Stronger Than Pride

Stronger Than Pride is the third studio album by English band Sade. It was released by Epic Records in the United States on 5 April 1988 and in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1988. In September 2018, Pitchfork placed the album at number 37 on its list of The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s.[6] The album spawned five singles.

Stronger Than Pride
Studio album by Sade
Released	5 April 1988 (1988-04-05)
Recorded	1987–1988
Studio	Compass Point, Nassau, Bahamas Miraval, Le Val, France Marcadet, Paris
Genre	Soul funk
Length	47:07
Label	Epic
Producer	Sade Mike Pela Ben Rogan
Sade chronology
Promise (1985) Stronger Than Pride (1988) Love Deluxe (1992)
Singles from Stronger Than Pride
"Love Is Stronger Than Pride" Released: 2 April 1988 "Paradise" Released: 2 July 1988 "Nothing Can Come Between Us" Released: 5 November 1988 "Turn My Back on You" Released: 21 November 1988 "Haunt Me" Released: February 1989

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Los Angeles Times	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
The Village Voice	B−[5]

Critical reception

Robert Christgau stated, "I'm glad this self-made aristocrat has a human side, but I prefer her image: now that she's singing billets-doux, she's even further from rewarding the concentration she warrants than she used to be. Touching your beloved with a few true cliches is hard enough. For an audience you have to come up with something that doesn't fade into the background like the new age jazz she went pop with."[7] Kristine McKenna of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The nine songs on Stronger Than Pride add up to one long plea of desire, and as the album makes its way up the charts—as it surely will—armies of love-struck men will no doubt dream of losing themselves in Sade's quiet storm of passion."[2] AllMusic's Ron Wynn commented that "Sade demonstrated some intensity and fire on her third release. Whether that was just an attempt to change the pace a bit or a genuine new direction, she had more animation in her delivery on such songs as 'Haunt Me,' 'Give It Up,' and the hit 'Paradise.' Not that she was suddenly singing in a soulful or bluesy manner; rather, Sade's dry and introspective tone now had a little more edge, and the lyrics were ironic as well as reflective. This was her third consecutive multi-platinum album, and it matched the two-million-plus sales level of her debut."[1]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Sade Adu, except "Siempre Hay Esperanza".

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Love Is Stronger Than Pride"	Adu Andrew Hale Stuart Matthewman	4:16
2.	"Paradise"	Adu Hale Matthewman Paul S. Denman	4:01
3.	"Nothing Can Come Between Us"	Adu Matthewman Hale	4:21
4.	"Haunt Me"	Adu Matthewman	5:48
5.	"Turn My Back on You"	Adu Hale Matthewman	6:05
6.	"Keep Looking"	Adu Hale	5:20
7.	"Clean Heart"	Adu Matthewman Hale	3:59
8.	"Give It Up"	Adu Matthewman Hale	3:49
9.	"I Never Thought I'd See the Day"	Adu Leroy Osbourne	4:12
10.	"Siempre Hay Esperanza"	Matthewman Adu Osbourne	5:16
Total length:			47:07

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Stronger Than Pride.[8]

Sade

• Stuart Matthewman – guitars, saxophone
• Sade Adu – vocals
• Andrew Hale – keyboards
• Paul S. Denman – bass
• Sade – arrangements

Additional personnel

• Leroy Osbourne – vocals
• Martin Ditcham – drums, percussion
• James McMillan – trumpet
• Jake Jacas – trombone
• Gordon Hunte – guitar (tracks 2, 8)
• Nick Ingman – string arrangements (tracks 4, 9)
• Gavyn Wright – solo violin (track 4)

Technical

• Sade – production
• Mike Pela – engineering, co-production
• Ben Rogan – engineering, co-production
• 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
• Herb Powers Jr. – mastering

Artwork

• Levon Parian – cover photograph
• Toshi Yajima – inner photograph
• Graham Smith – design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1988) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] 11 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 6 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11] 9 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 1 European Albums (Music & Media)[13] 1 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 3 French Albums (SNEP)[15] 4 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 4 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 8 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 8 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 7 Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[20] 9 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[23] 3 US Billboard 200[24] 7 US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[25] 21 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[26] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1988) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 18 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[28] 46 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 22 European Albums (Music & Media)[30] 8 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 17 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 17 US Billboard 200[33] 37 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34] 26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[35]	Platinum	100,000^^
France (SNEP)[36]	2× Platinum	600,000^*
Germany (BVMI)[37]	Gold	250,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[38]	Platinum	100,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[39]	Gold	7,500^^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[40]	Platinum	100,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[41]	Platinum	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[42]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)[43]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of European number-one hits of 1988

References

1. Wynn, Ron. "Stronger Than Pride – Sade". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
2. McKenna, Kristine (22 May 1988). "Sade's in the Perfect Groove for Romance, and Van Halen Pulls the Punch Lines". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
3. Tannenbaum, Rob (11 August 1988). "Sade: Stronger Than Pride". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
4. Sarig, Roni (2004). "Sade". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 712–13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. Christgau, Robert (26 July 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
6. "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
7. "Robert Christgau: CG: Sade". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
8. Stronger Than Pride (liner notes). Sade. Epic Records. 1988. 460497 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 263. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Sade – Stronger Than Pride" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8592". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sade – Stronger Than Pride" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
13. "Eurochart Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 5 no. 22. 28 May 1988. p. 30. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 6 February 2019 – via American Radio History.
14. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
15. "Les Albums (CD) de 1988 par InfoDisc" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sade – Stronger Than Pride" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
17. シャーデーのアルバム売り上げランキング [Sade album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
18. "Charts.nz – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
19. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
20. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
24. "Sade Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
25. "Sade Chart History (Top Contemporary Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
26. "Sade Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
27. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1988". austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 6 February 2019.
28. "Top 100 Albums of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49 no. 10. 24 December 1988. p. 13. ISSN 0315-5994. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
29. "Jaaroverzichten – CD 1988". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
30. "1988 Year End Eurocharts – Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4 no. 51/52. 1 January 1989. p. 30. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 6 February 2019 – via American Radio History.
31. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1988" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
32. "Swiss Year-End Charts 1988". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
33. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
34. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
35. "Canadian album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Music Canada. 29 August 1988. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
36. "French album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 20 April 1995. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
37. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sade; 'Stronger Than Pride')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
38. "Dutch album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 6 February 2019. Enter Stronger Than Pride in the "Artiest of titel" box.
39. "New Zealand album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
40. Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 924. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
41. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Sade; 'Stronger Than Pride')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
42. "British album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". British Phonographic Industry. 6 July 1988. Retrieved 20 August 2011. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Stronger Than Pride in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
43. "American album certifications – Sade – Stronger Than Pride". Recording Industry Association of America. 9 November 1994. Retrieved 20 August 2011. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.