Adele's 30 ~ Review (Song by Song In Order As Per Adele's Request)

Adele's new album, 30, dropped about a month ago.  I decided that today's the day I would listen to it in the way that she said to do it.......In order!  This was so important to her that she asked Spotify (and they granted her request) to not let people shuffle the songs.  

So.  What else could I do but listen to the entire album in one shot in the proper order.  

Strangers to Nature - this really feels like a long(ish) intro.  I feel like she's setting me up for a roller coaster.  Or maybe it's just because I know Adele always sets me up for a roller coaster of emotions with her music.  It's really lovely.  

Easy on Me - Like everyone else, I heard this single months ago and have played it many times on Apple Music.  Her voice just has that touch of hurt innocence and begging not to be hurt again.  Her vocals are really spot on her.  

My Little Love - ok.  Imma be honest.  This song just broke me.  I'm a crying mess over here.  This is every parents' breakup feelings with their S/O and how they're struggling and dealing with children during a breakup.  OMG, this is heart-wrenching.  I just want to reach out to her and hug her anytime she needs one.  Sometimes you want to have someone there to combat the loneliness.......but you need them to stay quiet.  Just be here and shut up.  Her little one's voice in there crushed my soul as a mom.  

This is without a doubt, the most important song on this album.  Please take a listen and tell me if this doesn't break your heart.  

Cry Your Heart Out - that post-breakup jam we all needed!  Hell-fucking-O!!!  This is like all the stages of emotion you go through but with a funky little beat to get you through your feels and on to the next set of crazy emotions.  

Oh My God - first of all, this is totally Rolling In The Deep vibes with that heavy drumbeat and I'm all about it.  Yay!  Ohhhhh post-breakup?  Is this for the rebound dude?  Or for the guy she's seeing now?  Ohhhh so many questions! The first song on the album that I HAD to get up and move.  That beat is hitting and the tune is just so catchy.  After My Little Love.........this may be my favorite on the album so far.  

Can I Get It - So flirty!!!!!!  Go, Adele!  Go Get It, Girl!  LOL, this is so flirty and fun.  Such a bop.  Not as catchy and making me move around as the previous song, but the lyrics are so catchy.  

I Drink Wine - this song?  It's grown folks' music.  Seriously.  That part in a relationship where you can finally admit the problems are coming from you.  It's the first step in being better for both of you.  A bit on the church side with the organ music and that helps to create the feeling of when your praying / meditating to help get you through.  

All Night Parking (with Erroll Garner) Interlude - very sexy, very adult.  THIS is the song you'll call the radio station to dedicate to your man.  It sort of reminds me of those back in the day songs where the singer is talking to you with that Jodeci kind of romance.  

Woman Like Me - Best lines of this song are as follows:  Complacency is the worst trait to have / Are you crazy? / You ain't ever had, ain't ever had a woman like me / It is so sad a man like you could be so lazy / Consistency is the gift to five for free / And it is key / To ever keep, to ever keep a woman like me.  At the end of this song, I felt like she was talking to every ex I ever had and reminded me of why they were exes.  The vibe on this track is really a sit back and relax while I hand you this lesson.  (Although he was probably not smart enough to really hear it)

Hold On - eh.  Not my vibe.  I didn't really like it until more than halfway through when the beat upticked.  The words are beautifully written but for some reason, this one didn't grab me.  Although she does hit a big note in this one that gave me a chill.  Wowza! 

To Be Loved - Self-reflection is one of the hardest things we can do for ourselves.  If you struggle with that as I do, listen to this song on repeat a few times and it'll for sure get you there.  My god, this is a lesson in how to be a better person and we need this each and every one of us.  Thanks, Adele, I need that.  The last three lines......the pleading.  Holy shit.  And then the heavy piano keys to play it out, it's just genius.  

Love Is a Game - although I definitely like this song, it feels like it's not on par for the rest of the album.  It's just not on the same level as the rest of the songs.  The message is still great, vocals are (duh) amazing.  And the music feels like that old 70s vibe from the Bee Gees.  This might be that one song I'll have to listen to a few times to let it grow on me.  It be that way sometimes.  

Ok, overall I'd give this 5 shots out of 5.  Seriously, this album is killer from beginning to end.  Not a sleeper song on here.  And I feel like this is a huge self-reflection album.  This is going to be that song list that makes you sit back, contemplate your place in your relationships, and if they're worth holding on to.  It's really perfect that it came at the end of the year because now more than ever is when we look forward to what we want our lives to become.  Adele has given us a chance to do it better.  I hope we don't let her down.  

Just one piece of advice with this album.  Before you enjoy with friends, take the gift of the hour it takes to listen to this.  And listen to it completely and in order the way she intended.  It's worth the journey she's taking us on.  Thanks, Adele! 

My Pandora Music Playlist Issues

Apparently I suck big cookies when it comes to making a playlist.  I made an 80's play list on Pandora and I was very strict for the first few days.  Then the early 90's started sneaking into my songs........but I couldn't remember what year some songs were published.  So they got the thumbs up.  Now I'm getting hit with Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke.  (thumbs down)

I don't know how to fix this.

I had started one of just soft romantic music.  I loved so many of the songs.....all slow and sexy.  I thought this would be great for romantic evenings with my husband.  Until one night we turned the playlist on.....every other song was about a broken heart or someone cheating.  Not really a highlight to be kissing my husband when any Shirley Murdock song comes on.....LOL.

So I started doing the thumbs down on lots of slow jams.  I felt like I was discovering this unknown fact in the world of slow music......most of it is NOT truly romantic.  UGH.  Now what?  And while some of her songs are great.....I can't fathom making love to Barbra Streisand music.  I need some Sade or Maxwell.

Bottom line is I have no discipline.  I hate to click the thumbs down song on any song I really like no matter what playlist it pops into.  Will my goal for music playlists ever be met?  Probably not.  Oh well.  lol

Music - Is it really universal?

One of the lil bebe kids I wrote of yesterday just pissed me off for a whole 1/60 of a minute. I'm sitting on my porch listening to Klymaxx's I'd Still Say Yes with Howard Hewitt. It's one of my favs....it's just a good song. 'Lil Italy' comes up to me and asks what I am listening to, I say music and he says what kind of music. I said R&B music at the moment. He says why are you listening to that. I said because I like it, don't you like R&B music? He says yeah I like it but I didn't know you could. I said do you know it means Rhythm and Blues, not Rhythm and Black? He walked away. LMAO

I have always felt that music and art was the one area of the world that doesn't care a wit about what you look like. It doesn't care about gender, skin color, two arms or one head. It really doesn't even care if you notice it. It just needs to be. I love to listen almost any kind of music. It teaches me about more people and more experiences than those in my lil world. I get to hear others express what matters to them. I get to put myself into someone else's lil world.

It's just a great thing to not even do any of that. Just let your body flow with the music, let it rule your instincts into doing anything that comes next. Here's a few that do that for me.....

You and I by Jodeci
Amazed by Lonestar
TShirt and Panties by Adina Howard
Lately by Surface
Secret Garden by Quincy Jones
Weak by SWV

Too many to really name now that I think about it....