I haven’t gone back to 30 since I was almost run over by a soccer mom driving a Hummer jeep while blasting and singing along to Can I Get dd. Happy for her though!
I still have my ticket for the Hyde Park show but low-key hope she cancels it because I don't wanna go anymore and no one wants my ticket - WOMP! Agreed that this whole era seems like it's dead in the water. I'd assume they hoped the Vegas shows would keep the era alive and act as casual promo but now even with that not happening everything has gone radio silent.
I love Adele but the album has no replay value. It also seems like she doesn’t care this era. I doubt she will do Vegas, wouldn’t it be announced by now?
I think for me when she said that if the album didn't finally come out when it did she would've just scrapped it, that was the first red flag. She's made everything look like an absolute chore, when there are other artists with much less resources still pulling it out of the bag during and "after" the pandemic.
The truth is since streaming took over and this girlies make 50p from album sales they're not really feeling the album cycle and the work it requires.
Hun. Adele's physical sales are huge and will have made her a pretty penny on this record. So this is... not relevant.
In general, I find the whole reframing of this era as a flop to be a little... strange? We've had the album for less than 6 months, and it already topped 5 million sales worldwide, while keeping her as relevant and in the public consciousness as she's ever been. Is it as big as 21? Of course not, nothing she does will ever be again, but neither is it Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (sadly). Give the woman a break!
Let's not even try to kid ourselves, most of our faves absolutely would go through the entire circus of the album cycle if they could command the sales Adele does.
Just because it sold, doesn’t mean it’s memorable or that Adele herself has had any long-lasting interest in it
That's true, though I do think this has a lot more of a public identity as an album than 25, which, to me at least, felt like 'Hello + all the 21 leftovers' as far as the narrative around it was concerned.
The album still did well, but it definitely hasn't had the staying power that her previous ones had. It's weird how she reappeared for a month & immediately fucked off. I personally found her presence annoying this time around but the GP still seems to be here for her. I don't think 30 is an easily digestible album though so maybe McKaitlynne from Michigan wasn't getting her life. Wasn't there a video for I Drink Wine?
I do find it kinda fascinating that we now have singles charts dominated by the same songs for really long stretches, while the album chart is in a constant refresh loop (with some obvious exceptions). I’ve always thought of them as the other way around.
All Vegas and various chart placements or absences aside… I’ve found whenever I go back to this album, it’s always rewarding, especially if you play it start to finish. I know this forum and music criticism is so tired of popstars talking about how personal an album is, but this is a case where I actually buy into the claim, and I hear her really trying to grow out of the constraints she found herself in - and placed herself in - with 25. If she had left Can I Get It? on the cutting room floor, you could convince me the album’s bulletproof. She’s not pressing like she was with 25, and even parts of 21, and the melodies, even if they’re winding and require patience at times, stick with you. Really, it’s the first time since Rolling In The Deep where Adele’s left me curious about where she’s going next.
