Description
With Diamond Life, Sade produced feeling music that became a prototype for a generation of singers who favored naked elegance: DAngelo, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys. Maxwell later borrowed guitarist, saxophonist, and co-writer Stuart Matthewman for his own immaculate 1996 debut Urban Hang Suite; and Drake once equated the dark sexy feel of Sades records to those on his mixtape So Far Gone. The seductive undertones of artists like Tinashe and Yuna are similarly tethered to Sade, whose fierce dashes of sensuality originated here.
Over nine tracks, Sade sings of unwanted separation and missed connections under the banner of quiet storm music, the nickname for mood-setting, after-hours R&B that powered adult contemporary radio. Washingtons WHUR-FM is said to have originated the format in 1976 in response to radio programming that featured predominantly white easy listening acts. Quiet storm was, in contrast, a platform for balladeers like Anita Baker and Luther Vandross and their mellow grade of soul. For Sade, a band that conveyed turbulence even in their subtlety, the label fit. The swagger of Smooth Operator, their breakout U.S. single, almost overshadows the fact that the subjects task is to travel across state lines breaking hearts. Their album, for the most part, seeks out and cherishes serenity and stability in partnerships while acknowledging the rocky parts. Lead U.S. single Hang On to Your Love, a stylish, midtempo number, views commitment as a courageous act, and on Your Love Is King, Sade drags out her prose, praising ordinary love between the exhales of a sax. The song has all the romance of a shimmering sunset gondola ride.
The tracks onDiamond Lifeplay in the arena of blues because Sade sought inspiration in the love stories of soul music that centered everyday people. OnDiamond Life, shes still refining her narrative voice, so the allegory in a cut like Sally, a sauntering tour through one angry day in New York, about the Salvation Army, has good intentions, but its the rare Sade song that offers the pretense of sentimentality in lieu of the real thing. The working-class anxieties that became a thread in their music materialize on When Am I Going to Make a Living, a song Sade wrote on the back of a receipt from the cleaners one night during a downpour.
Even when the lounginess is laid on thick, the albums tones are subdued enough to be affecting. The damp ambiance of songs like Frankies First Affair and the six-plus-minute Cherry Pie burn like the type of molten soul expected to backdrop a film noir. While the track billows and tapers, becoming more atmospheric than dynamic by the end, Sades debut is a strong compilation of stories that bristle with simplicity. via Label
The album was recorded at Power Plant Studios (England). The vinyl audio uses high resolution digital transfers of the stereo master mixes, from the original studio recordings, remastered at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios. The elaborate, half-speed mastering process has produced exceptionally clean and detailed audio whilst remaining faithful to the bands intended sound. No additional digital limiting was used in the mastering process, so the album benefits from the advantage of extra clarity and pure fidelity, preserving the dynamic range of the original mixes, presented on pure 180-gram heavyweight black vinyl. The original album sleeve and packaging elements have been meticulously reproduced in exact detail with authentic paper and printing methods.
Label: Epic
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold
Reissued: 2024 / Original Release: 1984
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Soul
File under: Contemporary R&B
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