Customer Reviews

Lovers Rock/ Lovers Live (CD & DVD)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

But, if you are a Sade fan, you allready own both pieces of this set.
Recorded during the Lover's Rock tour of a couple of years ago, Lover's Live features a CD of the show (with 13 songs), and a DVD of the concert (with 22 performances). The DVD also features background material, backstage interviews, and the video for "King of Sorrow", one of Sade's greatest songs.
The material here is out of this world - if you have never had the good fortune of seeing Helen Folesade Adu live, this is a great collection for checking out what you are missing. Her voice was in excellent shape during the Lover's Live tour, and Sweetback, her backing band, was completely on for the shows (by the way, if you have never heard Sweetback's material recorded without Sade, be sure to pick it up).
Highlights of the show are the "Slave Song" and "Somebody Allready Broke My Heart" (from Lover's Rock), Kiss Of Life (which is among the two or three best songs in Sade's repetoire when performed live), "Paradise" (which gives her an opportunity to improvise with some scatting and playfulness to the vocals) and the showstopping "Is It A Crime" - what is truly incredible about Sade is that she embraces the faults in her voice, as the cracking on the high note at the end of this song indicates. "Is It a Crime" is possibly the greatest torch song of the 80's, and hearing it live is bone-chilling.
The DVD portion of the package includes a number of songs that failed to make it onto the CD - be sure not to miss "Cherry Pie", which is one of the highlights of this set, and a suprising omission from the CD set, given the stellar performance. "King of Sorrow" also makes an appearance here in a live setting, and Sade is at her heartbroken best here.
This package fills a necessary void, and is a nice holdover until the next Sade project, which, given her history, is still a couple of years away. But that might be the secret to her longevity and popularity. As successful as she has been over the last 20 years, Sade remains one of the greatest enigmas of popular music. An album, a tour, a disappearing act. Here's hoping she returns soon.

If you like Sade I so highly recommend this. This concert DVD is awesome, vocals and instruments and soul, and the filming of the concert is so great. Just a while ago saw Pearls and now going through Jezebel, one of my favorites ever, my jaw is on the floor, this is so beautiful from all possible angles, sound and visuals...

Needless to say this package is such a great deal having this great concert DVD plus Lovers Rock CD. Highest recommendation possible.

These discs are sold in many different ways. You can buy them separately. You can buy as they are sold here, as a CD with a bonus DVD in a standard CD jewel case. Or you can buy it as a DVD with a bonus CD in a standard DVD box. The prices on all keep changing. So, you should check all the options to see which is the best value. Lovers Live is also available on audio CD but does not include all of the songs.

THE DVD RATES ABOUT 4 STARS AND THE CD ABOUT 2 STARS.

This is one of the best filmed and edited concert DVDs to come out in the last few years. Most concert DVDs are filmed with inadequate lighting and with bad camera angles. The editing can be especially bad, with the scenes constantly flipping, the cameras always zooming in and out, and the wrong person being shown at the wrong time.

The filming and lighting of this DVD is extremely good. The camera angles and close ups are great. The editing is fairly good, but not as good as some classics, like Stop Making Sense. For the most part, the scene focuses on the correct musician at the correct time. The shots are held for more than 2 seconds. There still is a little too much flipping around in some parts, like during the encore. The shot never holds long enough for you to get a clear picture of the new outfit and hairdo Sade has just changed into.

The extras on this DVD are not very significant. There are shots of Sade and the band walking from backstage up to the stage. And then there is a section of inane interviews of fans.

This is the concert tour to support Sade's Lovers Rock CD. So, there are many songs from that album. Much of the music at this concert is played in the style of Lovers Rock, even most of her old classic songs.

I prefer Sade's original sound to what she is doing today. It is a subtle change, but I don't think the new sound makes the best of her voice and talents.

The sound is a starker, muted sound backed by a rhythm that almost sounds like an electronic drum machine. Her vocals are whispered in popish way. I prefer the old days where she a lusher, but more jazz oriented sound. However, I also like a couple of the new tracks on Lovers Rock that are blues oriented.

For anyone who loves Sade, especially her more recent sound, this is a fantastic concert DVD. You couldn't ask for more.

THIS CD DOES NOT MAKE THE MOST OF SADE'S VOICE OR SONG WRITING.

The CD, originally released in 2000, contains 11 studio recorded tracks. It is 44 minutes long.

This is really a stark, stripped down sound for Sade, especially when you compare it to her early work.

Seven of the tracks are driven by muted electronic rhythms and a muffled background music. I don't think the sound works well with Sade's vocal style. She sings flat and without emotion. All seven of these tracks sound alike and the CD gets boring and monotonous.

The songs that are good are where she drops the electronic rhythms and lets the emotion of her voice come through, or where she livens up and starts to rock.

On The Sweetest Gift and It's Only Love That Gets You Through, Sade sings to almost no accompanyment. Here she sings in a great jazz/blues style and really lets the emotion of her voice come through.

King of Sorrow and Immigrant are a little more upbeat rockers. (they are not really rockers, but do rock when you compare to the other tracks on the CD). Here she sings with more energy and variation.

So, if she is the King of Sorrow, I think I might consider turning gay.

The Lovers Live Sade video is her best ever. Not only is the band and the singer on fire, the video itself is marvelous. Great lighting, great sound, great setting. Entertainment doesn't get any better than this!

It was almost like being in the audience again. I Luv her. This is my replacement copy, I've worn out my my last Lovers Live ;-)

This is the seond time I've purchased this item, so no surprises, love it, top notch value for the price.

They came in good condition, thanks! I love the cd and the dvd is awesome!

the dvd is without flaw but heads up on the cd as the sound reproduction is warped. you're better off buying the dvd and cd separately.

Tired of the bleached blonde, lip-synching, bimbos that pass for pop-stars these days? Here's the real deal. She belts out almost two hours of incredible original music without a crack. Her band is as slick and professional a group as you will ever see. And who knew Sade could dance? She moves the way she sings, with grace and style. What a woman!

The DVD has become my Friday night decompression from a week of stress. The beautiful sounds and beautiful lady are a hypnotic combination. I like the mix of old and new. "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" is just a fantastic bluesy song and sounds even better live.

I also love the CD. The sound is fine on a quality stereo system. It does break-up a little on my computer speakers and did not rip to the I-pod very well. I believe the problem is the very deep bass - King of Sorrow in particular. Oh well. If you are shopping for a new sub-woofer or tower speakers, this is the CD to bring.

I like the fact that both disks come in a normal CD-sized case, not a bulky DVD booklet.

Stop reading reviews and just buy it - the album itself would cost this much in a retail store.

HAVING OWNED ALL OF SADE'S WORKS, I ENJOYED LIVE DVD PERFORMANCE & WOULD RATE IT 4 1/2 STARS.FLIP SIDE OF THE REVIEW IS THE CD. IT IS POUR QUALITY & WEAK FOR ANYTHING BY THIS ARTIST. SOUND IS ALMOST MUTED & UNLIKE ALL OTHER SADE WORKS THAT I PLAY OVER & OVER, I WILL NOT WASTE MY TIME LISTENING TO THIS ONE AGAIN.