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.
25 is simultaneously strong and vulnerable, a journey through forgiveness, remembrance, new responsibilities with love weaved throughout each lyric and beat.
25 is crammed top to bottom with perfectly formed songs – elegantly flowing melodies, direct and truthful lyrics and richly textured production – all sung as if her life depends on it.
Whether she's holding notes with the strength of a suspension bridge or enjoying a rare lighthearted "whoo-hoo!" on "Sweetest Devotion," her incredible phrasing – the way she can infuse any line with nuance and power – is more proof that she's among the greatest interpreters of romantic lyrics.
Her music feels authentic because, as a listener, you believe that these songs about love, pain, fear, and loss come from somewhere real and personal. On 25, she once again has something to say, with a voice that demands to be heard.
Her voice is a national monument, a ninth wonder; whatever she chooses to wrap it around is transformed and taken over.
All 11 songs are of a piece—they're all shaded melancholy gaining most of their power through performance—but that cohesive sound only accentuates how Adele has definitively claimed this arena of dignified heartbreak as her own.
25 is a saviour record for a quarter life crisis, a sing-a-long for one of life's most difficult stages. While one of the world's most talented voices questions her purpose, her past and her future, may we feel a little more comforted while we do the same.
On 25, the material is occasionally inspired, sometimes dull, but always serviceable -- and with Adele, that’s enough.
Even as she's suffering the romantic disadvantage, Adele infuses the songs of 25 with a love-drunk cockiness, tossing wine by a loose wrist as she reconsiders these departed men.
While it never really gels musically in quite the way you want it to ... it still has Adele at the heart of everything. 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.
By daring to go big—and remembering when to keep things small—Adele has recorded the most assured mainstream pop record of the year.
25 doesn’t necessarily meet the fire of its predecessor, but it meets its mark — a whole different undertaking when tasked from the top.
25 is not a bad album, nor is it an excellent one — it’s just good, that’s all. Given her towering accomplishments, Adele doesn’t need to do much more than gift listeners with the glory of her magnificent voice.
The finished product here seems like an attempt to up the ante on the drama and showstopping that permeated 21.
25 is sumptuous; it’s ballad heavy, yet every note teems with emotional investment.
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.
Adele is a singular talent, and the moments of brilliance are well worth wading through the few flashes of average.
It's that refusal to commit to anything completely edgy that will keep 25 at the top of the charts and in the stocking of every kid, parent and grandparent everywhere, even if the snobs don't buy in.
Even if 25 is a bit dozier than its predecessor, it’s worth noting that some of its strongest songs are its most minimal.
This is the sound of someone playing the game so safely they might as well have strapped on shin-pads and a crash helmet.
Adele and her collaborators clearly seem to understand what the world wants from her — giant, tear-out-your-heart (and maybe your hair) songs that provide the same kind of sobby emotional wallop of, say, watching The Fault in Our Stars while eating a tub of ice cream and looking through old high-school yearbooks.
The bulk of 25 is more mindful of using the correct knife and fork, with piano chords dialled up and crunchy specifics dialled down.
As 25 continues, it’s gradually swamped by the kind of dreary piano ballads that are Adele’s fall-back position ... It leaves things sounding a little too much like they had been designed by committee.
The album picks up where 21 left off. While the title might suggest change, Adele shows no interest in reinvention, I guess why should she?
Never one for youthful giddiness, her third album is strikingly authoritative, tending towards the imperious even when expressing vulnerability yet rarely coming over as soullessly efficient.
25’s big issue is that, in every sense, it dwells a little too heavily on the past.
25 is, like its predecessor, weighed down by its soggy, vanilla ballads, few of which manage to escape their '70s- and '80s-indebted singer-songwriter schmaltz the way “Hello” (just barely) does.
‘25’ is as straight-down-the-line ‘Adele album’ as it gets. 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
25 is a clear attempt to cash in on the success of its mega-selling predecessor by dealing in heartbreak.
The fact that Adele has eschewed reinvention this time around, and instead tried to make a whole album of ‘Someone Like You’s, is a shame.
Safe as houses, emotionally manipulative, a touch depressing and entirely forgettable, this is a dreary lesson in how to manage expectations.
Kind of a random album to review right now, but fuck it, why not?
I was kind of in a sadboi piano ballad mood, and I always absolutely LOVED "Hello", so I was interested to check out the entire album and if it holds up to that song. I'm personally a sucker for these Adult Contemporary melodramatic sad Piano ballads, it's my guilty pleasure. So I was hoping this album would just be that all the way through, although I had a feeling it wouldn't be.
And yeah, it wasn't. BUT, I still ... read more
"21" de Adele era um álbum duro, honesto, se colocava em um lugar de disco único e bem trabalhado, todas as faixas eram excelentes e não era preciso muito esforço pra reconhecer o talento de Adele como cantora e compositora.
"25" acabou por tomar um rumo diferente. A excelência em composição que "21" sempre trazia não existe mais aqui. Agora não é mais um trabalho tão expressivo como era o ... read more
Favourite: When We Were Young
Worst: Love in the Dark
Hello - 8
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - 9
I Miss You - 8
When We Were Young - 9
Remedy - 7
Water Under the Bridge - 8
River Lea - 8
Love in the Dark - 6.5
Million Years Ago - 8
All I Ask - 7
Average: 7.85
Quick Comment: A pretty good listen allround with some of the best pipes I've heard. Adele in this record shows a lot of meaning and emotion in the majority of the tracks to describing her feelings about a certain someone. Lyrically ... read more
"25" is the third studio album by British singer-songwriter Adele, released in November 2015. The album was highly anticipated following the massive success of Adele's previous albums, "19" and "21," and it continued her streak of critical and commercial success.
"25" explores themes of love, loss, and reflection, with Adele drawing inspiration from her own personal experiences and relationships. The album's sound is rooted in soul, pop, and R&B, ... read more
It was a mistake to discover to All I Ask (7 years late might I add!) while just having gone through a breakup. Broke my heart every single time.
1 | Hello 4:55 | 86 |
2 | Send My Love (To Your New Lover) 3:43 | 82 |
3 | I Miss You 5:48 | 80 |
4 | When We Were Young 4:50 | 90 |
5 | Remedy 4:05 | 77 |
6 | Water Under the Bridge 4:00 | 82 |
7 | River Lea 3:45 | 76 |
8 | Love in the Dark 4:45 | 83 |
9 | Million Years Ago 3:47 | 80 |
10 | All I Ask 4:31 | 84 |
11 | Sweetest Devotion 4:11 | 74 |
#1 | / | Digital Spy |
#1 | / | People |
#2 | / | Idolator |
#2 | / | Rolling Stone |
#3 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#4 | / | Complex |
#5 | / | Billboard |
#8 | / | Variance |
#10 | / | Mashable |
#10 | / | Stashed |