21 (Adele album) music inflections. Instruments such as the saxophone, harp, banjo and the accordion contributed to its exploration of blues and soul. The singer drew from the music of Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Elbow, Mos Def, Alanis Morissette, Tom Waits, and Sinéad O'Connor in the cultivation of the album's sound, and credited Yvonne Fair, Andrew Bird, Neko Case, and The Steel Drivers with its musical direction. Adele's style on "21" is generally characterised by critics as soul, although some suggest that the album eschews any distinct stylistic epithet. John Murphy of musicOMH characterises the album as British soul. Jon Caramanica of
Gradation (album) Gradation (album) Gradation is the first compilation album by Japanese singer Shizuka Kudo. It was released on November 30, 1988, through Pony Canyon. The album includes all five singles released by Kudo at the time, from "Kindan no Telepathy" through "Mugon... Iroppoi", their coupling songs, as well as one new song, entitled "X'mas ga Ippai", recorded specifically for the compilation. "Gradation" was re-released in gold CD format on March 21, 1989. "Gradation" debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, with 182,000 units sold. The album spent fourteen weeks in the top twenty, of which nine were spent in