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MojoApr 20, 2011The Brit School girl undergoes a successful soul-pop makeover. [Feb. 2011, p. 108]
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Jan 27, 2011The Auto-Tune and teenage love stuff don't entirely ruin a surprisingly weighty return.
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Mar 4, 2011Adele's husky, powerful voice is what keeps you listening, but here's hoping she experiences something besides betrayal before writing her next record.
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Feb 23, 2011If 21 feels, on the whole, like an object lesson in how to indulge in easily avoided mistakes, the most trenchant criticism of the album comes not from anything that will end up being written about it, but rather from its final song.
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Feb 22, 2011For most of 21, she's cast as a fortress of old-school soul besieged by lifeless jingles, a force of nature restrained by multiplatinum fetters.
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Jan 27, 2011Things begin well enough with the single "Rolling in the Deep", with its thumping piano quadruplets and gospelly backing vocals, and continues reasonably with the galumphing Tom Waits-style arrangement of "Rumour Has It"; until, two-thirds of the way through the song, it grinds to a halt for a slower, torchy middle eight.
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Jan 27, 2011There's no "Chasing Pavements"-style killer, but she has murdered the Cure's "Lovesong" using Heart FM-friendly jazz-lite as her weapon.
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UncutFeb 1, 2011Adele is repeatedly cast as the heartbroken survivor. That role serves to foreground her mighty impressive vocals, but also encourage the showboating overkill that is a staple of the X Factor generation. [Feb 2011, p.79]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 804 out of 930
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Mixed: 43 out of 930
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Negative: 83 out of 930
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May 29, 2011I have absolutely no clue what all the fuss is about. 3 good songs. Overplayed TRIPE.
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Nov 20, 2011
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Apr 9, 2011