''The Best of Sade'' is the first

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

by English band

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...

, released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in the United Kingdom on 31 October 1994 and in the United States on 4 November 1994. The compilation chronicles Sade's first four studio albums, while also including non-single songs "Jezebel", "Like a Tattoo" and "Pearls", as well as "Please Send Me Someone to Love", which appeared in the soundtrack to the film ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

''. The album was digitally remastered in 2000. The singles from ''

Diamond Life ''Diamond Life'' is the debut studio album by English band Sade, released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling ...

'', as well as ''

Stronger Than Pride ''Stronger Than Pride'' is the third studio album by English band Sade, released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1988 and in the United States on 10 May 1988. In September 2018, ''Pitchfork'' placed the album at number 37 on its ...

''s "

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

" and "

Nothing Can Come Between Us "Nothing Can Come Between Us" is a song by English band Sade from their third studio album, '' Stronger Than Pride'' (1988). It was released as the album's third single on 5 November 1988, reaching number 92 on the UK Singles Chart and number thr ...

", are presented in their 7″ edit forms; "

Never as Good as the First Time "Never as Good as the First Time" is a song by English band Sade from their second studio album, '' Promise'' (1985). It was released as the album's third single and contained a vocal intro not included on the original album version, as well as ...

" and "

Cherish the Day "Cherish the Day" is a song by English band Sade from their fourth studio album, '' Love Deluxe'' (1992). It was released as the album's fourth and final single in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1993. Critical reception Justin Chadwick from A ...

" are remixes produced by Sade, also taken from their respective singles. None of this information is listed within the packaging.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Jason Elias wrote, "By the time this was released in 1994, something unexpected happened. Sade's early work became classic and the later additions boasted even better vocals and songs that nicely improved on the theme. The timeless sound and class always exhibited makes

Sade Adu Helen Folasade Adu ( yo, Fọláṣadé Adú ; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( ), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead singer of her eponymous band. One of the most successful British fe ...

and her band a no-brainer for an appealing compilation. Like

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'', ''The Best of Sade'' doesn't detract from the original albums and is a marker of time, not the end of the act... Despite its riches, ''The Best of Sade'' doesn't include all of the best, since 'Maureen' and or 'Keep Looking' aren't here. It's a small complaint and ''The Best of Sade'' is a great overview."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

called the album "another loungecore alternative".

Track listing

Notes

* signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Best of Sade''.

Sade

– vocals * Andrew Hale – keyboards *

Stuart Matthewman Stuart Colin Matthewman (born 18 August 1960), also known as Cottonbelly, is an English songwriter, record producer and musician. With Sade Adu, Paul S. Denman, and Andrew Hale, he gained worldwide fame as the guitarist/saxophonist of the band Sa ...

– guitar, saxophone *

Paul S. Denman Paul Spencer Denman (born July 1957). English songwriter and bass guitarist. With Sade Adu, Andrew Hale, and Stuart Matthewman, Denman gained worldwide fame as the bass guitarist of the English band Sade. He is also a member of the English ba ...

– bass

Additional musicians

Dave Early Dave Early (5 April 1957 – 14 October 1996) was an English drummer and percussionist. He was best known as the original drummer for Sade. He also worked with Chris Rea, Van Morrison, The Chieftains, Mary Black, Ananta, and others. Later he mov ...

– drums, percussion * Martin Ditcham – percussion ; drums * Paul Cooke – drums * Terry Bailey – trumpet * Gordon Matthewman – trumpet * Pete Beachill – trombone * Leroy Osbourne – vocals * Jake Jacas – vocals * Gordon Hunte – guitar *

Nick Ingman Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor. Born and educated in London, Ingman moved ...

– string arrangements *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...

– orchestra leader * Tony Pleeth – solo cello * Karl Van Den Bossche – percussion * Trevor Murrell – drums

Technical

Robin Millar Robin John Christian Millar, CBE (born 18 December 1951) is an English record producer, musician and businessman, known variously as 'The Original Smooth Operator', 'The man behind Sade', and 'Golden Ears' Boy George. He was born in London to ...

– production *

Mike Pela Mike Pela (13 January 1950 – 23 July 2022) was a British record producer and mixer. He worked with various artists including Sade, Maxwell, Savage Garden and others, spanning a wide array of genres. Career Pela started his career in the 19 ...

– production engineering ; production ; engineering, co-production * Pete Brown – engineering assistance * Simon Driscoll – engineering assistance * Ben Rogan – production ; engineering, co-production * Sade – production , arrangement * Phil Legg – engineering assistance * Melanie West – engineering assistance * Vince McCartney – engineering assistance * Franck Segarra – engineering assistance * Olivier de Bosson – engineering assistance * Alain Lubrano – engineering assistance * Jean-Christophe Vareille – engineering assistance * Sandro Franchin – engineering assistance * Adrian Moore – engineering assistance * Marc Williams – engineering assistance * Hein Hoven – production, mixing * Ian Cooper – mastering

Artwork

* Albert Watson – photography * Jo Strettel – photography * Peter Brawne – design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best of Sade, The 1994 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Robin Millar Epic Records compilation albums Sade (band) compilation albums