its not rock, but its not bad either (Lovers Rock - Sade)

Member Name: blackhawk

Product:	Lovers Rock - Sade
Date:	22/02/01 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: makes good background music

Disadvantages: bit repetitive

This never was my favourite musical style and no, I would never have bought the album myself. It is and has been my girlfriends favourite album, and with 'rock' in the title I borrowed it and gave it a go. This is a misleading title because there is not a single track on this CD that could be considered even close to rock. This relaxing album will not quicken any pulses or raise anyone’s blood pressure unless you play it as background music on a hot date. Hip-hop backbeats and acoustic guitars dominate the mix as Sade’s voice twists and turns throughout the album.

When played at low levels as background music, Sade’s voice loses its presence, but the music still carries the songs. At higher volumes, Sade’s vocals come to the front so that every breathy note and her thick backup tracks can be easily heard. This genre of music is a perfect showcase for her well-recorded vocals. There are rarely more than three or four instruments playing simultaneously at any point on the recording and this openness provides a large stage for Sade.

Where Lovers Rock stumbles is in its lack of variety. The album suffers from ballad overdose and a lack of anything truly funky. Some of beats have a good groove, but the record is void of any up-tempo songs to break the slow pace. It’s as if Sade and her songwriters would write a laid-back song and then try with each subsequent track to make each one even more down-tempo. Almost every track is seemingly about love or heartbreak. The subject matter changes on the album’s best track, the reggae-tinged "Immigrant Song" (not to be confused with the Led Zeppelin song of the same title). Sade sings of an unnamed young immigrant boy and his struggle to gain acceptance in a new land. The lyrics are just vague enough to convey a story, but Sade lets the listener fill in the blanks of who the song is really about.

If easygoing, well-produced soft love songs are your b
ag, few do it better than Sade, and Lovers Rock should have a home in your CD player. If your looking for rock, please look elsewhere...

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