Sade - Lovers Rock (2000)

No offense, Sade, but this album makes me sick. Not long after this album was released, I became suddenly ill (a combination of a sinus infection, allergies, poor diet, stress, and exhaustion, among other possibilities) while taking down Christmas lights in the front yard. Thinking I should rest, I shuffled inside, put on this CD, and fell back on the couch, feeling nauseous. I recovered after a few days, but could never listen to this album again, particularly the opening track, without a wave of nausea coming over me. I'm getting through it today, but that's about all I can tell ya. This could be Sade's best album ever (it won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, Metacritic gives it 78), but I couldn't say since I can't listen to it anymore. The mind works in weird ways, doesn't it?

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #3

Previously revisited for the blog:
Love Deluxe (1992)

Sade - Love Deluxe (1992)

I know that Sade is the name of the band, but who are we fooling? If the band were concerned about cultivating a band image, they wouldn't name the group after the lead singer and put her naked picture on the cover.

For me, Sade is hit-or-miss. On some of her tracks, I love her smooth, urban, late-night romantic sounds. Most of the time, though, her stuff just doesn't do it for me. She certainly has a wonderful voice and knows where her bread is buttered - she's never varied her formula much over the years. Overall, I prefer Anita Baker.

Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Love Deluxe at #247.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #3 (Nov 21, 1992)
• Billboard R&B: #2

Tracks: My favorite track on the disc, I Couldn't Love You More, would probably be considered a filler track by most Sade fans, but I think it is one of the most relaxing songs I have in my collection. Other top tracks include Like A Tattoo, Kiss Of Life, and Mermaid, which is an instrumental (Look, Ma! We really are a band!). I skip the rest, even the hit single, No Ordinary Love.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox,
go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I didn't really care for Sade when she hit the scene in 1984, but listened to her quite a bit around the turn of the century. Maybe too much.