2011 was undoubtably the year of Adele. 21 sold like crazy and RITD and SLY slayed the charts, and now SFTTR is quickly rising too. 21 is STILL #1 on the Billboard 200 chart even after 46 weeks since it was released. But do you think she deserves the success she's had or is she just overrated?
I think she's way overrated, I agree that she has one of the most powerful voices of the 2000s but her music all sounds similar and they're all about love. I'm waiting for her to fade like Taylor Swift because of this. I listened to 21 but it honestly bored me. Her voice is the only thing that she has going for her. I do think she deserves success but you can't go anywhere without hearing one of her songs on the radio.
I don't think she's overrated, but 21 is overrated.
Don't get me wrong, Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You and Set Fire to the Rain are three of the better songs released in recent memory. I feel like Rolling in the Deep is something of a pop masterpiece. Her lyrics are excellent and feel pretty unique, especially in the pop world. But that album is overrated to hell. There is such a huge disparity between those three songs and the rest of the material on the album. Rumour Has It and Turning Tables are only passingly acceptable on an initial run through the album, and the rest is just dry. It all feels like filler, and heartbreaking lyrics don't change that when we see consider what was accomplished with SFTTR and SLY. Lovesong is probably the worst cover I've heard from her, and Don't You Remember is terrible.
I understand this album's success is an important event in recent musical history and that critics of major publications are too some extent forced to recognize it at this point, but it still seems disingenuous to give it moderately good reviews and then turn around and say it's among the best albums released this year. It is not a great album, and I'm not sure if even the 3 best songs of her career allow the album to go head-to-head with her debut.