Easy Listening Essentials

Apple Music Pop

Editors' Notes In the late ‘50s, "mood music" soothed anxious listeners with popular melodies set to sedate string arrangements. Today's easy listening, a.k.a. "adult contemporary," is like plush and cozy musical pajamas that never go out of fashion. These essential tracks don't have a specific style or era in common so much as they share a crucial trait: familiarity. Easy listening's high-profile songs are instantly identifiable classics by blue-chip old (and young) masters like The Beatles, Norah Jones, and Ed Sheeran. Mellow folkies like James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel, as well as big-throated crooners like Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross, may have put the crucial "ease" in easy listening, but the style isn't only about pop's soft side. Whitney Houston and Céline Dion raise the energy level with passionate, soaring vocals, while chart-topping pop-rockers like Train, Los Lonely Boys, and John Mayer bring guitars and gruffness to the quiet riot.
The Beatles
Let It Be
4:03
 
Carpenters
Close To You
4:36
 
Joshua Kadison
Painted Desert Serenade
5:19
 
Barbra Streisand
The Way We Were
3:31
 
Bette Midler
Beaches (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
4:53
 
Alicia Keys
As I Am (Expanded Edition)
4:13
 
Céline Dion
Let's Talk About Love
4:40
 
Chicago
Chicago 17
3:49
 
Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge Over Troubled Water
4:56
 
Kelly Clarkson
Breakaway
3:39
 
Adele
21
4:45
 
Train
a girl a bottle a boat
4:03
 
Whitney Houston
The Bodyguard (Original Soundtrack Album)
4:31
 
Bee Gees
Bee Gees 1st (Deluxe Version)
3:04
 
Billy Joel
The Stranger
4:50
 
Elton John
Elton John
4:04
 
Stevie Wonder
Hitsville: The Making of Motown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2:49
 
Plain White T's
All That We Needed (Deluxe Edition)
3:56
 
Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill (Remastered)
3:47
 
James Taylor
Sweet Baby James (2019 Remaster)
3:23
 
Tula
Adult Contemporary
3:45
 
Donny Hathaway
Adult Contemporary Soul
3:24
 
Michael Bublé
It's Time
3:46
 
Taylor Swift
Fearless Platinum Edition
3:55
 
Sade
Diamond Life
4:58
 
The Police
Every Breath You Take: The Classics
4:14
 
Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
4:55
 
Rod Stewart
Vagabond Heart
4:01
 
Josh Groban
Bridges (Deluxe)
4:13
 
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys
3:46
 
Beyoncé
I Am... Sasha Fierce
4:21
 
The Commodores
Natural High
6:37
 
Bette Midler
The Rose (The Original Soundtrack Recording)
3:41
 
Simply Red
A New Flame (Expanded Version)
3:26
 
Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae
4:03
 
Barbra Streisand
A Star Is Born
3:04
 
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
4:56
 
Billy Joel
Piano Man
5:39
 
Martika
Martika's Kitchen (Expanded Edition)
5:57
 
Gabrielle
Bridget Jones's Diary (Music From The Motion Picture)
3:15
 
Johnny Nash
Songs From Scandal: Music For Gladiators
2:43
 
Eric Carmen
The Essential Eric Carmen
4:45
 
Cyndi Lauper
She's So Unusual
4:05
 
Macy Gray
On How Life Is
3:59
 
Toto
Toto IV
4:55
 
Céline Dion
My Love - Essential Collection
4:34
 
The Commodores
Commodores
4:16
 
Robbie Williams
Life Thru a Lens
4:25
 
Moving Pictures
Picture This
3:39
 
The Lumineers
Cleopatra (Deluxe)
3:21
 
Harry Nilsson
Nilsson Schmilsson
3:21
 
The Chicks
Home
3:50
 
Brandi Carlile
Party Of One (feat. Sam Smith) - Single
4:19
 
Christina Aguilera
Stripped
3:58
 
Boyz II Men
II
3:56
 
Andrea Bocelli, London Symphony Orchestra, Sarah Brightman
Time To Say Goodbye
4:06
 
The Cranberries
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (Super Deluxe)
4:34
 
The Beatles
Rubber Soul
2:26
 
Norah Jones
Come Away With Me
3:06
 
Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
A Star Is Born Soundtrack
4:41
 
Maroon 5
Songs About Jane
4:18
 
Sinéad O'Connor
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
4:40
 
Nelly Furtado
Whoa, Nelly!
4:03
 
Five for Fighting
The Battle for Everything
3:42
 
Roxette
The Ballad Hits
4:18
 
The Lumineers
Cleopatra (Deluxe)
2:40
 
Carpenters
Close To You
3:05
 
Lighthouse Family
Postcards from Heaven
5:08
 
Pink Martini
Hang On Little Tomato
3:16
 
Justin Timberlake
Justified
4:34
 
April Stevens
Adult Contemporary Easy Listening
2:37
 
Toni Braxton
Sex & Cigarettes
4:50
 
Luther Vandross
The Essential Luther Vandross
5:22
 
Dusty Springfield
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
2:50
 
Barry Manilow
Even Now
3:13
 
Fleetwood Mac
Tango in the Night (Deluxe)
3:46
 
Air Supply
Power Ballads: All Out of Love
4:01
 
Al Jarreau
Breakin' Away
3:46
 
Big Mountain
Unity
4:09
 
LeAnn Rimes
You Light Up My Life
4:57
 
Aretha Franklin
Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
4:31
 
Donna Lewis
Now In a Minute
3:59
 
George Benson
In Your Eyes
4:00
 
The Spinners
Can't Shake This Feeling
3:56
 
Dionne Warwick
The Windows of the World
3:05
 
Katrina
Love Shine A Light
2:55
 
Miami Sound Machine
Primitive Love
3:25
 
Sheryl Crow
Tuesday Night Music Club
4:32
 
Mariah Carey
Daydream
4:41
 
Michael Bolton
Soul Provider
4:15
 
Enya
Watermark
4:26
 
Anita Baker
Rapture
4:26
 
Debby Boone
You Light up My Life
3:36
 
Paul McCartney
Tug of War (Deluxe Edition)
3:46
 
Diana Ross
To Love Again
3:23
 
The Righteous Brothers
Just Once In My Life
3:38
 
Brian McKnight, Vanessa Williams
Beverly Hills 90210 (The Soundtrack)
4:44
 
Savage Garden
Affirmation
4:10
 
Bill Withers
Just As I Am
2:06
 
99 SONGS, 6 HOURS, 41 MINUTES

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