When an artist breaks onto the scene and has critical/commercial success, one of two things could happen while they prepare record number two. The record label could want them to branch out and try all sorts of things or they could want them to make the exact same record again. It's not exactly common to see an artist do a combination of both; expanding their musical horizons while sticking to their signature sound.

One person who has done that flawlessly is exotic 80s soul sista, Sade Adu. Yes, the woman has a last name. Throughout her twenty year career, the sensual foreign beauty has kept her sound whil;le slightly tweaking elements to try new things. No matter what, Miss Adu is still the Queen of Baby Makin' Slow Jams. Hands down.

Tracklisting:
Your Love Is King (**** 1/2)
Hang On To Your Love (*****)
Smooth Operator (*****)
Jezebel (*****)
The Sweetest Taboo (*****)
Is It A Crime (**** 1/2)
Never As Good As The First Time (**** 1/2)
Love Is Stronger Than Pride (*****)
Paradise (*****)
Nothing Can Come Between Us (*****)
No Ordinary Love (*****)
Like A Tatoo (**** 1/2)
Kiss Of Life (*****)
Please Send Me Someone To Love (*****)
Cherish The Day (*****)
Pearls (*****)

From her debut album Diamond Life, three tracks were pulled. Your Love Is King is a sax-heavy, rather innocent optimistic effort. Sade's vocals, especially on the first verse, are quite unassuming with her normal laidback tones being accentuated two-fold. The lyrics, backed by hollow percussion and a swaying keyboard, are quite sweet with the title line repeated for extra emphasis. Hang On To Your Love is one of the tracks with a sassy little funk background. Baring a deep and constant bass and nonthreatening percussion, this is also one of the tracks where Sade backs away from her stereotypical sound. Her vocals flash some life and some gorgeous inflection while still retaining her normal tones that have served her well through the past two decades. Lyrically, the song revolves around...you guessed it...Sade and love. Smooth Operator- far and away the sultry Adu's biggest hit. The version I downloaded of this song had an intro that was about 1:00-1:30 so I'm really thankful this tropical, bongo-and-keyboard heavy track had that chopped off. Adu approaches this warning-to-other-women track in a way that I adore (her pain that is well masked by her silky hook and jazz-ish back-up) and hypnotizes you for the entire duration.

From album number two, there was four tracks extracted...bad puns excluded, this is an extremely strong crop of songs. Jezebel is a very pure, revealing track that lets Sade do what Sade does best- dreamily use her soft-spoken voice to bring out every emotion in a track that can possibly be brought. This storytelling track of a beautiful poor girl who started prostitution to get some money is just bare enough to get the message across and just exciting enough that the listeners with ADD won't dose off. With a lonely sax, a desperate and crescendoing guitar as well as a nearly nonexistant bass, this track is easily one of my favorites on the disk. The Sweetest Taboo has this rain effect during the very first part of the song that, if you blink, you'll miss. This track is mostly foreign percussion (I'm tempted to say Asian but its not exactly that) but the trumpet and bassline also come in to chime their two cents worth on this 4:25 lovingly sang track. Sade flat out works the lyrics wonderfully. Another winner is Is It A Crime has the blaring horns of a typical stripped song that chunk up the intro but the song mellows out tremendously. This finger snapping, uber fascinating hybrid of perky xylophone and downbeat vocals from Sade that highlight the poignant lyrics wonderfully. Is it a crime/ That I still want you/ And I want you to want me, too The piano, although quite "next stop, 11th floor", is a nice addition that's something she doesn't use much. Never As Good As The First Time is one of the few times the intoxicating Afro-Brit diva has dabbled in dueting and boy does it work well. The first :10 offer a spine-tinglingly great glimpse at partner Leroy Osbourne on this tick-y bassed oh-so-1980s strong r&b banger. With a sharp throwback to the Motown days (especially on the bewitching harmonies), this song is a nice change of pace. The flapping bass is a way for Sade to show us another side of her vocals and she fails to disappoint. Her soft, intelligent voice meshes quite well with the deep-down soulful voice of her partner to give listeners a listen to each side of the spectrum.

Album three has a grand total of three songs picked. Love Is Stronger Than Pride is a lush, thoughtful track that fuses airy synths with African percussion to give you a track that is impossible to turn off due to the odd mixture of elements. Adu's voice withstands the bareness, weaving a tapestry of understanding and coming-to-terms perspicacity that is hard to find in r&b nowadays. Paradise, another personal favorite of mine, is a track with the same funk-ish tropical foundation that Hang On To Your Love used. This track delves more into that whole atmosphere with a bass that would cut glass and an echoing to her vocals that is not evident until your lazy behind pays attention. The music can even be described as fiery (by Sade standards) and that's what makes it really special. Nothing Can Come Between Us has a little bit more of a bounce to it with the group-effort bassline and the string section that I'd like to see more Sade songs possess. The stirring hand claps are actually kindof hot while the empowered lyrics are sheer beauty when you listen strictly to them.

And here we have album number four Love Deluxe and a whopping five singles. No Ordinary Love is one of the few tracks that sounds the most like Sade's most recent material. Its desert-y, peaceful mirage-y atmosphere is the perfect setting for that jaw droppingly amazing hook. The synth work is brilliantly understated while the electric guitar is a much needed gain. Like A Tatoo goes deeper into the light latin elements on Smooth Operator with the unadorned acoustic guitar and sparingly used...well...rest of the song. Adu's vocals are less prominent, opting instead to join the 3:37 track in rising and falling until reaching a sparkling breaking point. It ends a bit soon, though. No cuddling time. Dammit. Kiss Of Life is yet another gem from the oh-so-romantic one. Sade's vocals are wafting and lovestruck over this strong-but-not-entirely unique bass heavy jam. Cherish The Day is a distant, graceful percussion heavy slive of soul music heaven. Its got a more balanced overall sound that is just not that easy not to get into. She knows what she's got and she works her forte the way only she can. The hook is much less slick, graceful Sade rather than downcast sortof forlorn Sade. The self-provided back-up is also a nice touch. Pearls is a strong closer with a muy dramatic, string heavy and uber haunting intro that fades into the orchestral soul track. Its nice to see normally reserved Sade choose a track that allows her more boisterous, electrifying side to come out. Her verse vocals chill you to the bone and show why exactly she's stayed in the spotlight.

The only track to not appear on a Sade album Please Send Me Someone To Love (residing on the soundtrack to the flick Philadelphia) is a blues-y, swaggering almost painful track that can be felt by anyone who has been alone. Adu's vocals ooze this sense of distress that is surprisingly satisfying.

This album is, indeed, the best of Sade. Its got all of her most well-known hits as well as some that casual fans haven't heard so both casual and hardcore fans could pick this up. The voice is timeless while the material is erotic but retains enough class to be ultra sophisticated. And the stockpiling of boot knockin' music continues....

Great Music To Play While:...(cough)...er...you know...(blush)

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Recommended: Yes