19

Adele | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 24, 2008
• Label: XL Recordings/Columbia
• Copyright: 2008 XL RECORDINGS LIMITED
• Total Length: 43:33
• Genres: Pop/Adult Alternative
• ASIN: B001AKJ97O
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (277 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

159 of 176 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Amy Winehouse comparisons are as misleading as they are predictable., August 12, 2008

By 

latejazzlover (San Francisco , CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adele 19 (Audio CD)

There's no disputing the gifts of Tottenham-born Adele Adkins, the latest BRIT graduate to stroll into the charts. As we know from her single Chasing Pavements, she has a sensational voice: rich, robust, voluptuously bluesy.
Is she the new Amy Winehouse?
It is not quite right.
True, both are white girls who owe a debt to black soul, both sing with a London twang ("I don't get nuffin' back," rasps Adele on the punchy "Tired"), and both are in pieces because their man done them wrong.
Eleven of the 12 songs on Adele's debut are about heartbreak (the other, "Hometown Glory", is about how cool London is).
Adele, though, is easier to listen to than Winehouse. Her music is cleaner, less menacing: there's the bright acoustic-guitar chime of "Daydreamer", the lullaby twinkle of "First Love", the plush strings of "Melt My Heart to Stone".
Her mesmerising singing tone, honest lyrics, jazz and soul influences, and brash Cockney speaking accent, echo Amy. But Adele's delivery is far more delicate.
Lyrically she's simpler, too, occasionally even soppy: "When there's no one there to dry your tears, I could hold you for a million years," she gushes on "Make You Feel My Love".
Where Back to Black sounded emotionally and musically true, almost everything on the covers-all-bases "19" sounds like it was absorbed by osmosis at the London's BRIT School for Performing Arts (where she, Katie Melua, Leona Lewis, Kate Nash and Winehouse are alumni).
Some will find Adele rigidly old-fashioned. Her influences (Etta James, Dusty Springfield, Billie Holiday) are from another age.
A cursory listen may lead you to conclude that Adele has a voice way in excess of her years. In terms of technical ability, that's true.
The instrumentation seems designed to usher you to that conclusion: a dash of jazz bass, the odd string arrangement that seems to take its cue from Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy".
"Sumptuous one moment then fragile the next, this is an album dripping with beauty and class.
Adele's voice caresses and inspires, and is superbly supplemented by piano, guitar and glorious orchestration".(Lee Davis)
All that we can say is that she sings with unabashed passion about a kind of pain we can all recognise, and that sort of thing doesn't date.

Made of Bricks
Piece by Piece
Spirit
Always
Rockferry

58 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adele is a breath of fresh air., August 8, 2008

By 

J. Taylor "JacPo" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 19 (Audio CD)

I found Adele about year ago on Myspace. I was instantly taken with the single Best for Last. I searched online for the CD because I had to here more from the person who posessed this voice I can only describe as "chunky butter"; unexpected and smooth. I absolutely couldn't find her anywhere not even in the record stores. I waited patiently because I knew she would not get away in the age when her type of music is such a breath of fresh air. I've had the CD in my hands for 3 days now and it's been all I expected. I can't stop listening to it. I still enjoy Best for Last but I seem to repeat Chasing Pavement, Make You Feel My Love which was one of my faves from Garth Brooks. But, I'd have to say Melt My Heart to Stone and Right as Rain are my favorites and touch me personally. I haven't listened to a CD this much since Corrine Bailey Rae. I didn't think to compare Adele to Amy Winehouse until I read a comment here. Although I understand the comparison there is something in Adele's voice that is so well rounded. Her voice reminds me of Sunday afternoon; patient, comfortable, strong but peaceful and not tormented. Her voice makes you want to play her in the background when you're entertaining friends or someone special for the evening. It's nice to see there are at least 12 songs in this world that maintain class, heart and beauty. I can't wait to hear more from Adele.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great songs... poor quality..., January 20, 2009

By 

Jennifer White (Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adele 19 (Audio CD)

My partner's and my love affair with Adele was a slow-starter. We first heard her on SNL. As we heard "Chasing Pavements" every now and then, we'd say to one another, "I think I like that song, " then "I'm really starting to love that song," then "We have to buy that CD."

Well we bought the CD at Christmas time. I have got to say we love all the songs. LOVE THEM. We are the kind of people who will listen to something over and over until we are sick. The back buttons on all our CD players are worn from repeatedly listening to the same tracks over and over.

It would be the same with 19 if the quality of the recording wasn't so damn poor! It's horribly distorted and difficult to listen to unless the equalizer is set to flat. I thought it was our stereo at first, then perhaps that the CD was damaged but I have seen a few other comments on the web about the quality of the recording. It's a shame because it really distracts from the pleasure of listening to the album and robs her great voice of its depth.