19

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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Product description

DELUXE EDITION : 2CD set. Debut 2008 album, with BONUS 5 track disc of live songs recorded at the Hotel Cafe, LA, in 2008, ISBN13:B0017WI5VQ ISBN10:B0017WI5VQ Material Type:audioCD