Diamond Life

I'm always hesitant to use the phrase 'You just don't get it' to bash negative criticism of a work I enjoy, especially when the work is not exactly hard to 'get', but unfortunately I find myself in need of this argument when talking about Diamond Life. The reviews for this page are filled to the brim of complaints that this record is 'generic, 'uninspired' or 'artificial. 'Music for people that don't actually care about music' is a sentiment I see shared by people who will then give positive scores to the fucking Foo Fighters with no sense of irony. I have no issue with disliking this album of course, but if you think these descriptors apply to any part of this album you straight up don't know what makes good pop music and probably shouldn't act like an authority on the subject. This album simply epitomizes the word 'cool', everything about it is the smoothest of the smooth with its funky jazz instrumentals and Sade's sensual voice. Sade really is the perfect singer for this kind of music, she feels sort of like she's been designed in a lab to perfectly accompany this kind of easy listening jazz pop. Whilst this sounds on paper like it would create a nightmarishly bland LP the likes of which Michael Bolton and Bryan Adams could never hope to record, every track is full of soul and makes you feel like you're living an episode of Miami Vice (which is really what this kind of music should do). Rather than reveling in the artifice of many contemporary pop records, Diamond Life is a record that perfectly weaponizes subtlety to make the biggest impact on the listener it possibly can. It really makes you want to gaze across a neon cityscape, smoking a cigarette on an apartment balcony whilst reminiscing about a lost lover. Artificial is honestly the last word I would use to use to describe the music on this record, the emotion is oozing from every second of every track and quite frankly I would be surprised if anyone calling these tracks hollow was even attempting to meet them on their level. Its much more fun to sneer than give a chance to a work you happen to be apprehensive about. Therefore I have to assume the reason people attack this album is that they quite simply hear something that slightly resembles easy listening or Yacht Rock, and immediately assume it sucks without actually *listening* to how the music sounds. I hate easy listening too, but even I could tell this album rocks after just the first track! Its especially egregious to me with how obviously this genre of music crosses over with City Pop, which I can only imagine gets a free pass from people because of the perceived exoticism in listening to Japanese music (not shitting on City Pop for the record, check out Fly-day Chinatown when you get the chance) So ignore all of the screeching ignorance found in these 1 star reviews and go into this with an open mind, ideally at night and drift in Sade's world of sensuality and subtle melancholy. Then listen to everything else Sade has made. Its nothing but home runs for their entire discography, but Diamond Life is certainly a standout in that illustrious company. Highlights: Smooth Operator, Hang On To Your Love, Cherry Pie, Sally

Absolute banger. Sax for days.

Wow. Now I know why people love Sade. Absolute banger of an album.

I had a visceral reaction to this album, like a child revoking after touching a hot stove for the first time. I was driving faster on my way to work as if I could outrun the music. It feels like robots. It feels like lies. It’s like a nice glassy wrapped package that someone left empty. It has all the heart of the incidental music of a summertime Hallmark movie. Hopefully I won’t cross paths with this album again.

I wasn't expecting to be as into this album as I am. It's so smooth, funky, and jazzy. The musicianship is fantastic and Sade's vocals are phenomenal as well. The drums and bass are locked in and are doing really interesting lines and rhythms in the background. This is a marvelously produced album and is sequenced and mixed very well. In retrospect, it makes total sense that I love this album as I love funk and jazz. I was expecting something more dated I think.

Surprised by how much i loved it.

Too smooth. Yuck. Like a barbie crotch.

Generic ass middle of the road, nauseatingly smooth and uninspiring jazz sung with a boring vocal performance, what am I missing here? Best part is obviously the instrumentals, they carry Sade hard.

I feel an uncontrollable, visceral revulsion for almost every element of this. It's canned, bland, and impossible to stand. I can't discern any semblance of genuine human emotion from it. The sounds are flat and textureless, the songs plod along interminably, and the lyrics seem like they were written by a concussed android. Whether they're celebrating promiscuity and duplicitousness, as in 'Smooth Operator', or criticising it in 'Frankie's First Affair', (it's genuinely hard to tell), they are abject with an almost impressive uniformity.

perf combination of old and new soul and jazz. sade has been a huge influence to so many modern artists with a fresh take on this style of music. this album is so easy and nice to listen to. pretty romantic n smooth 💓💞💓💞💓truly iconic

Beautiful. So much soul with such a unique and fresh take on soulful jazz vocals. Def right up my alley

Timeless album. Not sure I will ever get tired of this one. First three songs are perfect, although I would prefer the US version of Smooth Operator to the UK version (on Spotify).

Like being stuck in a hotel lobby in the 1980s.

Very beige

8/10

Bloody awful. Music for people who don't actually listen to music - they just like something on while they're hosting a dinner party.

Un album très agréable à écouter. J'ai particulièrement apprécié le moment où Sade chante ♫ Shine bright like a diamond life, shine bright like a diamond life, We're beautiful like diamonds life in the sky ♫. Très sympa.

I'm trying so hard to approach this album objectively and failing. British sophisti-pop is possibly the most obnoxious genre of music ever created and Sade is the epitome of the genre. I found nothing redeeming in this album. The vocals are lazy, the melodies are sleazy, the lyrics are insipid, and DEAR GOD WHY ARE THERE SO MANY SAXOPHONE SOLOS. "Diamond Life" is absolutely infested with saxophone solos and it's not good. It's not good at all. I hated literally every moment of this album.

Really not my thing at all. Feels very corporate and slick.

smooth operator is a catchy tune. beats are pretty neat for 84, but grating cheesy lyrics won out. 2 minutes into frankie, i turned my stereo off from the toilet and finished shitting in silence.

If you like the sound of Casio keyboard and drum sounds together with alto saxophone solos and a smooth vocal then this album is for you. I've seen this described as sounding like elevator music and that's probably about right. It amazes me people actually bought this (I'm pretty sure my sister had this in her cd collection). Why, is beyond me. I guess smash hits or just 17 gave it a rave review? And I suppose the cover is quite cool in an art noir kind of way. Um, yeah, not really my bag. Is that 1000 words yet?

I tried to ignore my preconceptions about this album. Turns out they were right, utter shite.

Sade is such a phenomenal singer. This is a lovely jazz pop album.

Saxy and Smooth!

Fantastic album, smooth, funky, a pining and loving masterpiece. Possibly the best album so far.

This brought me back to when my sister listenes to this on her boombox. It is of a time and place. If you were there, this is peak mid 80’s.

OK. This is just a cool album made by a cool group.

No. 97/1001 Smooth Operator 5/5 Your Love Is King 5/5 Hang On to Your Love 4/5 Frankie's First Affair 4/5 When Am I Going To Make A Living 4/5 Cherry Pie 3/5 Sally 3/5 I Will Be Your Friend 3/5 Why Can't We Live Together 3/5 Average: 3,78 Really smooth album, loved her voice. Just lacked some musical diversity and some songs were a bit too long.

I am fairly certain that I or at least one of my siblings was conceived to this album so I haven't really listened to it before this 🌚

Good strong start with the first two songs, well known. But then the rest of the album seems just… vanilla. Didn’t really inspire. Good singer though.

bland generic smooth jazz. feel like I spent the last 45 minutes in an elevator

Nah, fuck this.

Utter shite. This album kicks off with the very forgettable "Smooth Operator" and gets progressively worse throughout. Shit songwriting. It's that simple. Long, poorly-crafted songs. Everything on this record - from Sade's goofy vocals, to the dull persuasion, and the soppy saxophone bollocks - is fucking terrible. This is one of those embarrassing 80s albums. 👎👎

This album is fantastic. I like that I didn't' realize that it was smooth operator until halfway through. The track is that good, one of my favorite single tracks of all time. it's followed by 'Your love is King' and 'Hang onto your love' which are also fantastic and groovy and danceable. Cherry Pie is also amazing. The last three tracks are more forgettable though the final track is mostly a very cool jungle instrumental with some beautiful percussion. This whole thing is so groovy, so danceable, so cool. This is the kind of music I really like driving with. It makes me want to put my sunglasses down and walk through the streets with my hips just barely swaying to the beat. These tracks are fantastically enjoyable and really make me yearn for a time where disco and soul were more prominent. Makes me want to go to a soul club. Maybe I will

Music so sweet to the ears that it will instantly convert any smooth soul skeptic into a believer.

It's interesting that the group made their whole "brand" around the singer, because the rest of the instrumentals are all really equally impressive. I know smooth jazz/pop has a reputation for being corny or generic but there is some serious talent on display in this album. The saxophone and the bass stand out but the keys and drums carry the rhythm as well. I like that the songs mostly have a solo/instrumental break in them in addition to the vocal parts to showcase all that. The vocals are unique; she's got a great low voice that fits well with the overall sound of "dark lounge possibly host to crime enterprises" band. "Smooth Operator" is such a banger that I'm kind of annoyed it's the first song on the album. It's funny that it's nowhere near the amount of streams as "Your Love is King" on Spotify - the latter is not anywhere near as good of a song. "Cherry Pie" is another really good one and somehow doesn't sound as long as it's runtime would suggest. I was surprised by this. This is the precursor to the 90's wave of european trip hop which I really like so I guess it isn't too much of a surprise. You do have to get over yourself when listening to it though or it's going to sound like elevator music.

I listened to this on Friday, all I remember is r&b and not much else

Boring adult contemporary music. Better than I thought it was going to be, but I'm writing this 10 minutes after I finished listening, and I remember almost nothing about it. Best track: Why Can't We Live Together

This is more a fragrance than a record. A delightful fragrance, but thin on tunes that would sit comfortably outside the end credits of a London-set made-for-VHS gangster movie in the eighties. Simon, no prizes for guessing which of our project’s silent partners is a fan of this album.

The kind of music I expect to be playing in an empty hotel foyer at 1:30am

If you like sex, this is a good album. If you like music, not so much. Polished and smooth, but also empty and soulless. Smooth Operator is a great track, but the rest is boring and forgettable.

Maybe you had to be there in the 89s to understand why people dislike this so much. Every damn song on the radio sounded like this shit. Smooth jazz/pop. Ugh.

Smooth. Loathed this at the time, quite enjoyed it this time. One of those that is good in its field, and evokes that time in music very well without sounding particularly dated.

This album ultimately just didn't impress me. The vocals weren't very strong, the lyrics were kinda boring and the music faded into the background as "muzak" or cocktail lounge-y

Yawn with a layer of cheese

If you did the lounge-y rhythms are dated you'd be half right. Bust them out now and they'd sound pretty rote, but that doesn't mean they aren't snazzy. The downer isn't the bongos, it's the description to boilerplate ratio, which (BS statistic coming up) is something like 3:7. More Sally, less Cherry Pie.

She looks as good on this album cover as the songs on the album - absolutely stunning I love me some saxophone. Adds to the overall atmosphere of the album I thought the absolute banger of Smooth Operator would set too high of a standard for the rest of the songs to hit and the first couple of songs after that made my fears come true. It got to Frankie's First Affair and it came back to the highs of Smooth Operator and didn't come down again after that

I absolutely love how yuppie this sounds despite the fact that it’s a blatant middle finger to the yuppie lifestyle. Also it fucking grooves!!! Again, I’m a sucker for sophisti-pop, but this is so much more complex and textured, it’s kind of hard to argue against. Just because it’s a bit smooth and not in your face doesn’t mean it’s not masterful. When this came up for me, I was a bit surprised, because I personally would’ve expected any other Sade album than Diamond Life. But after listening to this record, and then subsequently listening to both Strong Than Pride and Love Deluxe (aka the Sade albums I knew I loved), I have to admit, Diamond Life might be their best record. Then again, Sade are pretty consistent, and we absolutely could have made room for one more of their records, at the very least.

ive been thinking of what to say for hours but tbh im prob not in the right headspace for writing and also this is just about the most self-evidentially good music i can think of! if u share any values with western popular music, uve got something to chew on here...rich and melodic and polished and authentic and above all else constantly Touching. arrangements and vocal performances that feel like some kind of logical endpoint of those entire concepts, and yet idk its always human and approachable in all its mastery, never feels alienating or like its Above You even as u have to admire it. i cant even imagine what set of life circumstances could set u up to not love this besides like, racism HFJKFHSJKFSHKJ

dan aykroyd saying sade.mp4

It Sade so its going to be good. The best song on here was Smooth Operator. There was no worst song on here either 9/10

Well today I learned that Sade is a band name, and not just the name of the singer lady! This album is so classic and beautiful.

Beautiful voice always

For your information, my Nigerian goddess, Chicago is not on the coast and there is no R in your name. That being said, Diamond Life is a unique masterpiece of smooth jazz pop, and I LOVE it!! 5

In heavens name why .. wouldn't this get 5 stars. All love to Sade!

absolutely beautiful and breathtaking album that is super tight and also really chill. Either to listen to and doesn't really lose anything throughout the whole album. Plus, smooth operator.

Talk about smooth. Wow. This album flows so cleanly it makes 45 minutes fly by. Love Sade's voice. Great album. All I got to say

Super

A favorite! All Sade is good.

When I was in 6th/7th grade, I played trumpet in the school concert band. I really enjoyed it, so I also joined the after school jazz band. I had never heard of Sade until our band director picked “Smooth Operator” as our piece for the Spring Concert. Many years passed without me thinking of Sade or Smooth Operator. One afternoon I was out shopping for records and I found Smooth Operator on a 12 inch single. Immediately took it home and gave it a spin; the song just was just good as I remembered. So naturally I listened to the full album and the rest is history. I say all of that to say that this album is a smooth-soul/jazz classic and a phenomenal debut album that will always have a special place in my heart.

Put your hands together for Sade! Diamond Life is a killer debut; well thought out and executed. We had this album on CD shortly after it came out so know it well. Her rich, smooth voice over jazzy sax makes for a memorable listen. L - sweet as Cherry Pie (5.0*s) J - Stronger Than Pride (4.8*s)

Smooth as silk

SMOOTH OPERATTOOORRRR. I fucking love this song Hang on to your love is another classic I fucking love Sade. Such sexy music

Yea this was everything you want in album. Smooth operator is such a bop, and the rest of the album is solid too. Wasn’t a song I didn’t like on the whole thing

Banger after banger

Love singing along to this one and her voice is beautiful, bass and sax for days

this was amazing, some amazing songs and really great production

jazzy pop.. smooth operator indeed. a few banger tracks on the album pushed it to 5 stars. Every instrumental interlude is interesting and fun. Favorite track: Smooth Operator other picks: your love is king, hang on to your love, cherry pie, sally

Beautiful album. Warm, smooth production and her voice is perfect. I put this record on often and it’s one of the only ones that my entire family agrees on.

Killer album - amazing production, style just dripping off the tracks, and amazing vocals on a consistent collection of tracks. Four and a half. Fave track: Your Love Is King

Beautiful woman amazing voice🤩🥰

Holy crap this is an all time great album fuck off if you don't like it!

This was a pleasant album with lots of great instrumentation and vocals. Sade's music trends to feel exciting and relaxing at the same time. The big single on this album, "Smooth Operator" is a straight banger. I just wish they'd have placed it in the middle or toward the end. But I suppose it might be tough for a band making it's debut to know what songs will stick.

I love it. Could listen on repeat.

So good, never knew her album. Very smooth voice and style.

Smoooooooth operatooooooor

Remember when music videos were everything? I was all of sixteen, and I vividly remember the “What is this!?” feeling when I saw the video for “Smooth Operator” and being blown away. Sure, part of it was how stunningly gorgeous Sade was (and still is), but many people even today seem to confuse the lead singer with the band name Sade, and the whole group is amazing. For me, it was the uniqueness of what Sade was doing compared to other 80s bands. While UK synth pop and U.S. hair metal bands were ruling the top of the charts, here comes this band out of left field with this R&B, synths and jazz tinged album that for me was mesmerizing, even as a teenager. And the deep cuts are deep, this isn’t an album just about night clubs and gigolos. It’s a classic for a reason. Not all about Gig

Classic easy listening

Schöne Musik, tolle Stimme

Beautiful record. The "new wave of British jazz" high mark. Loved this as students, love it now. Also, the "Lathe Operator" parody by Lenny Henry was superb

cool 5/5

This album rubs you down with scented oils before making sweet, sweet love to you. Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.

Arrancamos la semana con una banda y disco súper sexis. Cualquier álbum que empiece con una canción como "Smooth Operator" no puede ser malo: la voz de Sade que no da más de sensualidad, el bajo y la percusión que encastran a la perfección y así con todo. El disco continúa con la voz potente y sexi de Sade y la sutileza y fineza de la banda, que juega con lo funky, con el jazz y con lo que quieran experimentar. Ni hablar de los lookazos que clava Sade en los videoclips: impresionantes. Gran comienzo.

Extremely excellent

This is a fabulous album! The version of Why Can't We Live Together is genius.

Nice, smooth, silky -> Sade!

Sade for Prime Minister

Smooth as you like

Excellent

Smooth!

Oh boy, this one takes me back to the good place. 1984, the world in front, school in the rear, girlfriend in tow. Where we paused, the turntable found power and the needle did damage. Add the Cerwin Vega amp and ridiculously large speakers, and our neighbors enjoyed this album on a weekly basis. Sorry, not sorry!

Love Sade

Too slow for my taste but very well done.

Shit's so good that it makes me want to pick up my saxophone and play.

The Queen

Love, love, love his album. Sade's voice is amazing.... top marks from me here. Finally an album in this list that deserves to be here.

Smoooooth

FUCK YEAAAAAA

Flawless.

Absolutely loved this. Soft mellow sound of Sade. I would put this more in the genre of soft jazz linked with a touch of soul rather than pop and soul. The album is more sophisticated to warrant coming under the genre of pop. Brilliant. Loved it.