Diamond Life

Diamond Life
Studio album by Sade
Released 28 July 1984 (UK)
23 February 1985 (U.S.)
Recorded 1983–1984
Power Plant Studios
(London)
Genre Smooth soul, Sophisti-pop, R&B
Length 44:31
Label Epic (UK)
Portrait (U.S.)
Producer Robin Millar
Sade chronology
Diamond Life
(1984)
Promise
(1985)
Singles from Diamond Life
  1. "Your Love Is King"
    Released: 25 February 1984
  2. "When Am I Going to Make a Living"
    Released: 26 May 1984
  3. "Smooth Operator"
    Released: 15 September 1984
  4. "Hang On to Your Love"
    Released: 8 December 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau (B)[2]
Rolling Stone [3]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Diamond Life is the debut album by English group Sade. It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 23 February 1985 by Portrait Records. Although initially not a big seller, the album was catapulted into the spotlight once the track "Your Love Is King" went top ten. Diamond Life was also highly successful in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where it reached number one.

The album won the Brit Award for British Album in 1985.

Contents

Track listing

CD/LP
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Smooth Operator"   Sade Adu, Ray St. John 4:59
2. "Your Love Is King"   Adu, Stuart Matthewman 3:41
3. "Hang On to Your Love"   Adu, Matthewman 5:54
4. "Frankie's First Affair"   Adu, Matthewman 4:39
5. "When Am I Going to Make a Living"   Adu, Matthewman 3:27
6. "Cherry Pie"   Adu, Matthewman, Andrew Hale, Paul S. Denman 6:19
7. "Sally"   Adu, Matthewman 5:22
8. "I Will Be Your Friend"   Adu, Matthewman 4:43
9. "Why Can't We Live Together"   Timmy Thomas 5:27
Cassette
No. Title Length
1. "Smooth Operator"/"Snake Bite" ("Snake Bite": Matthewman, Hale, Denman) 7:28
2. "Your Love Is King"   3:41
3. "Hang On to Your Love"   5:55
4. "Frankie's First Affair"   4:39
5. "When Am I Going to Make a Living"   3:27
6. "Cherry Pie"   6:20
7. "Sally"   5:23
8. "I Will Be Your Friend"   4:45
9. "Why Can't We Live Together"   5:28
10. "Love Affair with Life" (Adu) 4:35

Personnel

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1984/1985) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[4] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[5] 1
German Albums Chart[6] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[4] 20
Swedish Albums Chart[4] 18
Swiss Albums Chart[4] 1
UK Albums Chart[7] 2
US Billboard 200[8] 5
US Top R&B Albums[8] 3
US Top Jazz Albums[8] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[9] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[10] 2× Platinum 600,000*
Germany (BVMI)[11] Platinum 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[12] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by
Parade by Spandau Ballet
Make It Big by Wham!
Dutch Albums Chart number-one album
22 September 1984 – 26 October 1984
2 February 1985 – 15 March 1985
Succeeded by
Purple Rain by Prince and The Revolution
No Jacket Required by Phil Collins
Preceded by
Discovery by Mike Oldfield
Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
30 September 1984 – 18 November 1984
Succeeded by
Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple
Preceded by
4630 Bochum by Herbert Grönemeyer
German Albums Chart number-one album
15 October 1984
29 October 1984 – 17 December 1984
Succeeded by
4630 Bochum by Herbert Grönemeyer
Arena by Duran Duran
Preceded by
Der Sinn des Lebens by Wolfgang Ambros
Austrian Albums Chart number-one album
1 December 1984 – 1 February 1985
Succeeded by
Live Is Life by Opus

References

  1. ^ Diamond Life at Allmusic
  2. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Sade". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Sade. Retrieved 4 August 2011. 
  3. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/sade/albums/album/201622/review/5946642/diamond_life
  4. ^ a b c d "Sade – Diamond Life". Hung Medien. http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sade&titel=Diamond+Life&cat=a. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 
  5. ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Sade - Diamond Life". dutchcharts.nl. http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sade&titel=Diamond+Life&cat=a. Retrieved 4 August 2011. 
  6. ^ "Top 100 Longlay". Media Control. charts.de. 15 October 1984. http://www.charts.de/charts.asp?cat=a&country=de&year=1984&date=19841015&x=34&y=15. Retrieved 14 March 2010. 
  7. ^ "Chart Stats – Sade – Diamond Life". The Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=8512. Retrieved 10 October 2008. 
  8. ^ a b c "Diamond Life – Sade – Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/diamond-life-r17249/charts-awards/billboard-album. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 
  9. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Sade – Diamond Life". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Diamond+Life&sa=Sade&smt=0. 
  10. ^ "French album certifications – Sade – Diamond Life" (in French). InfoDisc. http://www.infodisc.fr/Certif_Album.php.  Select SADE and click OK
  11. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sade; 'Diamond Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Diamond+Life&strInterpret=Sade&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
  12. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Sade – Diamond Life" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. http://www.ifpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=61112&documentid=1237434. 
  13. ^ "British album certifications – Sade – Diamond Life". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Diamond Life in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Sade – Diamond Life". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Diamond+Life%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH