Album of the Week #13: Sade - Love Deluxe
Artist: Sade
Album: Love Deluxe
Year: 1992
Now, here's a genre with its roots in R&B which I usually cannot stand: soft adult contemporary. Even a hint of Michael Bolton, Toni Braxton, or Celine Dion and I'm usually running far, far, far from the source (although I will admit to generally being even less of a fan of most hot adult contemporary acts such as Creed or Matchbox 20). But, I will make an exception for a few "smooth jazz" luminaries, like Sade, Luther Vandross, and Pat Metheny.
Perhaps the most amazing thing to me about Sade is that her band's music sounds pretty much the same now as when she hit the scene in the mid 80's, but it doesn't seem stale. While Love Deluxe is from 1992, it includes such modern standards as "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day." Sade does not demonstrate a great vocal range with any songs here, but she does seem to invest a lot of emotion into singing them. In fact, she sounds almost exhausted singing "No Ordinary Love," as if the title subject has sapped her of any excess energy.
I think she sometimes make very simple, but powerful, observations as well. In "Pearls," she compares the suffering of a destitute woman from Somalia trying to scrounge up a gift for her daughter to the pain women go through breaking in shoes. It's a ridiculous analogy, really, but how else do you explain this condition that most of the world will never experience? Probably my favorite song on here is "Bullet Proof Soul," although I can't really explain why. Maybe it's the message that even the most calloused person could be redeemed? I don't know, but I don't care either while I'm listening.
Album: Love Deluxe
Year: 1992
Now, here's a genre with its roots in R&B which I usually cannot stand: soft adult contemporary. Even a hint of Michael Bolton, Toni Braxton, or Celine Dion and I'm usually running far, far, far from the source (although I will admit to generally being even less of a fan of most hot adult contemporary acts such as Creed or Matchbox 20). But, I will make an exception for a few "smooth jazz" luminaries, like Sade, Luther Vandross, and Pat Metheny.
Perhaps the most amazing thing to me about Sade is that her band's music sounds pretty much the same now as when she hit the scene in the mid 80's, but it doesn't seem stale. While Love Deluxe is from 1992, it includes such modern standards as "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day." Sade does not demonstrate a great vocal range with any songs here, but she does seem to invest a lot of emotion into singing them. In fact, she sounds almost exhausted singing "No Ordinary Love," as if the title subject has sapped her of any excess energy.
I think she sometimes make very simple, but powerful, observations as well. In "Pearls," she compares the suffering of a destitute woman from Somalia trying to scrounge up a gift for her daughter to the pain women go through breaking in shoes. It's a ridiculous analogy, really, but how else do you explain this condition that most of the world will never experience? Probably my favorite song on here is "Bullet Proof Soul," although I can't really explain why. Maybe it's the message that even the most calloused person could be redeemed? I don't know, but I don't care either while I'm listening.