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19 is the debut album by English singer-songwriter Adele. It was released on 28 January 2008, the week after the lead single, "Chasing Pavements", was physically released. It debuted at number one on the UK charts on its first week.[1] Included is a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Make You Feel My Love" from his 1997 album, Time Out of Mind.
As of July 2011, the album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
Background
Adele recorded Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" on the recommendation of her manager Jonathan Dickins, who loved the song.[2] The song "Hometown Glory" has been featured in the British and American television shows Skins, Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Hollyoaks, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and most recently danced by Katee Shean and eventual winner, Joshua Allen on So You Think You Can Dance. In July 2008 Adele informed noted UK soul writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul that the reason for naming her debut album '19' was to reflect her age while she was writing it: "I just kinda remember becoming a bit of a woman during that time. And I think that is definitely documented in the songs."[3] The Taiwanese edition was released on 5 March. As well as the standard tracklist, the album features three bonus tracks: "That's It I Quit I'm Movin' On" ("Chasing Pavements" B-side), "Now and Then" ("Cold Shoulder" B-side) and "Painting Pictures" ("Make You Feel My Love" B-side).[4] The Indonesian special edition was released on 3 March. As well as the standard tracklist, the album features a bonus video for "Chasing Pavements".[5]
19 received generally positive reviews from critics. The album holds a 68 out of 100 rating based on 19 critical reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews" from metacritic.[16] The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the category of Best Album.[17] On 3 December 2008, the album spawned four Grammy Award nominations: Best New Artist, and Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Chasing Pavements".[18] The following year, she received a second consecutive nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for "Hometown Glory", but lost to "Halo" by Beyoncé. The Guardian gave the album a great review saying "The way she stretched the vowels, her wonderful soulful phrasing, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of her voice, stood out all the more; little doubt that she's a rare singer, which another track first available on her MySpace site, 'Daydreamer', confirmed" they gave the album a five star response.[19] BBC Music gave the album a great review, saying "Pitching up somewhere between blues, folk and jazz, she's included something for everyone without ever pandering to a particular trend. Her melodies exude warmth, her singing is occasionally stunning and, in the dramatic Hometown Glory, the spiky cool of Cold Shoulder (which is unexpectedly reminiscent of Shara Nelson-era Massive Attack) and the piano epic Make You Feel My Love, she has tracks that make Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are."[20] However the album also received mixed responses. Uncut said "Allowed this gnarled rock-scribe veteran a measure of scepticism. Adele can certainly sing, but '19' reeks of some A&R trendhound making it his/her biz to sign The New Amy and not resting till s/he's found the right chick from South London to fit the bill".[21]NME gave the album a mixed review saying "Indeed, as ‘19’ reveals itself, it’s clear that the Amy associations are little more than empty mediaspeak without any real weight. Despite the early indicators, there’s precious little on the album that prevents it from collapsing under the weight of its own expectation".[22]People magazine gave the album all four stars, saying "With a knockout voice that's rich and supple, robust and sultry, it's hard to believe that this singer-songwriter is barely out of her teens."[23] Giving the album a B-, Entertainment Weekly remarked that "Adele's songs aren't as sharp as Duffy's...Still, her singing throughout is a thing to behold."[24] Chuck Taylor, in a positive review from Billboard magazine, said that "Adele truly has potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation."[25]
Chart performance
In the U.S 19 debuted at #56 and remained in the lower ends of the Billboard 200 for many proceeding weeks. After a performance on the U.S show Saturday Night Live it rose to #46 and a week later to #11 with sales of 25,000+ copies sold. In 2009, after winning 2 Grammy Awards, the album rose to a new peak of #10 on the Billboard 200 and total sales reached 843,880, the album is now certified platinum by the RIAA.[26] As of February 2011, the album has sold 1,015,000 copies in the United States.
As of the week ending 24 April 2011, 19 was No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums for 9 weeks, making it only the third album by a female artist to top that chart at least that long in the past 20 years.[27] The following week it stayed at No. 1 on that chart, making it the first studio album doing so since Michael Jackson'sThriller 25 was at No. 1 for 11 weeks in 2008.[28] Two months later, it moves up from No. 27 to No. 16 on Billboard 200, topping Top Pop Catalog Albums for a 16th week.[29]
Thanks to the upcoming release of Adele's second album 21, 19 could re-enter the German Albums Chart at No. 42 in January 2011.[30]19 has sold 3 million copies worldwide.[31] In the same week as 21 was released, 19 re-entered the UK album chart at number 4 with sales of 25,419.[32] The following week on 6 February 2011 the album remained on the chart at number 4 with strengthening sales of 27,660. It is currently the second best selling album of 2011 in the UK just behind 21 as it tripled its 2008 seven non-consecutive week long top 10-visit with 21 straight weeks. As of 17 July 2011, 19 has sold 1,594,001 copies in the UK. In Ireland, due to the success of 21, the album returned to its peak position of number three on the week ending 18 March 2011, three years after it originally peaked, just to set a new high at number two the following week and to stay there for six non-consecutive weeks, just behind 21. The album debuted at number 16 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, due to the success of 21 and has peaked at number 3.[33]
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