Sade - Soldier of Love

I'm with the "love the title track, not really getting into the rest of it" crowd.

nothing boring about, say, 'moon and the sky' imo

― average gangsta rap from average gangstas (deej), Sunday, February 7, 2010 6:46 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OTM x 1,000,000 - devastating track

that's pretty weird. Album doesnt strike me as no. 1 material

― saaberonixx (baaderonixx), Thursday, February 11, 2010 9:07 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

are you guys kidding? shes been doing platinum sales to middle aged ppl since forever ... if anything was gonna be number one this was.

most predictable #1 in ages maybe

Yes. My friend and I speculated in December that she would stand to benefit most from depressed sales; she brings out the boomers.

never mind that she always sold huge numbers regardless

has the kind of cross-format appeal where she was would hit smooth jazz, hip-hop, pop fans.

I know she's always sold -- her worst selling album is certified triple platinum here -- but she seemed most likely to score her second #1 album in this climate.

What climate?

the one where young people don't really buy records

ah. some of us old guys don't often buy records -- just download them. legally, i mean.

does timing a release (like Sade, for Valentine's) affect sales?

Yes.

**heads to the corner and looks up "inculcate"...**

did she land no. 1 in physical album sales or does that include downloads?

Legal downloads have been included in the Billboard chart for a few years now.

point taken. I just meant above that the actual content of the album seemed a bit challenging for mass appeal.

strongo reviewing this in p4k

has the kind of cross-format appeal where she was would hit smooth jazz, hip-hop, pop fans.

also i'm pretty sure that there's been a quiet critical re-evaluation of her to the extent where her critical rep and general standing are way higher than i remember for her last album

both Love Deluxe and Lovers Rock placed in P&J

Diamond Life, too

also i'm pretty sure that there's been a quiet critical re-evaluation of her to the extent where her critical rep and general standing are way higher than i remember for her last album

hmmm. thought this sort of reevaluation (re-valuation sounds better) happened precisely with the last album.

or, you know, critics liked her all along

yeah I think a lot of people worked up the courage to come out and fess up around the period of Lovers Rock.

or, you know

14. Sade: Diamond Life (Portrait) 283 (30) *
31. Sade: Love Deluxe (Epic) 181 (19) *
25. Sade: Lovers Rock (Epic) 360 (39)

uk/us divide, over here she always gets dismissed with the boring/yuppie/coffee table accusations - far less so this time round

There is something about Sade that makes you want to actually own the album. Not just the single, and not just a few tracks downloaded off iTunes. And not a Googled rapishare zip. Does Billboard break out physical sales? I bet her share of physical album copies to the total is much higher than with others.

"There is something about Sade that makes you want to actually own the album"

so you can put it on yr coffee table?

Yuppies love CDs

# suffers from R&B deflation but good review otherwise

Impressive:

early 10 years after the group's last studio effort, Sade is back with "Soldier of Love," blasting in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 502,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"Solder of Love" gives Sade its first No. 1 debut and its best sales week since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. On top of that, it's the best sales week for an album by a group since AC/DC's "Black Ice" bulldozed into the chart at No. 1 on the chart dated Nov. 8, 2008, with 784,000.

"Soldier" is Sade's second No. 1 album. Its first, "Promise," spent two weeks at the top of the chart in 1986. The new album is also the first studio effort from the band -- led by vocalist Sade Adu -- since "Lovers Rock" was released in November of 2000. That set debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 370,000 sold in its first week. Since its release, "Lovers Rock" has sold 3.9 million in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

All told, Sade has notched eight top 10 albums in a row on the Billboard 200 -- its entire output of albums, which stretches back to its "Diamond Life" debut in 1985. That total includes its six studio sets, one greatest hits ("The Best Of") and one live recording ("Lovers Live"). With that feat of eight top 10s, Sade is the first group since Led Zeppelin to see its first eight charting albums all reach the top 10. Led Zeppelin actually did it with its first 10 albums -- from 1969 with its self-titled No. 10-peaking set, up until 1983 when "Coda" topped out at No. 6.

Vasco my house isn't big enough to have a coffee table @(

this is a good record, just wish the production was less tinny sounding. i miss her being backed by a band.

She isn't?

not sure. i thought it was a drum machine for instance on the first few songs. but maybe it is live, its just left to sound a bit tinny.

ie id have liked more songs that sound a bit fuller like in another time.

I was going to say: the drum machine is the real drag here. The title song excepted, these songs have no momentum.

people listen to sade for momentum?

Her older stuff at least sounded as if they were trying to get you into bed.

"To Turn My Back On You" has crazy sexy momentum

"Never As Good as The First Time" and "My Sweetest Taboo"!

I don't think her regular band actually has a drummer?

Production doesn't sound 'tinny' to me at all, FWIW.

I have to say I love the sequencing. It really holds together. And the more I listen the more little folds and eddies I keep finding in the songs.

not tinny then. just cheap. the old stuff sounded rich and luxuriant. this doesnt.

its not about momentum, its that most of these songs all seem to have the same rhythm behind them. which gets a bit dull. not quite plodding though, shes too good a songwriter to let that happen. it is slightly dated sounding though. i dont want to hear dido sounding production on a sade album.

I stopped hating on "White Flag" when it came on the radio and my friend started talking about how great Sade is and me and my friend corrected him that it was Dido, after which it occured to me that I'd probably really like it if it came with Sade's name attached to it.

― The Reverend, Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:57 PM Bookmark

I honestly don't hear "cheap" in this whatsoever!!

Reverend you'd probably like "White Flag" even more if Sade's VOICE was attached to it

titchy, you're ridiculous

"My Sweetest Taboo"!

― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:37 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

lmao @ dude pulling an "her older stuff is better" & not actually knowing what her older stuff is called

stfu, article police.