Adele

The Guardian

Great performance at the Oscars.
Must be one of the best female artists around today.

Miguel_Sanchez

She's no Elliott Smith, he was robbed at the Oscars.

Moved to Music.

Da Shins Kelly

Thought Shirley Bassey blew her out of the water, tbh.

MadYaker

I thought she did a great job on the Skyfall intro song.

Lingua Franca

That Skyfall song isn't good enough for her voice.

Da Shins Kelly

The Skyfall song isn't good enough in general.

MrStuffins

What's she gonna moan about in her songs now she's happy and has a kid?

You got dumped, we get it! Now go away!

Geo10

Ugh I can't stand her or Taylor Swift... seriously, there are so many other things you can sing about apart from breaking up with your boyfriend!

dharma200

I thought she wasnt great in her oscars performance, have seen her so much better live, like Jools Holland etc. The song kindof grates after first few listens. She has the most amazing voive though, if a bit whiney... no one can take away from the fact she is very gifted.

Technocentral

Music for dinner parties, zero originality or innovation, yawn, next!

digitalfunk

Didn't realise how big she is in the US. no pun intended! Even bigger sales than Taylor Swift and Bieber. She's brilliant. Deserves all the fame and fortune.

Custardpi

Wouldn't be my cup of tea exactly but you have to give her credit for an amazing voice (one which the Skyfall song really isn't worthy of). Unlike many artists today she doesn't use Autotune in her recordings but relies on her natural talents, hopefully something that will be noted by younger stars coming up. Sure, she's not reinventing the wheel or anything but what she does, she does extremely well & is one of the few regular features in the Top 40 that doesn't make me want to have my eardrums surgically removed.

trajcep

I think Adele is the singer of the 21st century. So powerful voice I've never heard by any other of the nowadays singers. I've read that you say the Skyfall soundtrack is not enough for her. I agree completely. But Skyfall is maybe the best performed soundtrack among the whole James Bond movie episodes. Adele's live performances are as shiny as Robbie Williams' best days as I remember them.

Jimmy Iovine

trajcep wrote: »

I think Adele is the singer of the 21st century. So powerful voice I've never heard by any other of the nowadays singers. I've read that you say the Skyfall soundtrack is not enough for her. I agree completely. But Skyfall is maybe the best performed soundtrack among the whole James Bond movie episodes. Adele's live performances are as shiny as Robbie Williams' best days as I remember them.

Yes, but only if she is being compared to those in the top 20 in the charts.

Custardpi

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Yes, but only if she is being compared to those in the top 20 in the charts.

What female singers performing today would you rate higher than Adele? Her genre of music wouldn't be my thing but I'd still regard her as being extremely talented. There's female vocalists who I'd personally prefer to listen to, such as Gillian Welch & Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards, but that's more down to preferring their type of music, rather than them being more talented than Adele.

Da Shins Kelly

I would rate both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, who are both still performing and turning out new music, as more talented than Adele. Adele, while being a good singer, makes very derivative music, I think. There's nothing ground-breaking about what she does. Her songs all sound the same, and it's all very 'safe', I think.

There are a lot of singers within the neo-soul genre that I find better in a musical sense - write better songs, have better voices and are all-round more talented individuals.

And for what it's worth, Adele pretty much owes her career to Amy Winehouse. Despite making very little music, I think Amy Winehouse was probably one of the definitive female artists of this generation. The impact she's had in such a short space of time is mad.

Custardpi

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

I would rate both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, who are both still performing and turning out new music, as more talented than Adele. Adele, while being a good singer, makes very derivative music, I think. There's nothing ground-breaking about what she does. Her songs all sound the same, and it's all very 'safe', I think.

There are a lot of singers within the neo-soul genre that I find better in a musical sense - write better songs, have better voices and are all-round more talented individuals.

And for what it's worth, Adele pretty much owes her career to Amy Winehouse. Despite making very little music, I think Amy Winehouse was probably one of the definitive female artists of this generation. The impact she's had in such a short space of time is mad.

I'd definitely agree with you on Amy Winehouse, if she was still alive you'd easily be able to point to her as a mainstream artist that one could objectively rate higher (regardless of what genre you were into) than Adele. Sadly she produced a relatively slim body of work before joining the "27 Club". Haven't listened to very much of Badu's stuff of late, though I do have a copy of Baduizm knocking about somewhere. It's a different style of music, would definitely be interesting to hear Adele branch out a bit more. Like you've said, her current style is quite "safe". I reckon she'd have the talent to tackle more challenging (from the point of view of the listener) material than what she's doing now. A colaboration with someone like Bjork or a cover of her material would be worth a listen.

Da Shins Kelly

Custardpi wrote: »

I'd definitely agree with you on Amy Winehouse, if she was still alive you'd easily be able to point to her as a mainstream artist that one could objectively rate higher (regardless of what genre you were into) than Adele. Sadly she produced a relatively slim body of work before joining the "27 Club". Haven't listened to very much of Badu's stuff of late, though I do have a copy of Baduizm knocking about somewhere. It's a different style of music, would definitely be interesting to hear Adele branch out a bit more. Like you've said, her current style is quite "safe". I reckon she'd have the talent to tackle more challenging (from the point of view of the listener) material than what she's doing now. A colaboration with someone like Bjork or a cover of her material would be worth a listen.

That said, Adele hasn't produced anything more than what Winehouse produced, and I think the quality of Adele's music is lower. Amy Winehouse was a far more versatile artist, took a lot more risks, musically. The song Back to Black is better than anything Adele has ever written, in my opinion. It seemed towards the end of her life she was branching out into other genres, particularly hip-hop, too, doing collabs with Nas and apparently something with The Roots was being lined up too. Could never imagine Adele doing that, to be honest. I can only really imagine Adele singing sentimental ballads. She needs to mix it up though and improve her song-writing. Some of the lyrics on that last album are cringe. Could never, ever imagine a Bjork collaboration either. Adele strikes me as the kind of person who's probably never listened to Bjork in her life. If she came out with something totally surprising in the coming years though, I'd be more than happy to eat my words.

Jimmy Iovine

Custardpi wrote: »

What female singers performing today would you rate higher than Adele?

People like Elina Garanca and Hayley Westenra. The majority of top female classical singers would be better than Adele. When I say better I mean in terms of their ability at singing.

I'm discounting lyrics (Adele's are, as Da Shins pointed out, 'cringe') and sales (some people are stupid).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGFUKsv1epk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSwx2MdUKzw

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Could never imagine Adele doing that, to be honest. I can only really imagine Adele singing sentimental ballads. She needs to mix it up though and improve her song-writing.

I would be extremely surprised if she changed. She has found a winning formula. Until people stop buying her CDs she has no reason to stop writing soppy, heartbreak songs.

Custardpi

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

People like Elina Garanca and Hayley Westenra. The majority of top female classical singers would be better than Adele. When I say better I mean in terms of their ability at singing.

I'm discounting lyrics (Adele's are, as Da Shins pointed out, 'cringe') and sales (some people are stupid).




I would be extremely surprised if she changed. She has found a winning formula. Until people stop buying her CDs she has no reason to stop writing soppy, heartbreak songs.

Fair enough, have to admit I wasn't even thinking of the classical stuff. Although I do listen to a certain amount of classical it tends to be almost entirely instrumental (if that's the right term). Only started to listen to opera at all in the past year or so. Picked up a copy of Verdi's Macbeth a few months ago (specifically the Claudio Abbado version) after hearing it described as "opera for people who don't like opera" & was immediately struck at the difference in range demanded of the performers, especially Lady Macbeth when compared to a typical rock, pop or even jazz song & how much more challenging the material would be in that sense. The performers, whether male or female get more opportunity to show off their talent, simply because the material is far more demanding. From what I understand it's also talent that has to be developed, with training far more vigourous than that needed in other genres. All things being equal i.e. if Adele had the same level & type of vocal training, who would be better? I think you may be comparing apples with oranges to a certain extent.

Napper Hawkins

Custardpi wrote: »

What female singers performing today would you rate higher than Adele? Her genre of music wouldn't be my thing but I'd still regard her as being extremely talented. There's female vocalists who I'd personally prefer to listen to, such as Gillian Welch & Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards, but that's more down to preferring their type of music, rather than them being more talented than Adele.

Though I'm not sure what she's up to these days, I think if you can out sing Skin you're doing well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogdoEi64VzA

Jimmy Iovine

Custardpi wrote: »

Fair enough, have to admit I wasn't even thinking of the classical stuff. Although I do listen to a certain amount of classical it tends to be almost entirely instrumental (if that's the right term). Only started to listen to opera at all in the past year or so. Picked up a copy of Verdi's Macbeth a few months ago (specifically the Claudio Abbado version) after hearing it described as "opera for people who don't like opera" & was immediately struck at the difference in range demanded of the performers, especially Lady Macbeth when compared to a typical rock, pop or even jazz song & how much more challenging the material would be in that sense. The performers, whether male or female get more opportunity to show off their talent, simply because the material is far more demanding.

I listen to orchestral pieces and songs by classical singers in equal measure. That's not to say that I listen to them a lot.

We did some Mozart and Berlioz in school for the Leaving Cert and it was absolutely fantastic. Probably the greatest music that I have ever heard.

Listen to the top male singers (Bjorling, Pavarotti, Domingo and Ireland's own John McCormack) and you'll appreciate just how good the voice can sound.

Custardpi wrote: »

From what I understand it's also talent that has to be developed, with training far more vigourous than that needed in other genres. All things being equal i.e. if Adele had the same level & type of vocal training, who would be better? I think you may be comparing apples with oranges to a certain extent.

My dad would be the man to explain this to you but the training needed is far more than in any other genre. You need an amazingly natural talent and you also have to work hard and mind your voice.

I couldn't say who would be better but I don't think it would be Adele.

I don't want to sound like I'm bashing Adele or any other singer here but in comparison to becoming a classical singer it's quite easy to make it as a pop/rock singer. Feck it, Anthony Kiedis hasn't a note in his head but he has led one of the biggest bands around for nearly 30 years. Bob Dylan couldn't sing either.

They are all talented songwriters. That can make up for a lack of singing talent in popular music.

A classical singer only has their voice. They all sing other people's songs. It would be almost impossible for them to do otherwise.

I'm not particularly sure where I'm going with this point but even if Adele had all the training that Hayley Westenra received I don't think she'd be as good. You need an incredible amount of luck, talent and dedication. It's not simply a case of deciding one day to sing in a classical style. You need to know your voice in a way that no other genre asks.

Custardpi

Ok, we may have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't think that one can make a fair comparison between classical/opera & other genres given how much more challenging by nature the former's material is. On a side note, kudos on your taste for Berlioz. La Symphonie Fantastique is one of my favourite pieces, absolutely exquisite music. I generally listen to the Russian composers like Shostakovich & Rachmaninov more than anything else in the genre but there's something about LSF that gives me goosebumps, makes me proud to be a member of the same species as the guy who composed it.

Jimmy Iovine

Custardpi wrote: »

Ok, we may have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't think that one can make a fair comparison between classical/opera & other genres given how much more challenging by nature the former's material is.

OK. You're lucky that I'm tired :pac:.

Custardpi wrote: »

On a side note, kudos on your taste for Berlioz. La Symphonie Fantastique is one of my favourite pieces, absolutely exquisite music. I generally listen to the Russian composers like Shostakovich & Rachmaninov more than anything else in the genre but there's something about LSF that gives me goosebumps, makes me proud to be a member of the same species as the guy who composed it.

That's the exact piece that I was talking about. It is incredible. We only did the 2nd and 4th movement. A lot of people viewed Music as a **** subject but it was a privilege to just sit and listen to those pieces. It wasn't work. It was enjoyable.

We also listened to Mozart's Piano Concerto 23.

I'm able to read music so it was incredible to follow the music as it unfolded on the page. I can't begin to imagine the level of either composers genius. I pity anyone who dismisses classical or operatic music as nonsense. They don't know what they are missing out on.

Da Shins Kelly

I think there's a difference between being a technically great singer, which a lot of classical singers are, and being an emotionally great singer. I mean, Billie Holiday is not a classically great singer, but she's arguably the greatest vocalist that's ever lived. Same with Frank Sinatra. He's not a technically perfect vocalist either, but he had a one of a kind voice that really can't be replicated. He was a one-off. There's more to being a great singer than being technically good. It's about the delivery, tone and the character of the voice too, I think. Having a voice that is completely distinctive, that the second you hear it, you know who it is. I don't think that being able to hit all the notes perfectly is what it's all about.

DEFTLEFTHAND

I'd admire her she doesn't change for anybody, she didn't dye her hair or lose weight. She's an inspiration for other fat brouds out there, it's not all about image.

fussyonion

What puzzles me is..at what point in her career did everyone start loving her?

I remember when she released "Chasing Pavements" in 2008, nobody really talked about her.

Then it was almost overnight that her fame catapulted..what changed between 2008 and now?

I think she has a lovely voice but a lot her songs sound the same.

Spurtacus

I'd rate her higher than Winehouse, she's not a Beyonce/Aquillera type singer so there's no point comparing her to established Divas.
She's a nice Jazzy tone that I hope she keeps.

JP Liz V1

Hello, she is back with a new album "25"

camlinhall

Custardpi wrote: »

Sure, she's not reinventing the wheel or anything but what she does, she does extremely well & is one of the few regular features in the Top 40 that doesn't make me want to have my eardrums surgically removed.

On a different note...how d'you feel about the carpet bombing...no-one can escape the machine that insists everyone hears Adele, at which point taste, choice, or preference aren't really important?

bigbrotherfan

Watched Adele at Glastonbury (on TV) this year. Singing was great but I didn't understand the need for all the cursing and swearing.