Soldier of Love (album)

Soldier of Love
Studio album by Sade
Released 5 February 2010 (2010-02-05)
(see release history)
Recorded 2009
Real World Studios
(Box, Wiltshire, England)
El Cortijo
(Málaga, Málaga, Spain)
Genre R&B, sophisti-pop, quiet storm
Length 41:58
Label RCA, Epic (US)
Producer Sade
Sade chronology
Lovers Rock
(2000)
Soldier of Love
(2010)
Singles from Soldier of Love
  1. "Soldier of Love"
    Released: 8 December 2009
  2. "Babyfather"
    Released: 20 April 2010[1] Urban A.C. radio stations[2]
  3. "The Moon and the Sky"
    Released: August 2010[3][4] Urban A.C. radio stations

Soldier of Love is the sixth studio album by the English group Sade. It is their first album of original material since Lovers Rock (2000). The album was initially released on 5 February 2010 in Germany, and it was released worldwide on 8 February 2010 and in the United States on 9 February 2010. The first single "Soldier of Love" premiered on 8 December 2009 on the group's official website.

The album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, becoming their highest debut since Stronger Than Pride (1988). It also debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 502,000 copies in the United States, making it Sade's first US number-one debut, and topped music charts in several other countries. Upon its release, Soldier of Love received generally positive reviews from most music critics and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The band promoted the album with their first concert tour in ten years, Sade Live.[5]

Contents

Background

In March 2009, American recording artist Maxwell, a fellow Sony Music recording artist and longtime friend and collaborator with Stuart Matthewman, sent a message to fans in March via his private Facebook page in which he indicated that he had heard some of Sade's new recordings, saying, "Trust me, it's so monolithic it'll shake you in your shoes!"[6]

According to Billboard, the band had been working on the album throughout June 2009. At that time, Sony Music had not set a release date but it hoped to put the record out by the end of 2009. "She is in the studio and the album will come when it is ready", a source at Sony Music told Billboard. "You don't wait for years for one and then rush it."[6]

Reception

Commercial performance

Soldier of Love made its first chart appearance on the Irish Albums Chart where it debuted at #12, as well as in the Italy and Poland where it topped the charts, already becoming platinum. On the week of 14 February 2010, the album debuted at #4 on the official UK Albums Chart, becoming the groups' highest chart debut in their home country, since 1988's Stronger Than Pride. The album has had greater success in the United States than in their native country, where Soldier of Love became Sade's first number-one US debut,[7] and its best sales week since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, selling 502,000 copies. Additionally, it's the best sales week for an album by a group since AC/DC's Black Ice made it into the chart at number one on the chart dated November 2008, with 784,000 copies sold.[8] In the weeks since its February release, the album has sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States making it a certified platinum album. After 14 weeks however, the album has fallen out of the top 40 on the billboard charts compared to their previous release Lovers Rock which sold 3.9 million copies and stayed in the top 20 for over 6 months.[9] By the end of 2010, the album had sold 2.3 million copies, making it the ninth best selling album internationally for 2010.[10]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [11]
Entertainment Weekly (A)[12]
The Independent [13]
Los Angeles Times [14]
Pitchfork Media (7.0/10)[15]
PopMatters (8/10)[16]
Rolling Stone [17]
Slant Magazine [18]
USA Today [19]
The Village Voice (favorable)[20]

Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 79/100 from Metacritic.[21] Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot gave it 3 out of 4 stars and wrote favorably of Sade Adu's singing, stating "she remains alluring and subtly rewarding, while still keeping the listener at a safe distance, as if she had even deeper secrets to guard".[22] The Daily Telegraph's Tom Horan gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and wrote that its songs are "beautifully balanced between warmth and toughness, vulnerability and hauteur".[23] The Observer's Kitty Empire called it a "triumph for quality over quantity".[24] Jim DeRogatis of Chicago Sun-Times gave the album 3 out of 4 stars and wrote favorably of its "sophisticated and soulful grooves", stating "Sade may not be giving us anything radically new, but it's a pleasure just to have her back doing what she's always done so well".[25] BBC Online writer Paul Lester wrote that the album is "as mournfully one-paced as previous Sade albums, with the same attention to texture and surface lustre but, alas, not to melody or moving autobiography".[26] About.com's Mark Edward Nero gave the album 4½ out of 5 stars and perceived its tone as "darker" than Sade's previous work, while calling it "a fairly uplifting album that's filled with gorgeous melodies, sophisticated lyrics and themes, and of course, some of the most beautiful singing you'll ever hear".[27]

However, Allmusic's Andy Kellman gave it 3 out of 5 stars and viewed its lyrical themes as bleak, writing that "a fair portion of the album’s lyrical content comes off as drained-sounding, only echoed with vanilla arrangements that are merely functional".[11] Pete Paphides of The Times perceived a lack of "catchy tracks" as a weakness and called it "an album bordering upon ambient in its statuesque stillness".[28] The Guardian writer Caroline Sullivan expressed a mixed response to the group's "pop-soul" and "quiet storm" style on the album, but wrote that its "­lushness and understatement" is balanced by "lyrics of surprising transparency".[29] Despite calling its mood "morose" and expressing a mixed response towards its "bleakness and melancholy", All About Jazz critic Jeff Winbush viewed Soldier of Love as an improvement over Sade's previous album, Lovers Rock.[30] Stephen M. Duesner of Paste gave it an 82/100 rating and called it Sade's "most musically adventurous collection to date, and also its most expansive and rewarding".[31] The Washington Post's Chris Richards called the band's "cool alto sound nobler than ever" and described Soldier of Love as its "most spare and haunting album yet -- one where Sade's grief is harrowing, elegant and undeniably magnetic".[32]

The song "Babyfather" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals[33][34] and the title track won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[35]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Sade Adu. 

No. Title Music Length
1. "The Moon and the Sky"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman 4:28
2. "Soldier of Love"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman/Denman 5:59
3. "Morning Bird"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman 3:55
4. "Babyfather"   Adu/Matthewman/Janes/Nicholls 4:40
5. "Long Hard Road"   Adu/Janes/Nicholls 3:03
6. "Be That Easy"   Adu/Matthewman 3:41
7. "Bring Me Home"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman 4:09
8. "In Another Time"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman 5:06
9. "Skin"   Adu/Hale/Matthewman/Denman 4:13
10. "The Safest Place"   Adu/Hale 2:46
Total length:
41:58

Personnel

Musicians
  • Sade
  • Tony Momrelle – vocals
  • Leroy Osbourne – vocals
  • Martin Ditcham – percussion, drums
  • Pete Lewinson – drums
  • Joseph Robinson – percussion and strings on "In Another Time"
  • Everton Nelson – violin
  • Ian Burdge – cello
  • Gordon Matthewman – trumpet
  • Noel Langley – trumpet
  • Ila Adu, Clay Matthewman – vocals on "Babyfather"
  • Juan Janes – guitar on "Long Hard Road"
  • Sophie Mullerukulele
Production
  • Sade Adu – programming
  • Stuart Matthewman – programming
  • Andrew Hale – programming
  • Mike Pela – co-producer, engineer, mixing
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
  • Michael Brauer – mixing
  • Andrew Nicholls – pre-production
  • John Davis – mastering
  • Sophie Muller – photography, art direction
  • Tom Hingston Studio – design

Charts, certifications and procession

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[36] 4
Austrian Albums Chart[36] 2
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[36] 5
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[36] 1
Brazil Top 20 CD Sales[37] 7
Canadian Albums Chart[38] 1
Czech Albums Chart[39] 1
Danish Albums Chart[36] 4
Dutch Albums Chart[36] 2
European Top 100 Albums[38] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[36] 9
French Albums Chart[36] 1
German Albums Chart[40] 2
Greek Albums Chart[41] 1
Hungarian Albums Chart[42] 1
Irish Albums Chart[43] 12
Italian Albums Chart[36] 1
Japanese Albums Chart 13
Korean Albums Chart[44] 15
Mexican Albums Chart[36] 35
New Zealand Albums Chart[36] 3
Norwegian Albums Chart[36] 7
Polish Albums Chart[45] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart[36] 1
Russian Albums Chart[46] 3
South African Albums Chart[47] 4
Spanish Albums Chart[36] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[36] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[36] 1
UK Albums Chart[48] 4
US Billboard 200[38] 1
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[38] 1

End of year charts

Chart (2010) Position
Polish Albums Chart[49] 1
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums [50] 4
European Top 100 Albums [51] 12
Billboard 200 [52] 14
Digital Albums [53] 18
Spanish Albums Charts[54] 33
German Albums Chart[55] 43
UK Albums Chart[56] 123

Sales and certifications

Country Provider Certification
(sales thresholds)
Sales
Canada CRIA Platinum[57] 80,000+
Belgium IFPI Gold [58] 15,000+
Brazil ABPD Gold[59] 30,000
Finland IFPI Gold[60] 13,030
France SNEP 2x Platinum[61] 200,000+
Greece IFPI Platinum [62][63] 6,000
Germany IFPI Gold[64] 100,000
Hungary MAHASZ 2x Platinum[65] 12,000
Italy FIMI Gold[66] 30,000
Poland ZPAV Diamond[67] 100,000[68]
Russia NFPF 2x Platinum[69] 40,000
Sweden IFPI Gold[70] 20,000
Switzerland IFPI Platinum[71] 30,000
United States RIAA Platinum[72] 1,100,000[73]
Chart procession and succession
Preceded by
Tracks 2 (inediti & rarità) by Vasco Rossi
Italian Albums Chart number-one album
5 February 2010 – 12 February 2010
Succeeded by
Re matto by Marco Mengoni
Preceded by
The E.N.D. by The Black Eyed Peas
French Albums Chart number-one album
14 February 2010 – 7 March 2010
Succeeded by
La crise de nerfs ! by Les Enfoirés
Preceded by
X Anniversarivm by Estopa
Spanish Albums Chart number-one album
14 February 2010
Succeeded by
Las consecuencias by Bunbury
Preceded by
A királyok hegedűse by Mága Zoltán
Hungarian Albums Chart number-one album
14 February 2010 – 8 March 2010
Succeeded by
A királyok hegedűse by Maga Zoltan
Preceded by
Magia del Tango by Marcin Wyrostek
Polish Albums Chart number-one album
15 February 2010 – 1 March 2010
Succeeded by
Dodekafonia by Strachy na Lachy
Preceded by
The E.N.D. by Black Eyed Peas
Portuguese Albums Chart number-one album
18 February 2010
Succeeded by
Luar by Rita Guerra
Preceded by
Rock'n Roll Dance Party by The Playtones
Swedish Albums Chart number-one album
19 February 2010
Succeeded by
Rock'n Roll Dance Party by The Playtones
Preceded by
Mozart l'Opéra Rock by musical theatre
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) number-one album (first run)
20 February 2010
Succeeded by
Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
Preceded by
The Fame by Lady Gaga
Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
21 February 2010
Succeeded by
Small Lights in the Dark by Lunik
Preceded by
Grammy Nominees 2010 by various artists
Canadian Albums Chart number-one album
27 February 2010 – 13 March 2010
Succeeded by
Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
Preceded by
Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
27 February 2010 – 13 March 2010
Succeeded by
Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
Preceded by
Rebirth by Lil Wayne
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums number-one album
27 February 2010 – 27 March 2010
Succeeded by
Battle of the Sexes by Ludacris
Preceded by
The Fame by Lady GaGa
European Top 100 Albums number-one album
27 February 2010 – 20 March 2010
Succeeded by
Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
Preceded by
Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) number-one album (second run)
6 March 2010 – 13 March 2010
Succeeded by
Under The Cold Street Lights by Arid

Release history

Country Date Label Format
Germany 5 February 2010 (2010-02-05)[74] Sony Music CD, digital download
United Kingdom 8 February 2010 (2010-02-08)[75] RCA Label Group
Worldwide Sony Music
United States 9 February 2010 (2010-02-09)[75] Epic Records
Canada Sony Music
Taiwan 10 February 2010 (2010-02-10)[76]

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External links