone who managed to read it in its entirety.
Until next time!
~ Coruscant
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