Saturday Deluxe / 28 Nov 2015

Re Duran – the new album is a grower. I agree it’s a shame they don’t release proper singles – some new b-sides and nite versions would be nice. I agree “Nice” from Astronaut should’ve been a single – same for “Zoom In” off Red Carpet Massacre.
Re Adele: she was apparently miffed when Damon Albarn said her music was middle of the road. She mustn’t listen back to her own stuff. The best young singer by a mile is John Newman – his grossly overlooked Revolve album is packed with passionate disco soul power. Plus his online store lets you pick and mix your own deluxe options (choose between cd, deluxe cd, vinyl, book and poster – more artists/labels should do this)

Loved some of Heart’s stuff Foxy. But this new release you mention most likely won’t get a sniff of coverage as their is no oxygen/space left so to speak in the media once they are done with the likes of Adele. That’s the problem as Paul alleviated to; it seems to be all or nothing these days.

Adele……hmmm.

If you really want to hear someone who can make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and thrill your ears every time, Ann Wilson is the lady! She’s just released an EP under the moniker ‘The Ann Wilson Thing’ which is a superb fusion of blues, rock and jazz. I highly recommend that everyone who is an Adele fan or a naysayer to have a listen.

Of course, many will remember her as the lead singer of rock band ‘Heart’, or, by reputation, as the female Robert Plant (but Mr Plant should be so lucky!). She’s looking and sounding her best in many years right now (definitely one of the most impressive live performers you could wish for), so overlook this at your peril. Second e.p. should drop in January.

Can’t wait!!

Speaking about Adele, you should take a listen to the Target edition :)

Given the tosh that a lot of people who visit this site seem to salivate over it is ironic to see Adele getting it in the neck.

I’ve just spotted on amazon a Springsteen box set of the complete 1978 radio broadcasts , 15 CDs for £15 released 18 December , does anyone have any info on this ? Sound quality etc ? For the price it seems worth a punt

Gotta say, Paper Gods has rather grown on me, and I thought Pressure Off was a cracking single. Ditto, all those years ago, Too Much Information – the best thing on a very good album.

Adele’s music is not my cup of tea, but I’m actually delighted with her success. For a start, she’s on an indie label that releases a lot of great music on both it and its sister labels; her success will allow it to release more music I like. Secondly, the sheer volume of physical sales shows the CD format is far from dead. Thirdly, she has done it entirely on her own terms – she does not court publicity every second of the day and is relying solely on the strength of her voice and songs.

Some of the comments above about who buys her music are very petty. I was also surprised to see someone denigrate The Beautiful South who, for me, have made some truly great music. Anyone who finds their music shallow has not listened properly.

Stock, Aitken and Waterman though, that’s some seriously shallow rubbish.

I’m an open minded music fan of pretty much all genres throughout the history of music. I, too, don’t understand the Adele obsession. Obviously, we all know there is no “fairness” or “justice” when it comes to who becomes successful or popular. I like to illustrate this point by comparing Adele to Rumer. To me, Rumer is an incredibly talented and soulful artist, who has a fantastic understanding of the history of music and she knows how to write a great song or pick a great classic song to cover. Her voice is simply remarkable. She makes outstanding pop/soul music. Compared to the success that Adele is having, Rumer’s album sales are minuscule. And you’d be hard pressed to find anyone here in the United States who has even heard of Rumer. I consider that criminal, but, sometimes, there’s a little extra pleasure in liking that band or singer that hardly anyone knows about. The masses are often asses.

It’s funny how many on here want to compare Adele to an average artist from the 80’s, kind of shows you the demographic of readers of the board.

It’s 21 that has made Adele, 19 is an average album that only started selling after the success of 21. ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Rumour has it’ are great catchy pop tunes.

It also helps that after the UK public vote for putting together a band like ‘Girls Aloud’ based on their looks and figures, a singer comes along that’s the complete opposite and isn’t a size 8.

I don’t see too many women posting on this board, is collecting deluxe box sets a male thing? I bet you though, a lot of women have bought the new CD.

In the US, an appearance on SNL after Sarah Palin pulled out helpled Adele perform to one of the largest TV audiences for SNL. I imagine a lot of American women who never heard of Adele thought ‘Wow, a singer who doesn’t look like Taylor Swift that can sing’

I can understand people on this board thinking why does Adele sell more than another artist but you can say the same about U2 or Coldplay. The history of music is all about being in the right place at the right time – Elvis, The Beatles, Glam Rock, Punk, Rap etc. Adele has come along at a time when manufactured pop was about young, slim, pretty girls groups or artists and a lot of women have taken to her because she’s the opposite.

Adele is a singer who sings…no auto tune…with mostly good lyrics that mesh well with her music…although I feel Sara bareilles is just as talented, or beth Hart, I’m glad Adele is enjoying such success…rather her than beiber, Swift, Gomez, Perry, et al…so tired of vapid pop…although the second song is shit…Swift/Perry reject…the rest are good…and the extra three from the target edition are stunning

Horses… courses… I don’t know what to say, really. I bought 19 and, at the time, she was a singular talent. It was sparse and raw with a sprinkling of big production set pieces. It was fresh and is still a great album. She connected, for some reason, and 21 proved that. 25 was always going to eat the world but to get all po-faced and do her down personally is futile. Ultimately, she is blameless. The ire directed toward her is inexplicable when the likes of Swift and Perry go about their million-selling business unscathed. By her own admission, she considered packing it in after Skyfall but what else is she going to do? She is wholly and refreshingly unaffected by the madness that surrounds her and for that she must be commended. But, calling out an artist you don’t like for being successful is counter-intuitive. Would we be talking like this if Mogwai sold more than the next 86 albums in the chart combined? Absolutely not.

Adele could fart into a microphone and a million middle aged discontented women would buy it as they wait for the next installment of 50 shades of grey. If you want any enjoyment from her music get listening to it quickly because the media and public overkill sets in faster than these discontented middlies hijack Adele’s songs for their latest divorce/break up party

Although Adele does seem to be a nice down to earth person, who has to suffer uncalled for jibes about her weight. But worthy of 40+ million album sales she is not.

I’m not going to stick up for Adele here (she doesn’t need it). Either you get it or you don’t.
I’m a rock and metal guy, but I get it. In this age of no talent auto tune pop and Rap/ Hip Hop domination (especially here in the USA)
Sometimes real talent stands out. Course it’s not for everybody…

Couldn’t agree more about Adele. She’s the decades equivalent of the Beautiful South, James Blunt or other music for people who don’t like music !

Still each to their own.

I like Adele, but I prefer Amy Winehouse to be the best singer of her generation. She has much more heart, soul and sound than Adele. Too bad she died too young and early, we will never find out what could have been there..

You’re not alone Daran, I feel the same way. I did like a few songs of her but I think she is terribly overrated. I think people are just buying it because it’s Adele.

I bought the Elvis LP (dutch pressing) here in Amsterdam and it has the same cool black and white cover!

The CD promo of ‘What Are The Chances’ is now circulating on eBay so I guess it must be the second single now.

What are the chances we’ll actually get a proper 2nd single release from Paper Gods?

The Adele physical sales figures are impressive, certainly should help prop that side of the industry up and the knock on is that they will continue with the real product for the foreseeable. Good news for us!

Adele, why? Why is she so phenomenally successful. I just don’ get it. Can someone please make me see what I am missing? I stumbled across a quote from someone in the Guardian comments section that said she was a pub singer who has struck it very lucky, and I have to say when I hear her voice I think of dj Steve Wright’s pub singer character – that weird thing she does with her voice that sounds just the same. Is it just over emotional 30 something women buying it…… the ultimate coffee table CD?