It's here! Adele's new album 25 - Our track-by-track review 

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Thirty million. That is how many Adele\'s record-breaking last album

Which is why the 27-year-old star has been working on new album

for over three years. During that time she\'s taken harsh but truthful criticism from Rick Rubin, and scrapped a load of songs from big collaborators (including Sia) before she finally felt she had the material worthy of continuing her legacy.

But with so much hype that it\'s impossible for

to fail miserably, is the album the world has patiently been waiting for actually any good? Here\'s our track-by-track first listen review. 

Never before in the history of time has a greeting broken so many records. Biggest first-week digital sales in the US

; fastest music video to reach 100 million views on VEVO

; the most-streamed song during its first week - you guessed it -

. But despite all the impressive accolades, nothing comes close to the enormity of \'Hello\'s soaring chorus, opening the album with one heck of a bang.

This is the most pop Adele has ever sounded, so it\'ll come as no surprise that it\'s the one she did with Britney Spears hitmaker Max Martin. The Swedish producer also played a massive hand in Taylor Swift\'s pop crossover, and some of that influence has seeped in here. "We\'ve got to let go of all of our ghosts," Adele tells an ex over the jaunty chorus, that bounces around with plucky guitar and upbeat claps. It\'s remarkably sprightly for an Adele album, but the 27-year-old\'s affecting tone keeps it packed with purpose.

This is the first of two tracks which hears Adele reuniting with

producer Paul Epworth, and the pair have combined their talent for a moody love song brimming with desire and devotion. "Pull me in, hold me tight, don\'t let go, baby, give me life," she echoes over tumbling beats and a wobbling organ, it all coming together like a sultry love letter from the pages of a

novel. The production feels nocturnal, but Adele\'s vocal delivery blazes through the darkness.

Chances are you\'ve already sobbed a few times to this one already. Although Adele is only 27 (and this album was written in the year she turned 25, of course), it\'s a reflective serenade about treasuring the moments you will look back on in years to come. "You look like a movie, you sound like a song, My god this reminds me, Of when we were young," is the lyric that will squeeze your heart and give you a minor midlife crisis. That won\'t stop you from playing it over and over though.

Although Adele did say that writing an album about being a parent would be "boring", her team-up with Ryan Tedder on \'Remedy\' feels like it captures the unwavering love she has for her first son. "When the pain cuts you deep, when the night keeps you from sleeping, just look and you will see, that I will be your remedy." Over a simple and poignant piano line, it\'s smoother than a spoonful of Calpol - and just as sweet.

Considering the success of \'Hello\' and the beautiful simplicity of \'Million Years Ago\', it\'s clear Adele has a fruitful songwriting partnership with Greg Kurstin. Here on \'Water Under the Bridge\' they strike upon a shimmering mid-tempo pop parade, as the London singer proclaims "if you\'re going to let me down, let me down gently" over the chewiest melody she\'s laid her vocals on. It recalls some of the shiny serenades Greg produced on Katy Perry\'s last album

, but Adele\'s perceptive lyric and rich vocal makes it entirely her own.

For all the rumours of Beyoncé collaborations and Phil Collins team-ups, no-one could have predicted Adele would dedicate an entire song to an east London river. But of course it\'s a metaphor that plays out over a rousing, bluesy backdrop. "It\'s in my roots, it\'s in my veins, in my blood and it stains, every heart that I used to heal the pain," she says about the water that trickles through her hometown. Basically, you can take the girl out of Tottenham, but despite the Oscar, Grammys, and even the MBE, Tottenham will always be in Adele\'s soul.

Adele has made her fortune being on the wrong side of a break-up, but here, she\'s the one crushing hearts. "I don\'t want to carry on like everything is fine," she admits before adding, "The longer we ignore it all, the more that we will fight." Naturally, the scene takes place over delicate strings and moving piano to really amp up the emotional impact. It doesn\'t need to be said again, but it\'s ballads like this one where Adele\'s impassioned tone really knows where to flit between soft coos and lofty belts at just the right moments.

The story goes that Adele drove past Brockwell Park one day and burst into tears, remembering all the good times she had with family and friends on the South London green. But while most of us would grab for the Kleenex and mutter how silly we are to get all emotional about days gone past, Adele has turned it into an intricate, acoustic moment on

. "Yeah, I miss my friends, I miss my mother, I miss it well, life was a party to be thrown, but that was a million years ago," she coos. It captures the bittersweet reality of growing up, always looking forward to the future but now and then yearning for one more day in the past.

If you thought Adele teaming up with Bruno Mars to write a song might produce a groove like \'Uptown Funk\' or the Police-tinged verve of \'Locked Out Of Heaven\', then you couldn\'t be more wrong. That\'s not to say the \'70s haven\'t influenced them here though, as \'All I Ask\' draws upon the very best references from the era\'s piano-led balladry. It\'s a straight-down-the-line weeper ("Since you\'re the only one that matters, who do I run to?" will have you bawling), but with its soaring melody you\'ll be grabbing the hairbrush and miming in the mirror. Just make sure the door\'s locked, because you\'ll

When Adele named Madonna\'s 1998 album

, we were intrigued to see what effect it would\'ve had on her music. Here on \'Sweet Devotion\' - which is another love song to her first child - the production recalls the same expansive pop formula as Madge\'s aforementioned record, entwined with tangy country guitar and a wistful melody. It\'s a glorious finale to the album, and leaves the final note one of uplifting adoration, unlike the tender heartache of

\'s \'Someone Like You\'. Oh and we need to mention the chorus\'s lyric, "The sweetest devotion, in me like an explosion, all my life I have been frozen." Is that a subtle nod to Madonna\'s standout

It takes a big artist to follow-up the tremendous commercial and cultural impact of an album like

, but an extraordinary one to do it in their own time to make it a worthy sequel. Much to her relief, Adele has achieved that with

, drawing upon past heartaches, a yearning nostalgia and the swelling love a new mother experiences to create - yet again - a record that feels like a window into her soul, but one that we can all relate to in our own way.

Nothing here wallows on the pitfalls of fame or the lavish new lifestyle she leads, but rather keeps its focus on emotion and astute turns of phrase that sum up life\'s little fears and delights with candour. Adele\'s vocals have never sounded so fiery during the sweeping choruses and tender during the soft moments.

It seems obvious to give such a highly anticipated record - and one that has basically already gone to number one all over the world - a five star review. But for its simplicity, sincereity and striking soulfulness, it truly does deserve it.

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