Sade: Lovers Live : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

After an eight-year hiatus, Sade delivered 2001's Lovers Rock and took her band on a three-month tour of the U.S., resulting in the magical Lovers Live. Recorded post-September 11th during stops in Anaheim and Inglewood, California, the disc opens with a jubilant, bass-anchored rendition of "Cherish the Day" and closes with the crowd-rousing torch song "Is It a Crime." But all points in between are just as thrilling. Sade's vocals have become richer, and live Lovers Rock favorites such as "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" (which fluidly melds into "Never as Good as the First Time") and the poignant "By Your Side" are revitalized, and classics like the haunting "Jezebel" and the rapturous "Sweetest Taboo" sound fresher than ever. The latter even inspires the audience to chant, "Go Sade, Go Sade," and the listener can almost imagine the seductress coolly sashaying across the stage to the exotic, percussive beat. Before launching into the spirited "Kiss of Life," Sade tells her audience, "I don't know what's happening outside, but it feels like sunshine in here." Even in these uncertain times, Sade still wraps us up in the color of love.