Soldier of Love (Sade album)
| Sade
Soldier of Love (Sade album)
Soldier of Love is the sixth studio album by English band Sade. It was released on 5 February 2010 by Epic Records. Following the release of Lovers Rock (2000), the band went into a 10-year hiatus. In 2008, the band regrouped in order to begin work on their sixth album, making it the first time each member had been together. The recording of the album primarily took place at the Real World Studios in Box, England, with additional sessions at El Cortijo in San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain. The album’s recording began in 2009 and was completed in the summer of that year.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
February 12, 2010. The classic soft-rock band returns with its first album in a decade, and it still seems wholly unique and oddly captivating.
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The Guardian
February 6, 2010. Sade's sixth album in 26 years is another triumph for quality over quantity, says Kitty Empire
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NPR
February 12, 2010. Sade's catalog always tended toward doing more with less, but with Soldier of Love, it now feels like less, period.
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Consequence of Sound
February 17, 2010. The ten-year break between 2000’s critically acclaimed Lovers Rock and her latest, Soldier of Love, has not dulled Sade and her band’s creative edge. Typical of Sade’s work, Soldier.. is comprised of mellow ballads, acoustic guitar-driven tunes, and one or two uptempo songs.
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Slant Magazine
January 30, 2010. An album filled with songs like “Soldier” would no doubt please critics like me, but Sade’s longtime fans . . . likely prefer their Sade with a glass of wine and some bath salts, and on that front, Soldier of Love doesn’t disappoint.
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AV Club - Music
March 2, 2010. An album of hushed intensity and powerful quiet, Soldier sometimes feels like one long, open, organic, ferociously soothing groove, . . . .
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BBC
February 8, 2010. 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, . . . .
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Telegraph
February 8, 2010. The ghosts of old melodies reappear in the new in Sade's Soldier of Love.
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PopMatters
February 9, 2010. The qualities that millions of devoted fans enjoy about Sade are placed in new contexts on Soldier of Love. While listeners may not hear anything precisely reminiscent of their favorite songs on Promise (1985) or Stronger Than Pride (1987), they will hear Sade tread new territory.
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Newsweek
February 9, 2010. The new songs, though, forfeit the elegance of her classic material in favor of sheen and rougher texture, as with the title track, which is more beat-driven than anything she's ever done.
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All About Jazz
Febraury 27, 2010. The song titles change, but the game plan remains the same. Investing in bleakness and melancholy has been very lucrative for Sade. Why mess with success now...or learn any new tricks?
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Paste
February 18, 2010. “Soldier of Love” promised a new sound from Sade, and the album doesn’t disappoint. It’s the band’s most musically adventurous collection to date, and also its most expansive and rewarding.
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AllMusic
February 9, 2010. Lacking rhythmic hypnotism and relatable most to those who are experiencing solitude created by romantic desertion, this is not your mother's Sade album.
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SoulTracks
February 9, 2010. Soldier of Love is a grown up record that will be best appreciated by those who have spent a little while on their own journeys. Recommended.
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Billboard
January 29, 2010. Suave production? Check. Heart-piercing lyrics? Check. Sensual, husky-voiced singer? Check. Those are just some of the things Sade fans can expect from the group's new album, "Soldier of Love."
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musicOMH
February 8, 2010. . . . it’s a beautifully constructed album from an enduring band unafraid to mess with a sound that has influenced many. It’s best to remember, however, that if you are disappointed with this then the next one isn’t due for another 10 years.
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chinahodge.com
February 2, 2010. . . . it bears noting that the production on this piece is tougher than what we’ve heard before. . . . Soldier of Love is a bit grittier, befitting its title, perhaps. It is dangerous, more adept at navigating the risk of falling.
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The Latest Hip-Hop
March 22, 2010. Adu and her band of henchman deliver as usual, uniting their signature stellar sound with that voice, the voice that made her famous. Soldier of Love proves to be yet another Sade classic.
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AllHipHop.com
February 7, 2010. For Sade, Soldier of Love is a work that continues the excellence she's displayed since her debut 26 years ago. While the greatness that is Love Deluxe is likely untouchable ever again, Sade builds on and exceeds her fine work from 2000's Lovers Rock.
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90.3 FM the Core
The album flows well, each song into the next, sort of like chapters in a book. After listening to the entire album once, you can’t help yourself but to find the perfect track you can relate too and put it on repeat. Welcome back, Sade!
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SoulCulture
February 8, 2010. Fast forward ten years to Soldier of Love and we find an album that in standard and sound, lies somewhere in the middle of Love Deluxe and Lovers Rock – perhaps the record Sade would have made if the gap between the two hadn’t been so long.
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Planet ILL
January 28, 2010. . . . Soldier of Love, is one of the most anticipated albums of 2010. And the band doesn’t disappoint unless, of course, you were expecting a 180 in content and delivery. They are still searching for that unordinary love and failing miserably, but their sonic pain is our gain.
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Soundchecks Music Review
July 23, 2018. Long-time fans of Sade will not be disappointed, but those new to the band may find the overall pace and lack of variety hard to get through the first time around. However, subsequent listens will reveal the underlying spice of the album, which is filled with well-textured melodies, subtle experimentation in percussion, and an overt minimalism that resonates long after the CD has stopped playing
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mxdwn Music
June 13, 2010. Leading her namesake outfit Sade on Soldier of Love, Adu has quietly slipped into the role of a female Barry White, as consistently warm and romantic as a bear rug in front of a fireplace.
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Atlanta Music Guide
Soldier of Love outshines all records out there from the past five years, easily. Sade has come back as a strong soldier, both lyrically and musically.
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The Absolute Sound
August 27, 2013. This isn’t Sade’s best, but fans won’t be disappointed and the disc underscores the remarkable longevity of a sophisticated pop singer whom many critics wrote off after her hit-heavy debut, 1984’s Diamond Life, skyrocketed up the pop charts.
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The Independent
February 5, 2010. Sade (the band) now re-convenes only every decade or so to top up the world's dwindling fund of bubble-bath boudoir soul. The formula worked a treat on 2000's Lovers Rock, but Soldier Of Love suggests the wheels are coming off the wagon.
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Popdose.com
February 9, 2010. While being a love warrior shares time with the crying of tears as the most often recurring themes and images on Soldier of Love, the album nevertheless displays the best of what Sade albums have always given us, namely pristine production, languid grooves, and Adu’s voice, often in beautiful harmony with itself.
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HipHopDX
February 11, 2010. Soldier of Love is only a 10 song offering, but it manages to be comprehensive 10 songs. The listener doesn’t feel short-changed, and it’s clear that Sade crafted each song to perfection.
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HTF Magazine
February 21, 2010. Her new album, ‘Soldier of Love’ marks her return to the music industry, with an enigmatic collection of atmospheric sultry tracks. Her sound has always been timeless, and her present work follows suit, with nothing ‘dated’ or ‘retro’. She has taken her signature sound into the current with edgy embellishments.
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UrbanBridgez.com/E-Zine
Febraury 9, 2010. Adu sings soft, sweet, and sincere. Soldier of Love has so much to choose from although the short disc leaves you wanting more. If Soldier of Love is the beginning of a new era, I can’t wait until the group goes to war.
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The Boston Globe
February 8, 2010. . . . “Soldier of Love,’’ Sade’s new album (and first since 2000’s exquisite “Lovers Rock’’) that’s released tomorrow, does not color outside the lines of her shopworn blueprint. Like its predecessors, it mimics the rhythms of a new relationship - it’s up one minute and down the next, loving in places and wounded in others - and it’s a rich and rewarding album, but only after multiple listens.
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Albumism
September 3, 2016. But ultimately, who cares if she opts to avoid the public eye and preserve her artistic allure, when she and her band of brothers have blessed the world with such consistently inspired music, most recently manifested on the exquisitely enchanting Soldier of Love.
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Express
February 12, 2010. The 51-year-old returns after a decade with an album that’s typically intense and grown-up. The title track brilliantly reshapes R&B but everything else burns with that sad sensuality of hers.
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Tuned In To Music
May 7, 2010. Soldiers of Love is soft pop that is professionally, elegantly and quietly sung, played and recorded.
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Dead End Hip Hop
February 2, 2010. . . . after a decade, Sade provides a solid release that any fan of Sade will absolutely love. As a living legend and one of the highest anticipated album of the 2010 to date, “Soldier of Love” does not disappoint.
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The Scotsman
February 7, 2010. THE ever-unruffled queen of sultry/snoozy soul pop returns without a hair out of place on her first new album in a decade and, 25 years into her career, it is still snail-paced business as usual – Soldier Of Love is immaculately produced, mellow, decorous music for coffee tables.
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H. Luiz Presents
February 15, 2010. The musicians invoke the joy and the sorrow of each song with every instrument (drums, guitars, sax, violins, bass, trumpets, etc.) The smoky lyrics, all written and performed by Sade Adu, fills your heart with all kinds of emotions.
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Common Sense Media
But with this new album, the soul singer makes the leap from legendary lounge singer to mythic force. These are epic songs, not just love ballads, and like a classic Greek myth they rise to iconic status at the same time they languish in the reality of human nature.
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Parlour Magazine
January 15, 2010. The LP may take more than one listen to love, but it’s classic Sade, in her purest form. “Soldier of Love” hits shelves Feb. 9, and it might hit the web earlier. Either way, let’s support real talent.
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Cleveland Scene
February 10, 2010. Her latest, Soldier of Love, comes a full 10 years after her last one, 2000's Lovers Rock. But it's always worth the wait. Here, the warm, simmering R&B of her 1984 debut, Diamond Life, receives a few nips and tucks . . . . Yet it's unmistakably Sade — smooth, cool and impeccably arranged. Her deep, rich voice has lost none of its force over the years.
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dagogo
March, 2010. After listening to her new album, I feel this attitude of not compromising is truly portrayed. I have always felt that a true sign of a good new CD is if I can hit PLAY from start to end and not find one I had to skip past. This CD is just such an occasion.
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Time Out Dubai
March 1, 2010. Tastefully restrained almost to a fault, the English quartet rarely release the reins. One sometimes wishes for more left turns such as the martial hip-hop stomp of the title track. But the 51-year-old singer has another objective: breaking your heart under the pretence of mellowing your mood.
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Plugged In
February 9, 2010. Despite releasing albums at long intervals—the last, Lover's Rock, came out 10 years ago—Sade's unique blend of R&B, jazz and reggae continues to plumb the depths of love found … and lost.
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The Boombox
January 14, 2010. It's a smoky, victorious conclusion to the album, conveying the group as complacent and placid as they've ever been.
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Philstar
February 8, 2010. Sade, "Soldier of Love" – Like a long-ago lover not quite forgotten, Sade has returned to steal our hearts with more beautiful, uncategorizable music.
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AFOOT
Soul at its most soulful, Soldier of Love is easy listening but it has been hard to come by, and after a long, long wait. In fact, Sade and her band, who have lived on different continents since Lovers Rock, regrouped over weekends to produce the new record.
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The Collegian
January 24, 2013. Soldier of Love is a great album that mirrors Sade’s past work. She keeps the album tight with 10 tracks. Longtime fans will enjoy the album, especially after the 10-year wait.
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Wears the Trousers Magazine
February 4, 2010. . . . where Love Deluxe was sensual and romantic and Lovers Rock was a paean to the strength relationships offer, Soldier Of Love is much more about the pain love exacts and the disappointments encountered, shot through with a belief that this most ungovernable of emotions will ultimately redeem and save.
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Review Fix
March 1, 2010. The songs all have to do with love in some form, this time the spin is on militant, downtrodden and warrior love. The people who Sade sings about need a respite from their lives and they find that in all forms of love. In this case they fight for it.
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Black Roses
April 5, 2010. The album generally touches on the long hard road of love and life lessons. It acknowledges hurt and disappointments but in the end with a summary that you can wash away anything from your skin, it can’t be that easy but yes you can start afresh, you too can be a soldier of love is you find rest in the safest place.
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laut.de
February 5, 2010. . . . "Soldier Of Love" presents an artist embedded in contemporary sounds, who remains true to her style without acting as an uninspired repeat actress.
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Cairo 360 Guide to Cairo, Egypt
March 3, 2010. . . . the pertinent question remains: was Soldier of Love worth the wait? The answer is a resounding yes. You can’t deny the appeal of Sade Adu’s deep, smooth, velvety and sultry voice; and like fine wine, it just gets better with age.
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Robert Christgau
I'm glad she finally put some beats on her sang-froid, . . .
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SFC Today
February 27, 2010. As it tops Billboard’s Top 200 chart, Sade’s new album Soldier of Love will sensually massage the ears of its listeners.
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Mommy 2K
Soldier of Love is sure to please with 10 new tracks.
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Nicholas Jennings
February 9, 2010. At 51, Sade looks and sounds as smooth and exotic as ever. Soldier of Love, her first album of new material in 10 years, is another exercise in sensuality.
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Sound Opinions
Most people associate Sade with that smooth R&B sound of the 80s. Now she's created a smooth R&B sound for the 10s. . . . Soldier of Love is not a radical departure. But Sade still sounds great, and has brought her complicated and compelling life stories into her music.
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CJLO
March 2, 2010. Though the majority of Soldier Of Love sounds eerily similar to her previous work, the record retains enough enjoyable elements of her sound that it may be forgiven. Just call her the AC/DC of smooth R&B.
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Hooked On Music
February 13, 2010. Sade Adu and her men succeeded with 'Soldier Of Love' with the active help of several studio guests a fortunately not stale or outdated-looking, but still, looking at their own band history, in the best sense of the word mostly nostalgic production on the eternal theme of love succeeded.
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Manhunt Daily
February 9, 2010. The album is littered with themes of heartbreak, sorrow and overcoming struggle. Yet despite such a somber tone, the band's brilliant leading woman sings the songs as if they're lullabies. There's a sense of catharsis as she spins a web of grief with her soothing vocals.
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