All I Ask (Adele song)

"All I Ask"
Song by Adele from the album 25
Recorded
Genre Pop
Length 4:32
Label XL
Writer
Producer
25 track listing

"Million Years Ago"
(9)		 "All I Ask"
(10)		 "Sweetest Devotion"
(11)

"All I Ask" is a song recorded by English singer and songwriter Adele for her third studio album 25 (2015). The song was written by Adele, Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence and Christopher Brody Brown, while production of the song was provided by The Smeezingtons. Lyrically, the track is about looking for one last night with a lover, before they go their separate ways. Musically, the song is a deep, resonant piano ballad. "All I Ask" received positive reviews from critics, with many deeming it as an album highlight.

The song peaked at number 66 on the France Chart and number 3 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Adele performed the song during Adele Live in New York City and on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Background and composition
"All I Ask"
A 27-second sample of "All I Ask"'s chorus, which strips back the instrumentation to piano only, and sets Adele gusting over the octaves.
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During Adele's sessions with singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, the pair had attempted to create an uptempo song, however, they created the "dramatic ballad" "All I Ask" instead.[1] The song, a piano ballad, sees Adele addressing "a lover on what she knows will be their final night, processing the end of an affair in what feels like slow motion".[2]

Inspired by pianist, singer, and songwriter Billy Joel, "All I Ask" strips back instrumentation to piano only and has been described as sounding different "from the rest of modern pop".[3][4] According to Clash, the song "is practically designed to be belted out in the semi-finals of some faceless talent show by the favourite, all emotive key changes and elongated vowels".[5] Hannah McKee of Stuff.co.nz referred to "All I Ask" as a "melancholy love ballad".[6]

Critical reception

Yahoo! News' Liz Rowley wrote "'All I Ask' leaves listeners with a solid sense of accepting love lost, and dredges up the dreadful finality that resignation brings with it" and stated that it "arrives at an emotional plane that's devastating yet utterly relatable".[7][8] Christina Garibaldi of MTV opined "This song is so emotional that you can feel Adele’s heart break into a million pieces" and called it "a song of desperation".[9] The National's Rob Garratt wrote "Tidy, fast piano patterns drive this datedly derivative ballad" and opined that the track "doesn’t sound like Adele".[10]

Neil McCormick of The Telegraph deemed "All I Ask" as a "deep, resonant piano ballad".[11] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt wrote that the song feels "much more expected: classic vehicles soaked in stately production and minor-key melancholy".[12] Tom Breihan of Stereogum called "All I Ask", "a Barbra Streisand-style weeper".[13] Slate's Forrest Wickman opined that the song "is about looking for one last night with a lover, before they go their separate ways".[14] Andy Gill of The Independent wrote "Adele seems to be trying to jinx a relationship, apparently for the sake of one last memory".[15]

The New York Times' Jon Caramanica listed "All I Ask" as the fifth best song of 2015.[16] In a rave review, he wrote "It’s a palpable gear shift, a form of singing that’s as confident in attitude as in acuity, and it enlivens this song to something like a masterpiece" and called it a "mold-breaking song, one that’s even bigger than the legend".[17] Natalie Finn of E! deemed the song's lyrics "It matters how this ends / cause what if I never love again?" as the most emotional from 25.[18] Vanity Fair's Josh Duboff called "All I Ask" "the song you are going to try to sing in your shower again and again".[19]

Live performances

Adele first performed the song on Adele Live in New York City, which was recorded at a one-night-only show at Radio City Music Hall on 17 November and broadcast on NBC on 14 December.[20] At the end of the performance, she quipped "It's better on record".[21] Adele also performed the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden during the Carpool Karaoke segment,[22] which appeared online on 13 January 2016.[23]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from 25 liner notes.[24]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[25] 65
Finland (Suomen virallinen latauslista)[26] 21
France (SNEP)[27] 66
Ireland (IRMA)[28] 93
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[29] 12
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[30] 46
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[31] 41
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[32] 3

References

  1. ↑ Brian Hiatt (3 November 2015). "Adele: Inside Her Private Life and Triumphant Return". RollingStone. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Dolan, Jon (23 November 2015). "Adele's New Album: 25". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Rosen, Jody (19 November 2015). "Adele Powers Through a Lifetime of Regret & Weariness on '25'". Billboard. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  4. ↑ LeDonne, Rob (15 December 2015). "Adele: Live in New York City review – a performance for the ages". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  5. ↑ CLASHMUSIC (20 November 2015). "Adele - 25". Clash. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  6. ↑ McKee, Hannah (19 November 2015). "Review of Adele's album 25". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Rowley, Liz (20 November 2015). "Adele and Bruno Mars' "All I Ask" Gives the Entire Internet All the Feels". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Rowley, Liz (20 November 2015). "Adele and Bruno Mars' 'All I Ask' Gives the Entire Internet All the Feels". Mic. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Garibaldi, Christina (20 November 2015). "A Track-By-Track Breakdown Of Adele’s 25". MTV. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Garratt, Rob (21 November 2015). "Adele’s 25 track-by-track". The National. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  11. ↑ McCormick, Neil (18 November 2015). "Adele, 25, album review: 'pop doesn't come more perfect than this'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah. "25 by Adele: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Breihan, Tom (20 November 2015). "Premature Evaluation: Adele 25". Stereogum. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Wickman, Forrest (19 November 2015). "Adele’s 25: A Track-by-Track Breakdown". Slate. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Gill, Andy (20 November 2015). "Adele, 25: Album of the week". The Independent. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (15 December 2015). "The Best Songs of 2015". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (18 November 2015). "Adele Holds Firm on ‘25,’ Even as Pop Shifts". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  18. ↑ Finn, Natalie (20 November 2015). "The Most Emotional Lyrics From Adele's 25, Ranked in Order of Devastation". E!. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  19. ↑ Duboff, Josh (19 November 2015). "This Will Be the Breakout Track from Adele’s New Album". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Karlin, Lily (15 December 2015). "Adele's Live 'All I Ask' Performance In New York City Is Honestly Unreal". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  21. ↑ Bailey, Alyssa (15 December 2015). "Watch Adele's Live, Breathtaking Performance of 'All I Ask'". ELLE. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  22. ↑ Owoseje, Toyin (15 January 2016). "#CarpoolKaraoke: Nicki Minaj crowns Adele 'queen' after Monster rap on The Late Late Show With James Corden". International Business Times. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  23. ↑ Bailey, Alyssa (14 January 2016). "Yes, Adele's Carpool Karaoke Is the BEST THING EVER". ELLE. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  24. ↑ 25 (Liner notes). Adele. England: XL. 2015.
  25. ↑ "CHART WATCH #352 - auspOp". auspOp. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  26. ↑ "Adele: All I Ask" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Adele – All I Ask" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  28. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 3, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  29. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2016-01-22". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  30. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Adele – All I Ask" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  31. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2016-01-22" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "Adele – Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

External links

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