All I Ask

The song was written by Adele, Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence and Christopher Brody Brown, with production by The Smeezingtons.

"All I Ask" received unanimous acclaim from the music critics, with praise for its lyrics, production, and Adele's vocal performance.

Though Bruno Mars had a "big, diva, ballad thing" in mind,[1] he and Adele began conducting sessions for her third studio album, 25 (2015), initially attempting to create an uptempo song.

[3] According to Mars, like a scene from the 1993 film Jurassic Park, Adele made water vibrate while recording the song in a studio booth.

[13] Paste's Holly Gleason described "All I Ask" as a "'last time we make love' song", adding that it is "pure torch" and serves as an invitation to progress beyond, but "stay in the moment and enjoy it completely" for a while.

[15] Mic's Liz Rowley wrote that the song leaves the listener with "a solid sense of accepting love lost, and clears up the dreadful finality that resignation brings with it" adding that it "arrives at an emotional plane that's devastating yet utterly relatable".

[17] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt described the song as a "palatial piano ballad" and as a "classic vehicle soaked in stately production and minor-key melancholy".

Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe called it a "whopper of an 11 o'clock number" that transitions from "plaintive" to "soaring".

[21] In a rave review, he observed a palpable gear shift and called the song a "masterpiece", adding that it is "even bigger than the legend".

[24] Christina Garibaldi of MTV called it a "song of desperation", adding that it is "so emotional" that the listener can "feel Adele's heart break into a million pieces".

[25] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt felt the song was a "classic ... soaked in stately production and minor-key melancholy" that affirmed Adele is not the same as on her previous album "pouring out the pain of her pulverized heart", but someone who can connect with "tender emotions".

[30] She performed the song at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on 15 February 2016, experiencing technical issues with the sound caused by the piano microphones.

[47] Ella Ceron of Teen Vogue shared that opinion, writing that "she slays it, naturally", and adding that she performed the song with all the power and emotion "we've come to expect" from her.

[48] The Wall Street Journal's Sarene Leeds wrote that the singer "redeem[ed]" herself in the eyes of the public with the "stunning rendition".