Bigger Than the Sound takes a look back at 21 ‘s rather remarkable ride on the one-year anniversary of its release in the U.S. By James Montgomery Adele in her “Someone Like You” video Photo: Columbia Back in olde tymes, if something was a hallmark of consistency and dependability, it was proclaimed to be “so reliable you could set your watch to it.” This was high praise, and not just because watches were, like, the iPhones of their day (minus “Angry Birds,” of course). No, there was a time when reliability was actually celebrated in this country, and everything unerring, unchanging or uninterrupted — from Studebakers to Johnny Unitas’ haircut — was thusly awarded watch-setting status. Not surprisingly, that’s not exactly how things work anymore. Although, one could make the argument that Adele is doing her best to bring reliability off the back burner (back burners were also fairly common back then, both as a heating source and a simmering surface). Exactly one year ago today , she released her blockbuster 21 album in the U.S., and in the 52 weeks since , it’s not only broken records, won an armload of Grammys and singlehandedly revitalized the record industry, it’s also become the most dependable thing since Johnny U’s flattop. To wit, 21 has spent a staggering 40 percent of the past year atop the Billboard albums chart, has never been lower than #7, and has held steady in the top three since December. It not only survived challenges from Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Beyonc
