Sade/ Stronger Than Pride- 1988 /Epic OE 44210 - Herbie Smiley Face Etch

$

17

When I was first getting into Sade and listening to their discography from start to finish, I admittedly took an embarrassingly long amount of time to even form a single, concise thought regarding Stroger Than Pride, let alone write a whole review on it. I mainly attribute this occurrence to the fact that, when I first heard this album in full, it sort of passed me by without leaving that much of a strong (see what I did there?) impression on me. And although I didn’t necessarily love it upon my initial listen, I knew this project was worth much more than a review that could essentially boil down to a highly informative “It was alright”. I wouldn’t do that to Sade.

In my review of Promise, I talked about how it could’ve been incredibly easy for Sade to continue making Smooth-Operator-sounding songs for a great portion of their careers and still remain relatively significant in the music scene. And, to me, Stronger Than Pride is a partial example of what Sade could’ve become if they hadn’t started taking breaks in between releases. Although the one-year gap between Diamond Life and Promise was evidently enough for the band to evolve musically, I feel like the three years in between Promise and Stronger Than Pride somehow weren’t enough for Sade to deliver an album that could stand tall next to its successors. I’m unaware as to whether they were a little burnt out at this point or simply took a more mellow artistic approach to the songs, but something just doesn’t click as nicely this third time around.
One could say that while this album may be stronger than pride, it certainly isn’t stronger than Promise or even Lovers Rock. I’m sorry, the opportunity was right there.

Putting comparisons aside, I’ve still found plenty of things to love about Stronger Than Pride after sitting through the tracklist one too many times. I won't lie, the first few times I heard the album, I found myself at the edge of my seat just sort of waiting for a song that would blow me out of the water. Something along the lines of Is It a Crime or maybe Frankie's First Affair. And perhaps I was sabotaging my own listening experience for even expecting something like that in the first place, but, luckily for me, I've grown accustomed to the fact that Stronger Than Pride has a smoother and more sophisticated flow than its predecessors. In the sense that it doesn’t rely as heavily on grandiose saxophone solos, but rather on iconic bass lines, whimsical (and almost tropical?) soundscapes, and, of course, Sade Adu’s mesmerizing voice, though that last component isn’t necessarily new, for whatever reason.
Considering that Stronger Than Pride isn’t exactly bad, just different, I wholeheartedly believe the only reason why it feels like such a big dip in quality in comparison to Diamond Life and Promise is that, well, it's THE Diamond Life and THE Promise. After such impressive records, the stakes were pretty high for Sade, and I'm honestly not that surprised by the slight mishap.

Despite this, and against common misconceptions, I do think Stronger Than Pride is still worth listening to. It contains certain songs that I would easily deem as some of Sade's best. For instance, there's the opener, Love Is Stronger Than Pride. I always feel at ease when I listen to this specific song. The soundscape they managed to create is just so whimsical and soothing. The only thing about this song that doesn't quite do it for me is the male backing vocals, which is the same exact problem I have with Paradise. By all means, why would a man be there? I also recommend checking out the cover that Lauryn Hill made of Love Is Stronger Than Pride way back when. It must be floating around somewhere on YouTube, I'm sure.
Beyond those two, I also really love Haunt Me. I have my own suspicions that the only reason why I even favor this song at all is that it's basically Punch Drunk from Promise, but with vocals. It has a similar chord progression, but the song's main appeal is missing: the saxophone. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but so be it. Last but not least, I'd also like to mention Clean Heart. I initially overlooked this song completely, but I've warmed up to it in time. I like it for pretty much the same reasons I enjoy Love Is Stronger Than Pride: it's tranquil, soothing, and Sade's vocals are absolutely beautiful.

Just to wrap things up, the main takeaway from this review is that, depending on where you stand with Diamond Life and Promise, you can either