Album Review: 25

Artist| Adele

Listen| iTunes

This is, easily, one of the biggest music releases all year and when I heard about it I pretty much instantly preordered it.  Did it pay off?  I think so.

Adele isn't my favorite artist.  Not even close, really.  But she has a beautiful voice and I knew everyone would be falling over themselves enjoying this one and I wanted to enjoy it myself before other people started giving their own opinions and skewing my own.  I'm really, really glad I did.  She's still not my favorite, or even close to it, but this album is hauntingly beautiful and resonates on so many levels.

As always, her voice is beautiful.  It gets into your bones and makes you think as you listen.  Her voice makes me both relax and cry at the same time.  It's soft and harsh at the same time.  It's really a voice full of beautiful contradictions.

So what are my favorite tracks?  Well, there are a few.  Obviously her single, Hello, which took me a few listens before I really appreciated it.  Right off the bat I fell in love with Send My Love (To Your New Lover), River Lea, and Million Years Ago.  Each is a unique song that really caught themselves in my head.  After listening to the album a few times I really found myself enjoying When We Were Young, Water Under the Bridge, Love in the Dark, and All I Ask.  The last one makes me tear up every time.

So have you listened to it yet?  Did you enjoy it?  Let me know in the comments!