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Amazon.com
The minute you hear that voice, the hair stands up on the back of your neck and you realize this is someone special. Brash, wise beyond her years, but down-to-earth and focused, Adele was raised by a single mom to whom she's devoted in the racially mixed, working-class London neighborhoods of Tottenham and Brixton, where she worshiped pop idols like Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, Take That and Britney Spears, not daring to dream one day she might follow in their footsteps to stardom herself. Together, the songs on 19 compose a diary of a year in Adele's life, one that began with her deciding to stay in London rather than attend university in Liverpool, which led her to write "Hometown Glory," a paean to the city and her cherished memories of growing up there. And while insistent she knows little about politics, the verse, "I like it in the city when two words collide/You get the people and the government/Everybody taking different sides," was about her taking part in a post-9/11 protest march against the Iraq war. The latest in the current spate of talented female singer-songwriters emerging from the U.K. scene, Adele was the first recipient of the Brit Awards' newly inaugurated Critics Choice prize last December even before her debut album was released. She was also honored as the winner of BBC Music's Sound of 2008 poll of music critics, editors and broadcasters, as the most promising new musical artist likely to emerge this year. Adele admits she's the kind of person who feels incomplete without a relationship, but for now, she's burying her sorrows in between performances with soda and Cheetos… and refuses to obsess over her weight, either. All you need to know about Adele can be learned from her live performances, accompanied by just a piano or an acoustic guitar, with a one-of-a-kind voice that conveys a rainbow of emotions, from sorrow to triumph, longing to sensuality, solitude to solidarity, a blues-soul hybrid steeped in the past, yet fully alive in the moment. Remember the name: Adele. After listening to her debut album 19, you won't forget the voice.

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Album Description
US only 2 CD edition includes a bonus disc with five live tracks,Right as Rain [Live], Melt My Heart to Stone [Live], My Same [Live], That's It, I Quit, I'm Moving On [Live] and Chasing Pavements [Live] . 19 is the debut album from the singer/songwriter. Citing her influences as diverse as Etta James, Jill Scott, Bjork, Dusty Springfield, Billy Bragg, Billie Holiday, Jeff Buckley, The Cure and Peggy Lee, Adele is a truly unique new artist. With her mix up of R&B and Soul served up with a healthy dash of feisty London attitude, she spins beautiful dark stories of loves won and lost and sometimes just daydreamed about. XL.

Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Amy can sleep easy... February 11, 2008
22 out of 54 found this review helpful

With declining album sales, and with the smashing success of Amy Winehouse (millions sold, 5 Grammys won), it seems every British record label has been on a major quest to discover the next Amy Winehouse as a solution to their woes. One of the names being touted for that post is Adele Atkins, who had every major and minor music critic jostling to outdo each other in lavishing her with plaudits. Heck, she's even getting a Brit award later this month, and all this before she had even released her debut.

While most girls her age grew up listening to Britney, Spice Girls and Kylie, Adele was listening to some of those too, as well as to Eva Cassidy, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, and some Amy also. She does have a rich, smoky world-weary voice to boot. Listening to "19" (titled after her age), I didn't find it as immediate as Amy's CD was, but it is a grower and there is an attempt at sonic variety. The album was produced by Mark Ronson (who also did Amy's, and just won a Grammy for producer of the year).

I guess in an attempt to deflect too much comparison, Adele's disc isn't restricted only to smoky retro jazz/blues sounds in the 12 tracks. In fact, opening cut "Daydreams" is an acoustic ballad as are "Best for last" (though this has jazzy phrasings), and the sparse bluesy "Crazy for you".

Lead-off single (and #2 UK hit) "Chasing pavements" is a lush, sweeping jazzy power ballad. Similar is closing cut the stirring "Hometown glory" (an ode to Tottenham), a stunning piano/string ballad and my favourite. "Melt my heart to stone" is a downbeat blues tinged string filled ballad, while "First love" is lullaby-like, complete with tinkling bells. "Make you feel my love" is a sombre (almost hymnal) piano ballad with weeping cello/violin.

Upping the tempo are "Cold shoulder" with skittery beats, "Right as rain" (Jazzy and bluesy, very Amy Winehouse), the catchy "My same" (with a snappy jazz/pop feel, I love it!) and "Tired" (lovely change in tempo midway).

The new Amy Winehouse? Not quite (one listen to "Back to black" puts paid to any such notion), but she should be able to carve a niche for herself in a field that promises to get even more crowded as the year progresses (with people like Duffy coming). Not bad at all for a 19 year old.

4 out of 5 stars

An accomplished piece of work March 6, 2008
19 out of 66 found this review helpful

Singer & songwriter Adele's debut album is an accomplished piece of work. I've hinted at it one of my other reviews but I'll be clearer here: I'm particularly impressed that a singer so young (she's only 19, hence the album's title) would decide to look back to the great singers of yesteryears for inspiration as opposed to slavishly following the made-for-radio trends of her contemporaries. I know not everyone will agree with me but as of right now, the past is where the best music ever made is to be found.

It's my kind of music in many respects, with lots of real live instruments and lots of strings. Adele shows her confidence in the quality and strength of her voice with sparse instrumentation on a number of tracks. On the album opener "Daydreamer" for instance, the only instrument is the guitar she plays as she sings. On the next track along, "Best For Last", she does something really fresh and different, singing while she plays solo bass for the most part. There are twelve songs in total, nine of these are very ably produced by Jim Abbiss, with two, including brilliant lead single "Chasing Pavements", produced by Eg White and one produced by man of the moment Mark Ronson, (with mixed results, in my opinion).

It's all very well put together and well-intended but something's missing. It took me a while to figure out what it is and it's that old intellectual vs emotional response thing again. Intellectually, I totally appreciate, respect and even like the authenticity and artistry of what Ms Atkins has achieved here. I think she could have a stellar career ahead of her and I particularly admire the way she's (so far) refusing to conform to the stereotypes of what a female music artiste is supposed to look like. She says she's her own individual and I believe her.

Emotionally however, she just doesn't touch me. Or more accurately, her voice doesn't. Perhaps it's a cruel or unfair comparison, but while Amy Winehouse has the ability to either make me beam from ear to ear or reduce me to floods of tears - depending on the song of course - with this particular lady, I feel nothing. I hear good music; very interesting music actually, but I feel absolutely nothing and can't honestly claim to enjoy listening to it. "Chasing Pavements" and the album closer, the piano-led, spiritual sounding "Hometown Glory" (my two favourite tracks on here) both came pretty close but not quite close enough. 3.5 stars.

3 out of 5 stars

Not bad but.. Not is the same league as Amy June 9, 2008
10 out of 14 found this review helpful

The songs are catchy and I liked the album, taken on its own it is very good.

Unfortunately her style is similar enough to force the comparison to Amy Whinehouse. And compared to Back to Black or Frank, 19 simply doesn't measure up.

5 out of 5 stars

Awesome Debut by Adele June 25, 2008
9 out of 30 found this review helpful

"19" proves that the latest invasion of female British singers are definitely going back to the 60's for their inspiration, and they are doing an exceptionally good job of bringing that infectious R&B/soul sound back. From Amy Winehouse to Duffy to young Adele, these ladies are harking back to everyone from Diana Ross to Dusty Springfield to even Peggy Lee. Winehouse and Duffy have already set the bar very high, and Adele comed right behind them and raises the the bar for the next in line.

Infused at times with her folksy guitar playing, Adele has a voice that already sounds like a finely used instrument. Husky and strong at times, but sweet and mournfully tender at times, she showcases it at her best on songs like "Chasing Pavement," "Right As Rain," "Make You Feel You love," and others.

Adele is another rich British talent, and one hopes that she keeps herself together with all the challenges that fame and huge talent bring.

4 out of 5 stars

Add Adele to the British Invasion of 'New Amys.' July 4, 2008
7 out of 35 found this review helpful

While the Amy Winehouse cautionary tale continues to play out in the tabloids, several other UK singers seem to be in a catty competition to take center stage as "the next Amy Winehouse." Nineteen-year-old London soul and jazz singer, Adele (Adele Laurie Blue Adkins ), has been called one of "the new Amy Winehouses." The girl can sing, and 19 is a remarkable album. Like Amy Winehouse (Back to Black), blue-eyed Duffy (Rockferry), and Estelle (Shine), Adele's songs have Etta James and Dusty Springfield retro influences. Driven by the hit soul singles "Hometown Glory" and "Chasing Pavements," a Dylan cover, "Make You Feel My Love," and a Sam Cooke cover, "That's It I Quit I'm Movin' On," 19 establishes Adele as a "bright-eyed innocent with bags of talent" (Thompson, The Times, 30 December 2007). The success of Adele's album has consequently resulted in a public catfight amongst the other new Amys. British hip-hop singer Estelle has criticized Adele for misrepresenting the true black essence of soul music, and blue-eyed Duffy agrees. Thus far, the old Amy has no comment. Album tracks include

1. Daydreamer
2. Best For Last
3. Chasing Pavements
4. Cold Shoulder
5. Crazy For You
6. Melt My Heart To Stone
7. First Love
8. Right As Rain
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. My Same
11. Tired
12. Hometown Glory

Limited Edition Disc 2
1. Right As Rain
2. Melt My Heart To Stone
3. My Same
4. That's It, I Quit, I'm Moving On
5. Chasing Pavements

G. Merritt

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