Bring Me Home - Live 2011

Scoring a pair of seats to a Sade concert is the adult equivalent of finding a golden ticket inside a chocolate-bar wrapper. Where most modern live albums do well to approximate an artist in an open setting, Sade’s Bring Me Home bundle goes the extra mile to re-create the experience with pristine recordings of new songs, classic hits, and an intimate 20-minute documentary that plays like a virtual backstage pass. The album opens with all the cool sound effects that introduce “Soldier of Love”, replete with the panoramic roar of the audience as Sade takes the stage and sings with her honeyed tone over marching drums. The slow-burning “Skin” follows with the band taking a less-is-more approach, leaving her plenty of space to fill with her gorgeous and instantly recognizable voice. Another amazing aspect of this recording is that some songs sound better onstage than in the studio. “Kiss of Life” and “Morning Life” share an intangible intimacy. The acoustic guitar version of “By Your Side” makes up for the absence of “Sweetest Taboo”.