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Product Description
Review
She’s a virtual recluse, refuses to give interviews, and releases albums rarely: in some ways, Sade is the Kate Bush of mellow soul, or M.O.RnB if you will. Soldier of Love is her first album since 2000’s Lovers Rock, and it is hardly less feverishly anticipated than Bush’s last opus, maybe more so in America, where she has a better rep – in Britain she is often dismissed as dinner party jazzy soul muzak.
Immaculately produced, Sade’s albums to date have oozed class and sophistication, although seemingly offering variations on a single theme. But such consistency of tone is deceptive. It would be easy, and wrong, to accuse Sade of sterility and concealing feelings beneath a veneer of unflappable hauteur. Scrutiny of her work reveals moments of serene candour and breathtaking intimacy – I Never Thought I’d See the Day, her best song, from 1988’s Stronger Than Pride, has plenty in common with Portishead.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing quite that unexpected on Soldier of Love. In fact, just when it seemed like the ideal opportunity to proclaim her a musician of rare idiosyncratic wonder, she delivers an album that denies a passionate response. Recorded with the old team of Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman and Andrew Hale at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio, this sixth album illustrates the dilemma of the long-term artist: whether to alienate fans with a radical departure or risk the charge of repetition.
The title song is the least Sade-like track here – with its metallic, shiny martial beat not far from trip hop/Tricky territory, it’s the toughest-sounding thing she’s ever done, though the lyric posits the idea of the relationship as battleground, a notion as predictable as the chord sequence. Sade was always better as a mood creator than philosopher, but even so banal couplets abound. “It couldn’t be that easy / It had to be much harder,” she trills on Be That Easy, a foray into spectral country.
There is gospel organ (Be That Easy) and a mid-tempo reggae-ish gait on Babyfather, but mostly Soldier of Love is as mournfully one-paced as previous Sade albums, with the same attention to texture and surface lustre but, alas, not to melody or moving autobiography. This could have been the grown-up Back to Black, as ravishing and revelatory as Winehouse’s great achievement. But instead it finds Sade keeping her distance and retaining her mystique, apparently more for her benefit than ours. --Paul Lester
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Product Description
titolo-soldier of loveartista-sade etichettasony musicn. dischi1data5 febbraio 2010supportocd audiogenerepop e rock internazionale----brani1.the moon and the sky 2.soldier of love 3.morning bird 4.babyfather 5.long hard road 6.be that easy 7.bring me home 8.in another time 9.skin 10.the safest placeazionale
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ten years is a long time to linger between albums
but with a performer of Sade's impeccable calibre
the wait has been more than worthwhile.
(Can it really be a quarter of a century since we fell
head-over-heels in love with her debut 'Diamond Life'?!)
This collection of ten fine compositions finds her
graceful presence undiminished. The velvet tones of her
unforced voice have deepened and darkened with time.
Always a captivating instrument, it has never sounded
better than with this mesmerising new material.
There really are some amazing songs here.
The stripped-down arrangement of 'Morning Bird' allows
the intensity of the rapturous melody to shine through.
The martial rhythm of title track 'Soldier Of Love'
delivers one of the most unusual songs she has recorded
in her long and distinguished career. The complex, layered,
harmonies add depth and atmosphere to the central vocal
performance. Martin Ditcham's staccato percussion and
Stuart Matthewman's angular guitar are perfectly judged.
'Long Hard Road' is an elementally soulful track.
The languorous vocal is perfectly focussed and deeply affecting.
'Bring Me Home', too, tugs at the heart-strings.
A sixties-flavoured ballad of captivating beauty.
'Skin' has everything we have come to know and love
about Sade wrapped up in music and lyrics of immediately
recognisable character and quality. A dream of a song!
Final track 'The Safest Place' is simply sublime!
There will be few finer albums this year.
Essential.
but with a performer of Sade's impeccable calibre
the wait has been more than worthwhile.
(Can it really be a quarter of a century since we fell
head-over-heels in love with her debut 'Diamond Life'?!)
This collection of ten fine compositions finds her
graceful presence undiminished. The velvet tones of her
unforced voice have deepened and darkened with time.
Always a captivating instrument, it has never sounded
better than with this mesmerising new material.
There really are some amazing songs here.
The stripped-down arrangement of 'Morning Bird' allows
the intensity of the rapturous melody to shine through.
The martial rhythm of title track 'Soldier Of Love'
delivers one of the most unusual songs she has recorded
in her long and distinguished career. The complex, layered,
harmonies add depth and atmosphere to the central vocal
performance. Martin Ditcham's staccato percussion and
Stuart Matthewman's angular guitar are perfectly judged.
'Long Hard Road' is an elementally soulful track.
The languorous vocal is perfectly focussed and deeply affecting.
'Bring Me Home', too, tugs at the heart-strings.
A sixties-flavoured ballad of captivating beauty.
'Skin' has everything we have come to know and love
about Sade wrapped up in music and lyrics of immediately
recognisable character and quality. A dream of a song!
Final track 'The Safest Place' is simply sublime!
There will be few finer albums this year.
Essential.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Sitting on a beach in Akyaka I heard this wonderful music drifting out from a beach bar. I thought it was some local gem and roused myself to ask the barman what was playing. He went on about how it all his customers from all around the world say it is their favourite afternoon chill out music by Sade. When I expressed disbelief as her music is lift musak I was goodnaturedly thrown into the sea. Having now bought the CD I am gradually changing my view on this type of music! Best CD I have bought for years.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
I have been a Sade fan since Diamond Life and Promise, back in the early 80's. My original cassette tapes of those two wore out and were eventually replaced with CDs; I own all of her albums. We have waited a long time for this latest release and I am not disappointed. I bought it within the first few days and waited to review until I had played it through a number of times. She is at her soulful best on many tracks, her voice seems to be smokier and more soulful than ever, but there are also lighter notes. Beautiful music, I wish it was longer, but perhaps you can't have quality and quantity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Top singer
I love Shade. Good album, nice songs. Very good quality of sound as well. I will recommended to all those like Shade.
Published 8 months ago by Jurij Sinicyn
Another sophisticated album for Sade
Sade has always been a very classy act - great production, sultry vocals and solid songwriting. After a ten year hiatus from recording new material, Sade offers us ten new tracks... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Amillionmiles
fantastic sade as good as ever
sade at hear best this cd is great and the concert in birmingham was class act at its best fantastic voice and fantastic group all round a real cassy act
Published 12 months ago by timothy westwood
Mature Sade
It is inspiring to see Sade and her band's growth through the years. This album is something you have to have time to listen to and feel. Read more
Published 15 months ago by aspalathos
SADE : Soldier of Love
Se trata de un trabajo excelente, muy medido, fiel al estilo de la banda, pero con una actualización acorde con los tiempos, y una producción de altos vuelos. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Raquel Ruiz Iglesias
You get to love it!
Sade is still Sade. She is loyal to her own style. At first it feels like it all sounds so similar, even comparing to her older music. Read more
Published 18 months ago by D. Dauksaite
Soldier of Love DVD
I received my copy of Sade's CD soldier of love today in the post. It was not wrapped in the normal plastic wrap which new products normally come in. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Tendai
Smooth Sade
Sade's sixth album Soldier of Love encapsulates the classic Sade sound whilst also appealing to a more mainstream pop and R&B market. Read more
Published 21 months ago by K. Wright
Soldier of Love album by Sade
This is the latest album from Sade, 10 years after her last, Lovers Rock. As a true Sade fan, this album was worth the wait. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Christopher J. Baines
Background music
None of the songs stand out - we played it whilst driving through France and I didn't notice when it started from track 1 again. Read more
Published on 30 April 2010 by Rachel James
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