19

This is the debut album from Adele Laurie Blue Adkins who was, I assume, 19 years old when she completed it as she was born in May 1988 and the album came out in 2007. Credit must be given, then, to a young lady who not only sings well - most of the time - but who actually wrote most of the 12 songs here. My favourite one however was composed by Bob Dylan ('Make you feel my love') which stands out from all the others in terms of its lyrics and poetic balance.

It's an album that needs to be played several times to appreciate it. First time round I was rather disappointed; I bought it on the back of only hearing 'Chasing Pavements', which I think was also released as a single, but on first play I gained the impression that this was the only song I liked. Fortunately after a few more plays I changed my view on that, in fact I now prefer several other songs to the one she is best known for. One example is the more up-beat 'Right as Rain' which is pretty good.

Adele wrote seven of the songs on her own (or at least she is the only credited writer for seven), and of the remaining five she played a key role on four of them. The only 'cover' therefore is the aforementioned song by Bob Dylan but it does come over as the most musical song, the best produced and the most complete. In other words, the mastery of Dylan shines through and demonstrates that while Adele has talent and promise, she has someway to go before she's the finished article.

On occasions she seems (to me) to sing in a way that is removed from her natural accent; I noticed this on the opening track 'Daydreamer' in which she has a few Lily Allen-esque moments that I felt don't really suit her overall style. It's the sort of thing that she herself will probably cringe about when she hears it in years to come, but let's be fair, she's a teenage singer-songwriter and she should be admired for what she's achieved at such a young age. She shows signs of class, and I'm sure she'll improve with age and experience.

Now that I have played the album several times, I like it more than I did on first audition, but it still doesn't blow me away. Quite good, and by no means a classic, but showing positive signs for her future.

I ordered both Adele's albums at the same time because I'd heard one of her songs and given that I live abroad and I've totally lost touch with the British music scene, :-'( I hadn't heard much about her until that point. 19 is a great album led by a great talent with a great voice. I'd like to mention two strong tracks which are the honest and clever 'Daydreamer' and 'Best for Last' which I can only describe as two people's opposing ideas about where a relationship is going sung by one vocalist, Adele. It's just great! My absolute favourite though is 'Melt my heart to stone' because of the amazing vocals that she lays on the track. 'Tired' and 'hometown' are also just great. I feel nostalgic when I hear hometown and imagine her singing about our great capital! Great work!!

As a first, this is a reasonably ok album. If you are a person who can relate to the music and whats being said lyrically, then you will appreciate this album a lot more. If you are not a person who can relate to this album then it does actually come across quite depressing and some tracks tend to drag on without climbing.