Ranking the best Sade albums

If you hang around Soul In Stereo often, you probably know my annoyance with current music’s obsession with “vibes.”

Now look, I’m all for mellow, understated mood music. But all too often, “vibes” has become code for boring, lazy and repetitive.

Thank God for Sade, the true queen of vibes.

Vibes, with substance, that is.

First, let’s acknowledge a pet peeve of mine – we all know Sade Adu, the ageless, trendsetting musical icon who took soul to unprecedented new directions in the 1980s. But we don’t show enough love to Sade THE BAND, the architects of the soundscapes that became synonymous with Sade Adu’s icy vocals.

Sade is more than a woman, Sade is an entity.

Today’s we’re showing love to the entire Sade collective by looking back at their entire discography from bottom to top. Rankings were determined by album quality, consistency, and impact.

Sade was always about quality, never about quantity – we’ve only gotten SIX albums over the course of 35 years. Seeing that Sade seems to return every 10 years, it’s about time for album No. 7. While we wait, let’s revisit the classics.

6. Soldier of Love (2010)

Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Edd said: Sade’s most recent release might not be the beloved masterpieces that adorn the top half of the group’s discography, but it’s a pretty solid offering, thanks to a willingness to evolve and add a fresh spin to a classic sound. I still contend that “The Moon & The Sky” is one of the best songs in Sade’s discography – a pretty amazing feat when you realize Sade n’ friends were 25 years into the game at that point.

Forgotten favorites: “Babyfather,” “Solider of Love,” “The Moon & The Sky”

5. Lovers Rock (2000)

Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Edd said: Solider of Love wasn’t Sade’s first attempt at evolution. Thanks to Lovers Rock, the band stepped into the 21st century with a new groove, adding dashes of reggae, folk and rock to an already-potent mix of funk and soul. There are a few lulls where things get a little too drowsy (a common Sade flaw, honestly) but things pick up greatly by the album’s end. Lovers Rock’s creative risks don’t always pay off, but when they do, they hit.

Forgotten favorites: “All About Our Love,” “Lovers Rock,” “Every Word”

4. Promise (1985)

Soul in Stereo rating: 4 stars out of 5

Edd said: You rarely hear much convo about Sade’s sophomore album these days, and relistening to it for this review showed me why. This set is all about the singles: “Is It a Crime,” “Sweetest Taboo” and “Never as Good as the First Time” do all the heavy lifting here. The album cuts aren’t bad – they’re quite good, in fact – but they don’t stand out as much as album cuts on later releases, and certainly not to the level of the headlining singles here. Promise is nonetheless a strong, though slightly unmemorable project that just doesn’t branch out beyond its three tentpole tracks.

Forgotten favorites: “War of the Hearts,” “Fear,” “Maureen”

3. Stronger than Pride (1988)

Soul in Stereo rating: 4 stars out of 5

Edd said: I’m pretty sure Stronger Than Pride was the first Sade album I heard in full, and what a way to make an introduction. Sade really had something to say here – her lyrics are more introspective and poignant than past albums, putting a needed edge to her sultriness. It’s also a bit more consistent than its predecessor Promise. Maybe it’s just because I stan for this album but it’s my pick for the group’s most underrated release.

Forgotten favorites: “Turn My Back on You,” “Keep Looking,” “I Never Thought I’d See the Day”

2. Diamond Life (1984)

Soul in Stereo rating: 4 stars out of 5

Edd said: The choices for the top two spots were pretty obvious – it’s no surprise that Sade’s head-turning debut would land this high on the list. And while it’s not quite as seamless as my pick for the top spot, it’s not far off. It’s rare that we’ve seen an artist debut with such a distinct sound right out of the gate. Diamond Life rewrote the rules with mellow, understated melodies long before y’all were zoning out to lo-fi YouTube channels. Add in a batch of classic tracks (“Your Love Is King” is still the best Sade joint ever, fight me in the comments) and Diamond Life is easily one of the most defining albums of the 80s.

Forgotten favorites: “Hang on to Your Love,” “When Am I Going to Make a Living,” “Cherry Pie”

1. Love Deluxe (1992)

Soul in Stereo rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Edd said: “Cherish the Day.” “No Ordinary Love.” “Kiss of Life.” “Feel No Pain.” With a roster of unforgettable songs like those, it’s no wonder why Love Deluxe is such a beloved record. It’s ambient mood music at its jazzy best, not only distinguishing Sade as a unique force in music but also creating a template that would become the building blocks for the neo-soul movement years later. It’s not a perfect album but it’s a classic album in every sense of the word.

Forgotten favorites: “Pearls,” “Bullet Proof Soul,” “I Couldn’t Love You More”

Are you a Love Deluxe or a Diamond Life? Tell us how you’d rank Sade’s best in the comments below.

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29 Comments

  1. I love all of these albums.

    • Where is her live album. On on a good hifi its joy. Atmospheric, great music played as if they are having a great time. Must be in her top 3 albums

  2. My top 2 would be Love Deluxe and Stonger than Pride

  3. “Stronger than Pride” and “Promise” feel like the truest most Sade albums.

  4. Jay Anim Johnson June 7, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Dang! You read my mind as Love Deluxe is my Album of the Day for my own musical journal series named Albums That I Love. For Black Music Month, each day, I listen to and then review an album that I love by a black woman.

    Anyway, great ranking of my favorite female artist of all time (even though, as you pointed out, Sade is really a THEY instead of just HER). Here is my own ranking of their or her six sets:
    1 .Love Deluxe
    2. Stronger Then Pride
    3. Lovers Rock
    4. Diamond Life
    5. Promise
    6. Solider of Love

  5. Love Deluxe will ALWAYS be #1. It’s possibly my #1 album of all time. There’s just nothing like it. So glad I was around when it was released and I enjoyed it immediately. It was a special and memorable time to be alive and Sade’s album easily describes what the era of the early 1990s meant to me.

    • @JR what made that era memorable and special to have been alive? They weren’t even that big anymore when Love Deluxe was released.

      The best time have been a Sade fan was in the 1980s, when they were actually big, all over TV, promoting themselves etc and they actually had hits. Anyone who were in their teens or 20s (such as myself back in the 80s) would get this.

      Hope this helps

  6. Diamond Life higher ranked than Lover’s Rock? NOPE lol

  7. 1. Diamond Life(absolutely perfect album)
    2. Promise
    3. Love Deluxe
    4. Stronger Than Pride
    5. Lovers Rock
    6. Soldier of Love

  8. My Analysis

    6) C “Solider of Love”
    Long wait, long adjustment to this one. She can’t do this again. The first single filled the much anticipated hype, but the rest of the project did not top the Cup of Joe.’ You’re better than that. If you only record when you have something to say, give us the novel, not a brochure. (Enjoyed the tour though, that pretty much saved this era).
    5) C+ “Lover’s Rock”
    Kind of a bit drowsy and sad in many spots. Maybe it was the hidden breakups, tiny bit of lost interest, aging.. Could be few things not mentioned. Either way- the kind of album you can spin if you are feeling some kind of way.
    4) B- “Love Deluxe”
    Now a band backed by a bonafide sex symbol- Like Janet, this was her liberation. Looser clothing, hair down, you melt at one glance. Took a few laps to get the full effect, but it solidified this impeccably polished band as the Kings of Quiet Storm.’
    3) B “Diamond Life”
    Jazz never looked so attractive until now. Who is she? What is she? Could they’ be? Backed by cool laid back Jazz cats, it was side tracker from the constant radio plays of Madonna and Cindy and the 90th replays of Thriller and Purple Rain. This could be interesting. (The album version of the singles are better than the radio btw).
    2) A- “Promise”
    F%$& your Sophomore Jynx.’ Deeper lyricism, bit of calypso, heavier/heartier Jazz, dashes of Andalusian Spanish, longer album. They are here to stay, and their newly well deserved’ Grammy surely did not negate that.
    1) A+ “Stronger Than Pride !”
    All grown and full of sophistication. The most cohesive project of the arsenal. First of all the efforts to dab a bit into Hip Hop, studio machine, and West African rhythms. It’s an oasis of all they have mastered thus far, and elevated to a bar set in a lane only they ever will reside in.

    -B.Granger

    • @BENJAMIN GRANGER

      Stop spamming the same comments, calm down kid. Getting annoying now…

      • I never spammed anyone. Wtf are you talking about? The reason why you see two comments is because I had some errors on the first and I actually emailed the owner to take the first off and he didn’t, which I am not happy with because it does look weird. You calm down! Likely older than you. Don’t assume. And I am not a kid buddy, try again. -_-

  9. @Benjamin most likely to older, probably some millennial.

    Stop spamming the same thing

    • 1) I don’t know how to spam on this flimsy blog. You have the wrong Sade fan. You must have me mistaken for someone else you pestered.
      2) Was born in 72.’ So I am a mere 9years younger than you. Don’t undermine me. No millennial here.
      3)Does Sade pay you to write and critique someone else’s review…let alone, care that you exist tightly closed off in her gated village with her significant other Ian, stepdaughter, Grannie Annie, and Jesse James?
      4) You are a grown man going on 60 y/0. So since you are the supposed’ mature one here, then you should be aware that if someone says something that you don’t agree with and it bends your world up, then the real older person is not you. So… one can’t be very youthful,’ set in his youthful’ ways and still have an extensive knowledge on music? I call that living a good life that can span to over 90 like my southern Grandfather did. Do you know how many legends I have seen in person before they transitioned? DO you know I have Grammy Nominated cousins in the business that tell me things about many artists and how things go down behind the scenes that you do not view in the documentaries? Do you know that I actually helped a (VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY) prestigious artist who passed not long ago get a Lifetime Achievement Award?!!! You don’t know me, so please…and I am asking (nicely). Back off. This is a music appreciation blog. Not a space for your…uh, “1963” Temper Tantrum. Condolences to your personality struggles. Hope you one day mature to your rightful age of 57-58 and hope that I don’t come down with 1/4 of the ignorance you have in 8 1/2 years. Gosh all mighty please…

      Be well.

  10. *most likely older than you

  11. Sade’s first 3 albums are 5 star classics. The rest after that is downhill, I have a feeling those who often praise Love Deluxe and Lovers Rock are much younger and didn’t live through their 80s peak.

    • I’m 19 and I think Love Deluxe is her best album, as well. Lovers Rock and Soldier of Love are very different from the rest of Sade’s music, and while I love them as well. I can see why other people don’t like them as much.

  12. Diamond Life, Promise and Stronger Than Pride represents their peak, is a decline after that

    • I couldn’t agree more!!!!!!

      • You know it Ben! Throughout the 80s Sade were huge, couldn’t escape from them. After that? They became quiet and irrelevant and their quality of music declined then too.

        Diamond Life, Promise and Stronger Than Pride are the holy grail classic trilogies of their albums, I feel sad for the Millennials who missed out on their 80s peak

  13. Diamond Life – Stronger Than Pride was their golden years

  14. I’m actually shocked that Sade are still loved… They haven’t been relevant since the 1980s LOL!

    • Sade doesn’t crave attention and fame like so many celebrities. But she’s always been relevant in the music world. She has periods of dormancy but she’s still going, she’s about to put out a seventh album.

  15. Just because Sade peaked in the 80s, that doesn’t mean that everything after the first three albums was a dismal failure. Widespread popularity is not the same thing as good, quality music.

  16. Just gave a fresh re-listen to their catalog. I was very young when they first hit the scene (born in 1981) but the hit single were all favorites growing up. Oddly enough though, I was a late-comer to owning their albums… the first album I bought of theirs, Lovers Rock, has to be my least favorite (I still dig it, but not as much as the others).

    I didn’t get Soldier Of Love when it first came out, as I was listening to different stuff at the time. When The Best Of Sade 2 CD compilation came out was when my Sade addiction became a thing… but it wasn’t until the vinyl boxset came out last year that I was able to say I’ve heard all the albums as distinct entities.

    Love Deluxe for me is all killer, no filler… a stone cold, ultra-smooth and seductive piece of perfection. Stronger Than Pride is next for me, and I think is their most varied album stylistically, and that’s why I have it second, although I think it drags on a bit toward the end. Promise is next, and Diamond Life is 4th… both albums literally laid the template for the whole “Quiet Storm” format, and the singles from both are impeccable. Promise gets the slight edge as the album cuts on that album are slightly better. Soldier Of Love is 5th on the strength of the first two cuts alone, but beyond those and and Babyfather, the rest seems a bit phoned in… nothing bad, but kinda meh. Lovers Rock is at the bottom… at the time it came out I enjoyed it much more than I do now. Nothing is really wrong with the album per se, but beyond By Your Side, nothing else really stands out… it just doesn’t really click

  17. Quite shocked Love deluxe is ranked no.1. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a bad Sade album and this one is very good. It’s a thoughtful album and her voice is sublime on it.

    “Promise”, I’m not saying it’s her best but it’s definitely my favourite. from the start with the punchy and dynamic “Is it a crime?” followed by “The sweetest taboo”, a range of awesome catchy tunes including excellent instrumentals and ending with the passionate and moody “Maureen”. I think I am more impressed because it was a hard to follow from her debut album.

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