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Adele’s ’30’ Album: Ranking the Best Songs

By Laila Abuelhawa
Adele performs live on stage during the television show 2015! Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen - RTL Jahresrueckblick on December 6, 2015 in Cologne, Germany.

Adele’s 30 released today and after six long years patiently waiting for new music, the 12-track album is available everywhere. As she previously said, the album is an open letter to her 9-year-old son about the divorce with his father, Simon Konecki.

“I just felt like I wanted to explain to him, through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness,” Adele said. “It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal.”

The album shows us the freest Adele has ever been, who breaks down in tears on track 3, “My Little Love,” which also features voice notes of her son. 30 is a journey that Adele has so graciously allowed us to be a part of, and we will surely be playing the album heavily this winter.

See how we’ve ranked our favorites from 30 below.

  • Cry Your Heart Out - 6/10

    Following tear-jerker “My Little Love,” Adele went whimsical with Motown-style “Cry Your Heart Out,” a more uplifting song, that tells us to cry our hearts out and to go at our own pace when in doubt.

  • Strangers By Nature - 6/10

    The first song of the album, “Strangers By Nature” sets the tone for the album that all of us fans already knew to expect. Adele sings the song reminiscent of a Disney movie, which offers us a kind of safety.

    Notable lines: “I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart.”

  • Hold On - 7/10

    The last few songs of the album, Adele slows things down, like with “Hold On,” the 10th track. Towards the
    end of the 6-minute-long song, you can hear an organ and a choir of Adele’s friends singing “Just hold on.”

  • Oh My God - 7/10

    Adele reclaims her life with “Oh My God,” saying she just wants to have fun and that she’s a grown woman that does what she wants to do.

  • I Drink Wine - 7/10

    Adele said Covid turned her into a seven-nights-a-week wine drinker — I mean, who hasn’t taken on a bad habit over the course of the pandemic? The song, as Adele has described, it about shedding one’s ego, with lines like: So I hope I learn to get over myself / Stop trying to be somebody else / So we can love each other for free

  • Can I Get It - 8/10

    Written about the casual dating scene in Los Angeles that she wants no part of, “Can I Get It” showcases Adele’s powerful voice accompanied by an acoustic guitar.

  • All Night Parking - 8/10

    The record effect throughout the song, adds to the sultriness of “All Night Parking,” a song fantasizing about someone (maybe Rich Paul?).

  • My Little Love - 8/10

    Adele incorporating voice recordings of baby Angelo is so precious, we could die. The song speaks directly to her son, acknowledging that he can tell when his mom is lying. Adele says that she’s been so far gone, that he is the only thing that could save her, and if that didn’t make you well up, then I’m afraid this album isn’t for you.

  • Easy On Me - 9/10

    The first song she released ahead of the album, the music video for “Easy On Me” captivated us, when Adele’s world changed from black-and-white to color. And who can deny how catch it is to sing along with: “Go eeeeeasy on me, baby?!”

  • Love Is A Game - 9/10

    The last track of 30, “Love Is A Game” is nearly 7 minutes long, and takes listeners for a journey. You can hear organs and string instruments, sounding like a soundtrack to a mid-century romance film.

  • Woman Like Me - 10/10

    This is what we’ve been WAITING FOR! This haunting, dark Adele in “Woman Like Me” is the perfect diss track to her ex, Simon Konecki. Adele delivers all her complaints in such a calm manner, it makes it all more powerful.

  • To Be Loved - 10/10

    Adele reflects back on her marriage and what she’s learned from it all. Such a powerful, emotional song that speaks for itself.

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