Sade - Lovers Rock

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Free Music Notes for Lovers Rock

Free Music Review: Bellissimo and bravo!!!
Hit: 5 Stars

This album is a very mature one. One that emanates confidence and sensibility. The songs aren't flashy or overtly trendy - not say that her others were, but there is a simplicity here that's hard to shake. What it is apparent is its homage to several styles which have been distilled to their very essence and given a very cool contemporary makeover which subtly engages the senses for an extended period of time - even when you're not listening to it. This album sneaks up on you quickly: much more quickly that Stronger Than Pride did which, upon my first listening, didn't impress me all that much, (like this one); but over a span of years has come to be one of my favorite Sade albums. The albums which seemed to be more produced, Promise and Love Deluxe, were initially so spellbinding and powerful that I listened to them almost daily which I think ultimately overwhelmed me to the point of fatigue.

I didn't really care for the single release By Your Side upon first hearing it on NPR and prepared myself for the worse since she took so much time off, but even it has grown on me to a point. (I am still struggling with the logic surrounding the choice of single release. There is so much better material on the album that I would have surely picked another) I have no particular favorite songs at this point, but simply a decisive and deep appreciation for the album as a whole

This effort also seems to be even more poignant and its messages more sullen than her previous efforts. I don't know if this comes as a result of the experiences she's had over that past several years or because the music and instrumentation are so effective in its balance of "being there" and "not being there" that the message and overall ambience becomes evident.

Hale, Matthewman, & Denman are craftsmen of the highest order - striking a fragile balance between delicacy and power. I'd love to hear the results of them collaborating with Karn, Jansen, and Barbieri, (ex-members of Japan and intermittent supporters of David Sylvian), who have also ventured out on their collective own with limited success just as Sweetback. Like Sylvian, Sade seems be an essential element to the completion of an aesthetic perfect whole. Elements of this music were good 20, 30, and 50 years go with Augustus Pablo, Marvin Gaye and Billie Holiday, but it's still being made, amazingly well, in the 21st century with the same intensity and beauty.

Do I like this album? Definitely!! Do I love this album? As little as 5 years ago, I would have issued a resounding "ABSOLUTELY!". But, (and there's always a "but[t]" my friends, literally and figuratively), in my waxing maturity I can say, only time will tell and time sure seems to be on Sade's side.

Bellissimo and bravo!!!

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