Sade - Soldier of Love

especially if youre having a nice massage in a nice lift.

arguing that shes **actually** trip hop

Are you able to point out where I did this?

Sade doesn't need me to "legitimize" her, she is about as legit as it gets. What I'm trying to do is understand where the criticisms (not live enough, too cheap sounding, too boring) are coming from. Because I am honestly interesting. I'm kicking against these criticisms partially because so far I disagree but also because I hope my kicking makes the critics sharpen their own explanations. Which is the entire point of debate as I understand it.

Finally, if anything I write here helps people hear what I hear in Sade, I think that's great, but it'll only happen if what I write is actually interesting. A caveat that applies to you too.

Haha "I am honestly interested" I should have said ... how Freudian can you get

that piece is right that sade seems dismissed by UK critics in a way that she doesn't seem to be in the US, and i think it's right about why this is the case - it reflects really, really poorly on UK critics! it's less otm about sade's actual music though, and very wrong about the new album.

i suspect a lot of her critics think that "classiness", "sophistication" and "tastefulness" are inherently negative traits, so...they are morons, basically.

i love all those traits. though sade does sometimes take those traits too far into a soporific area. and shes done that even more so since the 90s. but as far as trip hop, she basically did it early on (and really well) with tracks like cherish the day and feel no pain. i kinda agree with 1 of the commenters in that guardian piece who says her last 'great' album was in 1992. the newer stuff for all the good songs, is sonically kinda stuck in the leftovers of that stuff.

anyway, all the stuff about being poorly regarded depends which critics youre talking about - rock critics obv hate it, though thats not surprising, pretty much everyone else doesnt. there are more music critics than those who write for the broadsheets.

its weird hearing songs like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuyILrDvaw where she/they did used to do something a bit out of their comfort zone.

ahhh i love that DVD! She has like five videos that are basically all of her riding a horse.

This idea that Sade needs to get out of her comfort zone is interesting. You never hear this kind of demand from other people who basically make the same sort of music over and over, i.e. Basic Channel or Frank Sinatra.

i <3 my comfort zone

totally disagree that she hasn't done anything "new" since '92 - both lovers rock and soldier of love feel really distinct from her early stuff to me; a lot more intimate - well, she's always been intimate, but less abstractly intimate, more deeply personal; a lot warmer, inward-looking, familial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q80-W19XUic&fmt=34

love deluxe era instrumental b-side

never said she didnt do anything new. and i dont mean she should reinvent herself - that critic from the guardian was well off base by saying she didnt have a singular vision, she does, which is what people who dont like her find annoying lol - but the occasional break from downtempo-ness is not a bad thing. i think she can sometimes be too aware of her 'classiness' and its really easy to not remotely venture out of that if you want to keep everything in that orderly perfectly contained kind of vibe that she does, so a song like never as good is just a nice change of pace.

that make some room track is great btw.

anyone else listen to morning bird and think of didos here with me when she sings 'i will not run'?

Not really but I do know I find that song utterly heartbreaking.

safest place is the most heartbreaking song.

errr, I would say Babyfather strays from her comfort zone.

Anyway I agree with both arguments here - I do think Sade has evolved substantially since '92, becoming increasing warm and organic and maybe somehow singer-songrwiter-ish. Yet, Love Deluxe remains their most unique (and IMHO interesting) output.

yeah i mean 'love deluxe' is my favorite sade record (altho my favorite sade SONGS are on her other ones) these days

well thats not entirely true -- kiss of life is on lovedeluxe

on babyfather, does anyone else think it undermines the ambiguous coldness/cruelty of saying the child was a fling by having a guy on BVs saying 'daddy loves you child' etc. i liked it before i noticed all that. though im not sure who shes directing the apparent resentment of the fact its a fling at, its like shes explaining matter of factly to the child that she was the result of a fling, while kinda taking a hit at the dad for not sticking around. that the 'dad' seems to get a chance to speak later on i think undoes it a bit.

well that and the fact that the chorus mentions that the daddy love comes w/ a lifetime guarantee

yeah i now magine the song being used on national babyfather day (if there was a babyfather day) adverts

This is pretty boring on first listen.

― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, February 7, 2010 4:19 PM (2 months ago)

The title song excepted, these songs have no momentum.

― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:12 AM (2 months ago)

Hold up a second -- isn't this coming from the guy who repped for Maxwell as 2009's best album?

Anyway... just picked this up a couple days ago. Sounds great on first spin.

the Maxwell album was a lot better than this

A lot better for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

youre both idiots

fuck yourself

;_;

the Sade record is good sorry bro

soldeejr of love

You people are up too late. Put on the Sade record and go to bed.

soldeejr of love

+1

posts v much in character

deej is determined to like this album no matter how many people he has to be snarky to

^if deej could have a board description

haha

im hardly known for 'liking' albums. soldier of love >>> love vs. money

U HEARD ME

j0hn are you still out there insisting sade didnt use breakbeats

http://www.alsbom.org/clientimages/36469/graphics_and_clip_art/Challengers.jpg

on babyfather, does anyone else think it undermines the ambiguous coldness/cruelty of saying the child was a fling by having a guy on BVs saying 'daddy loves you child' etc. i liked it before i noticed all that. though im not sure who shes directing the apparent resentment of the fact its a fling at, its like shes explaining matter of factly to the child that she was the result of a fling, while kinda taking a hit at the dad for not sticking around. that the 'dad' seems to get a chance to speak later on i think undoes it a bit.

actually i kinda got the idea that she was tryin not to talk bad about pops - kinda on a "we always knew it was never gonna last but we both love ya anyway" tip. thus softening the harshness of the "knows you're a fling" line, and making the message a bit more complex that your typical r&b diva "he ran off and he's a bastard, but who needs him anyway, woman power 4eva rrraaawwrrrr" schtick

^^good post

xps "U HEARD ME" is kinda telegraphing the challop, don't u think?

obv

still think she's saying flame xxpost

It's "flame," not "fling."

I doubt I will ever feel an urge to listen to anything but "Soldier of Love" itself.

― Andy K, Monday, February 8, 2010 9:43 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark

When I posted this, I should have noted that there was a source: the booklet.

Also:

http://www.sade.com/us/lyrics/babyfather/

interesting hear that from an official source (i commented on this before when i read that on some random lyrics page) but to me it clearly sounds like fling. i have a theory: she put it on the lyrics sheet as "flame" so as not to harsh her daughter, but sang it as "fling".

of course i could be reading way to much into this, obviously. anyway i like it as "fling" so i'll continue to choose to hear it as "fling"!

Anyone with the time or cash to see the current Sade tour (first in ten years!) would be well served snagging a ticket. She was great last night, smooth as silk and oddly down to earth for someone of her status and reputation. Sound/band was great, too, and visuals were minimal but effective. I had my doubts she would work in an arena, but I was proven wrong. She may also be the best looking 52-year old I have ever seen.

She may also be the best looking 52-year old woman I have ever seen.

shes been doing arena tours for so long id hope shed be good! would have loved to have seen it last night $$$$$$$

saw the tour 2 days back (wednesday). HOLY SHIT so good. all the new stuff from Soldier of Love.... excellent. Love Deluxe cuts (cherish the day, kiss of life, no ordinary love, pearls) and Lovers Rock (by your side, king of sorrow) all fucking dynamite. only thing a bit cheesy was the old lounge-y stuff, the sweetest taboo, smooth operator... etc. but about 90% solid gold. "jezebel" was stunning, "morning bird" WOWOWOW. whole show was just so good really. john legend not bad either!

Those songs are not cheesy damn u

hope this record has risen in ppl's estimations over the past few years. "in another time" is probably my favorite sade song at this point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68OTrm5fC9o