Sade's First Still Sounds Fresh

Originally posted on August 14, 2008

Sade the band and Sade the singer were/are such stylists that it may be easy now to take them for granted. Instantly recognizable, sometimes a little redundantly so, no one put a sensuously musical spin on R&B/Funk the way they did.

So now I am finally getting around to listening seriously to their first album (from the eighties), Diamond Life. It sure sounds good today, 2008, an August late summer morning. Nothing can top “Love Deluxe” for the songwriting and execution, but this one comes pretty close. [And now I look forward to her new album!] More classics and some interesting new releases coming up.

Sade's Live Album Reconsidered

Originally posted on January 18, 2008

Sade made a huge impact in the early ‘90s with several hits and some great albums. The guitar parts for some of the songs, like “No Ordinary Love” for example, were distinctive and said very much with minimal means. Of course Sade’s voice was and is a major instrument. So why has it taken me so long to listen to Lovers Live (Epic) a set of concert performances released in 2002? Sometimes I get backlogged. The CD has some of her best songs and they vary enough from the originals to be worth hearing on their own. The band is tight and she sounds beautiful as always. Next week we’ll kick up some dust with a varied assortment of things.