Catalog: Sade

The epitome of cool

“Catalog” is a recurring column, wherein I look at an artist’s entire ouevre, à la the Rolling Stone Record Guide – sometimes broken down by time periods, when the artist in question has a vast catalog. Grades are my own.

Sade – a band! – are at this point legendary, and for great reason. The fact that they’ve only released six studio albums adds to both their legend (less opportunity for tripping up) and their mystique, and it’s now been 15 years since their last. They were one of the first real Sophisti-pop artists, and the signpost vocal artist on Smooth Jazz radio as that developed in the back half of the ‘80s. Helen Folasade Adu is one of the great frontwomen of our time, simultaneously giving cool presentation and warm vocals.

Diamond Life (1984): On their debut, Sade came into the world fully formed. All of the pieces were there, and at least three of these songs – “Smooth Operator,” “Your Love Is King,” and “Hang on to Your Love” – are still considered classics. (I hear all of them regularly on SiriusXM’s Smooth Jazz channel Watercolors, and on the ‘70s/’80s R&B channel The Groove as well.) “When Am I Going to Make a Living” was the perfect question at the peak of the Thatcher/Reagan era. And as good as this is, they’d get better. 9/10

Promise (1985): Coming off the slow-burn success of Diamond Life, this shot to #1 both US/UK in fairly immediate fashion. And it’s fairly the equal of their debut, perhaps with slightly more pep in their steps (cf. “The Sweetest Taboo,” an all-timer). The subtle percolation of “Never As Good As the First Time” helped point to their future. 9/10

Stronger Than Pride (1988): I mean: “Paradise.”

The sultry starkness of “Haunt Me” is, yes, kind of haunting. And I love “Keep Looking,” even if it’s a fraternal twin to “Paradise.” “Siempre Hay Esperanza” has the same problem, if you can call it that, locking into a similar groove and just riding it. But when the groove is this good… 8/10

Love Deluxe (1992): After what then seemed like a substantial wait came their masterpiece. This album never boils, steadily simmering all the way through, and is immensely satisfying. Lead single “No Ordinary Love” is slow, almost menacing, with the band just as dialed in as George Clinton’s P-Funk or Prince’s Revolution in their primes. (This is a band that’s never received the respect they deserve as a band.) “Kiss of Life” is as “spritely” as things get, whilst the likes of “Like A Tattoo” and “Pearls” are positively glacial — but never cold. The raw emotions on display here are everything. 10/10

Lovers Rock (2000): …and then, an 8-year wait until we heard from them again. A relaxed groove, befitting its title occasionally reggae-adjacent (or in the case of “Slave Song,” outright). “King of Sorrow” devastates me, but not enough else here does. It’s not bad by any means, but by their impossibly high standards, it’s lesser. And I don’t love reggae. 7/10

Soldier of Love (2010): The title track’s militaristic rhythm is a bit off-putting, and the reggae influence here continues, a full decade past Lovers Rock. It’s not that I dislike this, more that I never go back to it. 6/10

Both 1994’s The Best of Sade and 2011’s The Ultimate Collection are worth your time, though the latter, a double, is a bit overlong.