"Sade - Love Deluxe" I Don't Get Sophistipop

    

    It is time for me to once again speak on a genre I don't listen to that much and say that I don't like a critically acclaimed album as much as I should. I'd argue that you should blame my friend Omaid for this who recommended this record even though I swear I've never even heard him talk about it at all. Either way, I thought I might as well give it a shot. After all, I did enjoy the track Smooth Operator by Sade but I came into this review with a relatively clean slate clear of any biases. Except for one. I don't know how to put this but as someone who enjoys pop music I am simply just not impressed with the majority of sophistipop. Don't get me wrong I love That! Feels Good! by Jessie Ware, but I was surprised to find that most of her previous work was in that slower range of pop genres, and the hit rate just wasn't as high. Either way, this album was rated highly enough to give it a fair shake, so without further ado, my track-by-track review.

Love Deluxe - Sade 

No Ordinary Love - 55/100 I'm not saying I'm against long tracks but I don't really get the appeal of sophistipop. The songs are usually on the longer and slower side and I just don't think the payoff is really there to justify any of it, and this song doesn't buck any of those trends for me.

Feel No Pain - 70/100 Now this song is much better in my opinion. It's much quicker to get into the swing of things and has a little funk to help keep things interesting.

I Couldn't Love You More - 50/100 I don't want this album to end up just being me talking about how much I don't like/understand sophistipop but these songs really don't amount to anything in my eyes. They're fine, they're not inoffensive or anything, but they don't really go anywhere for my liking.

Like a Tattoo - 75/100 Not to be the dude who always like the popular songs but this song does have a decent amount of juice I can appreciate. 


Kiss of Life - 85/100 Easily my favourite track off of the record so far. Whether it's the sax or piano it does feel real smooth and it really makes you feel what Sade is going for on this record.

Cherish the Day - 60/100 Sadly we are back to the regularly scheduled programming of fine, albeit plain pop music. 

Pearls - 70/100 This song is a little bare but the lyrics and story have kept it in for me. Even with just strings Sade lets her voice shine and it works.

Bullet Proof Soul - 75/100 Maybe this albums second half is just better. I just really like it when someone else is singing harmonies on these songs with Sade. It helps the songs feel much fuller.

Mermaid - 65/100 Not the biggest fan of instrumentals normally. Especially when I think Sade's singing is the strength of this album (and kind of has to be considering how plain the tracks are in my opinion), but I think this song is quite lush and is sort of an exception.

Final Score: 70/100

    Yeah I just don't really get what makes this album so great. It's a fine album, enough for me to call it good enough, and say if I put it on the background of a conversation I wouldn't mind it. But a lot of these songs are just average to me. I do think it gets a bit better around the second half, but that's not saying much there are only nine tracks to this whole album. With slower albums I am typically much more mood/context dependent to get the fullest enjoyment out of them though, so maybe one day I'll revisit this album and find it's as great as everyone makes it out to be. But for now, this album is just fine.

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