19; Adele

Adele released her debut album, 19 on January 28th 2008 and it was no doubt one of the two most remarkable debut albums from a female artist. The other being from Katy Perry. Adele proved herself as a rising star in the rapidly developing music industry and definitely earned a spot on the most recent generation of the British Invasion.

Just a few months short of turning twenty years, Adele's debut album is very appropriately titled 19. At a very tender age having released an album which majorly was under her own creative wing is something not many artists manage to do. Even the older ones!

The album opens with the very classy track 'Daydreamer'. It's a soulful ballad which displays on of Adele's strongest skills; vocal ability. One of the things I've liked most about her is that she actually sounds british. Leona Lewis's accent can only be detected during her speech and not while she sings. Adele expressions also gets ten out of ten from me. And for being the opener, the track is a definite winner.

'Best For Last' is the second track off the record. Adele takes a slightly more upbeat approach as she displays her spunk in a jolly good way. The track is easily one of the most likeable tracks from the album. After dispalying maturity way beyond her years in 'Daydreamer', 'Best For Last' is the perfect song to make the listener realize that she's just nineteen and so immensely talented. A personal favorite reason behind this song is how it goes up and down like a wave. It's really something very fresh and definitely worth a notice.

The first single off the record is the third track 'Chasing Pavements'. This song is one of the best songs I've heard from the whole bunch of songs I took time out to listen last year. And it's no wonder that it is going strong and can still be spotted in my playlist. The song won a Grammy Award for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance' defeating a very strong competetion that included P!NK's 'So What', Leona Lewis's 'Bleeding Love' and Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl'. The music video of the song also bagged a nomination for choreography during the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. Adele slips gracefully into her classy self again.

'Cold Shoulder' is the fourth track and the second single from the album. The song has a slight influence of jazz on to it and to tell the truth, it works like a charm. The best thing that the listener grasps about Adele by now is how diverse she really is. Once again she goes into her sassy mode and displays the attitude you would find in a nineteen year old. It's definitely a crowd pleaser. The music video has to be one of the coolest(Pun intened!) ever!

The fifth track 'Crazy For You' is another smooth flowing ballad. My favorite part of the song is when she goes into these falsetto for just a blink moment and then again goes into it towards the beginning of the chorus where she repeats the title of the song twice. Adele's vocals here are impeccable. She's definitely a master of her art. Someone clearly born with the talent and is using it very much in her favor.

'Melt My Heart To Stone' is the sixth track off the album. This track goes into a comparitively slower moods. Yes, even slower than 'Daydreamer' but then slowly builds up to a power structure. This song is very much appropriate to her self-imposed title of 'Heartbroken Soul'. By now I've gone through half of the album and I'm thoroughly pleased. Great going, Adele!

'First Love' is the seventh track. It is a gentle song with soft progression but it's abit too slow even for me. A friend of mind is totally head over heels with it but then each to his own. It's good but I liked the previous six far more.

The eighth track 'Right As Rain' brings us back to the jazzy, sassy Adele that goes perfectly after the very slow number, 'First Love'. Adele is magical with her vocals over here and there is no doubt that this track one of my favorite ones from the album. I'd definitely recommend you to check this one out. I was disappointed when it was not chosen as a single.

The ninth track is the third single from the album. It is a cover version of Bob Dylan's 'To Make You Feel My Love'. Though I prefer Kris Allen's version far above even the original version but Adele displays the adequate composure and emotional depth to the song. Though it's a cover version taking along the original melody but Adele's vocals surely leave their trademark on it. During the video, Adele's vocals are a live recording. Isn't she just amazing!!

'My Same' takes the listener back to her younger side. Though Adele appears more in her zone around ballads and slower number but there is no doubt she can wrap nearly every song around her vocals and pull it off with expertise way beyond many artists of the same age. Her faster tracks have a slight touch of Jazz to it and I'm so not complaining. This all suits her vocals beautifully!

The eleventh track 'Tired' is another up tempo number from Adele. The song was released as a single in Spain but no music video was shot. Though it is a good song for some reason it doesn't make me come back for a second listen so it falls lower than the other tracks I've heard.

The final track 'Hometown Glory'. Adele penned this song when she was sixteen years old and this was the song which led her to stardom after a friend of her put up a demo version of the song on his MySpace page. If I could write song anywhere near this at this moment, I'd be floating on Cloud Nine. Adele is definitely one of the most talented people to emerge in the previous year.

The album over all gets 9 out of 10 from me. Katy Perry also displayed creativity in her major debut release 'One Of The Boys' but Adele gives everything that Katy did with a touch of maturity and class. Plus her image goes very well with her music, she's definitely an old white soul singer at heart with a very magical voice. Adele's sophomore album is slated for a 2009 release and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Talent like her can't be kept from the world! No way no how!

Copyright © Saad Khan 2009 (Karachi, Pakistan; saadkhalidkhan@gmail.com)