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
21 (Adele album) a single week at number six on the week ending 21 November 2011, the album remained in the top five for 70 consecutive weeks. Its 38 accumulated weeks at the top is the longest in New Zealand chart history. Released 22 February in the US, "21" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 352,000 copies. The album remained in the top three for its first 24 weeks, the top five for a record 39 consecutive weeks, and the top 10 for a total of 84 weeks, That staggering sum ties the album with Bruce Springsteen's