No Ordinary Love (1992)

"No Ordinary Love" is a song by English band Sade, released in September 1992 by Epic Records as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Love Deluxe (1992), on which the song appears as the opening track. It was written by lead singer Sade Adu and Stuart Matthewman. In the United Kingdom, the single was originally issued in September 1992, then was re-issued in mid-1993 following its appearance in the erotic drama film Indecent Proposal.

The song was commercially successful, reaching the top 10 in Greece and Italy and entering the top 40 in seven other countries. In the accompanying music video, directed by Sophie Muller, Adu plays a mermaid who wants to be a bride. American magazine Rolling Stone included "No Ordinary Love" on their list of the "500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2024.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. Sade won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1994. That same yame year, "No Ordinary Love" was also awarded one of ASCAP's R&B Music Awards, as well as one of BMI's Pop Songs Awards, honoring the songwriters, composers, and music publishers of the song.

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine stated that it shows Sade and band "in fine form, sounding, as always, cool and sexy." He also said that her "famously smoky voice is the highlight of a spare arrangement, supported by percussive guitar and even a ghostly metal solo." Amy Linden from Entertainment Weekly found that Sade, "the high priestess of understated cool, heats up on the fabulous "No Ordinary Love", which surges with emotion." Dave Sholin of the Gavin Report felt that "her extraordinary songstyling is hotter than ever." Another Gavin Report editor, John Martinucci, said, "At last, the sensual vocals of Sade return with a hypnotic beat underlined by an occasional, crunching guitar."

Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian felt the singer's "sleepy croon doesn't waver" as she's "purring a breathless poem" about her mister. David Stubbs from Melody Maker viewed it as "another syrupy ladling". Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that "the grande dame of sophisticated soul has updated her beats a little bit and added a more wiggly guitar sound." A reviewer from Music Week named it "a stylish, sophisticated, subdued and superior song", adding, "It's also extremely subtle". Jeff Silberman from The Network Forty complimented its "languid beat and the cool, cool melody" A writer for People Magazine viewed the song as "a baby-making slow jam that comes on like musical Viagra."

In a 2017 retrospective review, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described the song as "insistent and intimate", adding that it's "evoking the desperation of trying to secure an elusive love". He also noted that the song begins with "one of the most devastating intros ever". In 2012, Sophie Heawood of The Guardian commented, "The band reached their peak of opulent sound design on the aptly titled album Love Deluxe; its seven-minute epic of a lead single is as bleak as it is sensual, casting heartbreak as the greatest luxury of all." In 2010, the Daily Vault's Mark Millan declared it as "intoxicating". He added that it "is Adu's lament of a one-sided love affair", noting that it "harbors a serious groove, but the underlying anger of love gone bad is represented with a subtle but powerful guitar riff that helps get the job done."

Commercial performance

"No Ordinary Love" entered the top 10 in Greece and Italy, as well as on the European Dance Radio Chart, where it peaked at number nine in November 1992. Additionally, the song entered the top 20 in Finland, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, where it reached number 14 during its second run on the UK Singles Chart on 5 June 1993, making it Sade's second-most successful single in the UK, after "Your Love Is King" in 1984. The single received a silver record in the UK, after 200 000 units were sold. "No Ordinary Love" was also a top-30 hit in Switzerland and on the Eurochart Hot 100, a top-40 hit in Belgium and Sweden, and a top-50 hit in Germany. Outside Europe, it peaked at numbers 21 and 17 in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.

In the United States, the single charted on four different Billboard charts: number 28 on the Hot 100, number 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart, number 29 on the Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover chart and number nine on the Hot R&B Singles chart. "No Ordinary Love" also climbed to number 21 on the US Cash Box Top 100 and number 11 on the Cash Box Top R&B Singles chart.