Adele feels like one of those artists that is so timeless that she’s just always been part of our lives. Her music is such a touchstone for so many of us and, whenever she drops new music, she creates a rare monocultural moment across the world. And, yet, she’s only released four studio albums in 16 years.
But those four albums are exactly that: albums. In a music landscape that seems to benefit more frequent drops of shorter songs and projects, Adele has continued to push back against convention and remained true to her vision of crafting records that represent who she is at any given age: 19, 21, 25, 30. And, in those releases, is something for all of us to relate to: love, heartbreak, nostalgia, longing, regret. It’s all there, wrapped in beautifully constructed production and delivered in her life-affirming voice.
On the heels of Adele’s announcement that she’s taking an indefinite step back from music, we’re ranking what we think are her 20 best songs from her first four albums.
20. Skyfall
“This is the end…” No, this is actually the beginning of the list, and we’re starting off this list of Adele’s best songs with a one-off release that helped to cement Adele’s omnipotent, undeniable star power. “Skyfall” is the quintessential Bond theme. Released alongside the James Bond movie of the same name, it’s as cinematic as a song can get, building from sparse piano backing to full on orchestral accompaniment that gives it the feeling of being a true epic. While it’s not an Adele song that you’ll find yourself revisiting for everyday listening, it is pretty damn flawless — and it also won her an Oscar and a Grammy, so, it kind of has to be included here.
19. Oh My God
The first of several Adele-Greg Kurstin collabs on this list, “Oh My God” is an absolute bop that stands out on Adele’s discography for its upbeat tempo and knowing cheekiness. It’s like “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)’s” wine drunk older sister. She’s been through some shit, and she’s grown into being pretty damn unapologetic about it in the process. She just wants to have fun, even if it comes with ramifications she won’t be able to process until tomorrow morning.
18. I’ll Be Waiting
There’s just something about this track’s instrument-forward production that takes you back to simpler times, before production got so slick. It is rough around the edges in a comforting way that feels right at home for Adele’s booming voice. It’s another one of those signature Adele songs where she takes it easy on the verses before absolutely unloading on the chorus. Retro music magic!
17. Remedy
This is one of Adele’s fantastic collaborations with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and proves that they’re capable of creating real magic together — which they had done previously on “Rumour Has It” and “Turning Tables” from 21. “Remedy” is an ode to Adele’s son, Angelo, but really could be a dedication to anyone you love in your own life. It feels universal and romantic, and its beautiful piano backing is simplicity at its most impactful.
16. Rumour Has It
While it might not feel this way so many years later, “Rumour Has It” felt downright experimental when it was released as part of Adele’s blockbuster album 21 back in 2011. There’s something exciting and kind of dangerous about this Ryan Tedder collab, which is aimed at her friends and family who read rumors they read about her in the tabloids. Have you ever heard such invigorating stomping behind a song?
15. Easy On Me
“Easy On Me” is a gorgeous, quintessential Adele ballad. It’s the epitome of what a first single from one of her albums should sound like (this was the first release from 30), which is both a positive thing — what’s better than an Adele banger? — and a slight knock against it. Is this just a less impactful “Hello”? Not exactly, but also not not exactly. That’s a high bar for comparison, though, and this song is still beautiful and relatable and will undoubtedly stand the test of time.
14. Can I Get It
This is one of Adele’s few collaborations with pop powerhouses Max Martin and Shellback, and it feels that way. This is a big pop tune, which is why many Adele purists have pushed back against it since its release as part of 30. While its whistle-heavy chorus makes it a complete outlier in Adele’s discography, her willingness to give into mainstream trends four albums into her career, was more a reflection of her desire to experiment and push her limits in lieu of risking delivering an album full of the same. She sounds like she’s having fun here, which isn’t very common on Adele songs. She’s moved on from a breakup and excited about the thrilling potential of a new relationship. Let her get it!
13. Melt My Heart to Stone
“Melt My Heart to Stone” feels like early Adele personified. It’s a heartbreaking breakup song with an old school percussive backing, and it’s delivered in an imperfect, diaristic package. Adele’s voice cracks and rasps and riffs here in ways that she doesn’t allow herself to on her later albums. It almost feels like a live recording.
12. Turning Tables
Another Adele and Ryan Tedder production, what makes “Turning Tables” so gutting is that it feels like it’s happening in the middle of a relationship crumbling. The breakup hasn’t happened yet — it’s actually just begun. It’s two jilted lovers who just had an argument and Adele realizing she needs to step away from something that’s hurting her. It could be perfectly at home at the turning point in a Broadway musical. It’s big and bold and cinematic, just as some of Adele’s best songs are.
11. Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
The story behind this one is kind of legendary: Adele was working on new music with Ryan Tedder and, when they went to lunch after an uninspiring session together, they heard Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” for the first time. Ryan told Adele that it was produced by legendary pop hitmaker Max Martin, and she said she wanted to work with him. The result was “Send My Love,” which was a collab between Adele, Max and Shellback, which was naturally her most obviously commercial and radio-friendly song to date. There’s just something infectious and encapsulating about its pulsing guitar riff as Adele sings a glorious kiss-off to an ex.
10. I Drink Wine
“I Drink Wine,” another Greg Kurstin co-write, clocks in at a hefty six minutes — but how glorious those six minutes are! This one reflects on her divorce, moving on, trying to be a better friend and maturing from life experience. It’s gospel-inspired, features an organ in the background and wouldn’t be out of place on a back-in-the-day Elton John album. You can picture Adele singing this as she splits a bottle of wine with a friend, with its meandering, anecdotal and confessional lyrics. She also just sounds really fucking good on this one.
9. All I Ask
A Bruno Mars co-write on an Adele track? Absolutely! This song, which was inspired by Billy Joel and features piano as its only instrumentation, is devastating. It’s told from the perspective of someone grappling with the end of a glorious relationship, begging their soon-to-be-ex for just one more night together. Her vocals are otherworldly here, and it’s positively game over when she arrives at that key change during the song’s final chorus. Whew!
8. Set Fire to The Rain
The surging, lush “Set Fire to The Rain” become Adele’s third straight No.1 hit off of 21 when it came out, and you can hear why. It’s a pop-forward power ballad with a beautiful, illustrious orchestral musical backing. In the songs lyrics, Adele is conflicted in her emotions, wary of letting someone go but knowing that it’s probably for the better to part ways — and the song’s emotional punch backs that feeling up.
7. Water Under the Bridge
This midtempo Greg Kurstin collab is Adele at some of her poppiest and radio friendly, which they’re able to achieve without losing her signature charm. “If you’re going to let me down, let me down gently,” she pleads — no, demands — over a rollicking drum-driven beat. Listening to this song progress, you almost feel like you’re floating down a progressively intense river yourself, becoming the titular water under the bridge, until you drown in it completely.
6. Chasing Pavements
The song that started it all for Adele, and it’s aged extremely well. The feeling you get when you here Adele jump from those meandering, melancholy verses into the chorus’ essential questions — “Should I give up? Or should I just keep chasing pavements, even if it leads nowhere?” — will never get old. Her voice is more raw here, but it’s still very much her voice, the one that we all know and love. It’s almost as if we’re still here, over 15 years later, still unsure of whether or not we should still be chasing pavements, and we’ve been listening to the rest of her subsequent releases hoping for a definitive answer that will never come.
5. When We Were Young
“Hello” might’ve introduced Adele’s 25 era, but “When We Were Young” feels like its centerpiece. It’s nostalgia at its most glorious. It’s bittersweet and it’s beautiful and it makes you want to cry real tears—happy or sad tears, who’s to say? The song is a classic Adele slow burn, building into an all-encompassing production that puts her timeless vocals at its center. When she gets to that final, guttural “I’m so maaaad I’m getting old,” you’re right there with her, filled with absolute fury over the idea of fleeting youth.
4. Make You Feel My Love
Is it too much to call this one of the best covers of all time? It’s at least one of the best of the 21st century! This one comes from Adele’s first album, 19, and has had sort of a slow build over the course of her career to become one of her defining records. Fun fact: This song didn’t really take off for her in a mainstream way until contestants started singing it on The X Factor in the UK — and then the rest was history. It’s beautiful, simple production and devotional lyrics make it so fucking romantic it almost hurts.
3. Rolling in The Deep
This is the song that changed Adele’s life forever. It was her first big breakthrough, her first No. 1 hit in the US and it garnered her multiple Grammys — rightfully so. She wrote the epic, buoyant track with her longtime collaborator Paul Epworth, and it’s been pretty much inescapable for over a decade now. It’s an instant classic. Bluesy and gritty and angry and self-assured, “Rolling in The Deep” is in many ways Adele’s signature song.
2. Hello
“Hello” will probably live on as Adele’s biggest, most monstrous hit of her career. It was a more than adequate follow up to her breakthrough 21 era and the perfect lead-in for 25. It’s one of those releases that you remember happening: That sepia-toned, wind-filled music video? Beyond iconic. “Hello” was a No.1 hit in 36 countries, and part of its appeal is that it has Adele’s signature essence of longing, of nostalgia and of wistful regret. It’s relatable and universal, with lyrics that touch on any and all kinds of relationships — romantic, familial, friendly — that go through changes as people’s paths in life diverge. Things change, and it’s okay to long for those days before “the world fell at our feet.” That person you’re thinking about right now? They’re only a phone call — a “hello” — away.
- Someone Like You
What makes “Someone Like You” so impactful, I think, lies in its simplicity. It mesmerizing, piano-driven backs the relatable and straightforward lyrics written by Adele and Semisonic’s Dan Wilson. “Never mind, I’ll find someone like you,” she sings as the devastating chorus booms. It’s one of the most iconic breakup songs of the millennium, which means it deserves all the success that came for it. Adele has spoken about how she wrote this song towards the end of her 21 sessions after being tired of being so angry on songs like “Rumour Has It” and “Rolling in the Deep,” which makes sense. On “Someone Like You,” she sounds broken down, exhausted by her own sadness. “Sometimes it lasts in love,” she sings, “but sometimes it hurts instead.” And sometimes, as Adele has taught us over the course of many a tune, you have to give into that hurt to eventually get over it.
