Good first half, boring second half

I have always liked Sade's albums. She has some good songs on 1988's Stronger Than Pride. But what keeps this album from being superior is that boring second half. It may fit for Sade herself, but the second half put me to sleep. Every time I hear it, that section has some boring, stale ballads. She could have made this an EP instead and kept songs like Paradise on it. The Sominex album of 1988--just mostly dull.

Stronger than most other CDs

Reading over many of the other reviews on this page, there seems to be a consensus, even among many fans, that this is not Sade's strongest album. I'm not in a position to compare, since I don't own any others. I've had this one for several years, though, and it always captivates me whenever it finds its way back into my disk player. Sade's voice is absolutely beautiful, and the band has crafted a number of fine songs that complements its haunting quality. Stand-out tracks include "Clean Heart" and "I Never Thought I'd See the Day."

Superb Album That's Lost With The Bands Other Classics.

What do I mean by band? For those living in caves, hopefully you know that Sade is a band, that bares the lead singers first name.



Stronger Than Pride, went a different route than the band's previous two albums, "Diamond Life" and "Promise". The first two were more melancholy, the mood here was subliminaly psycho happy to drunk depressing, I never recommend Sade albums for those down on their luck. This one is an insane downer, keep this album from those who are chemically unbalanced.



Musically, this was about as strong as "Promise", lyrics were okayish, not the greatest of all the Sade albums, but better than alot of stuff I've heard past and present. Favorite Tracks include the rare upbeat "To Turn My Back On You", "Paradise", the depressing "Love Is Stronger Than Pride", and the so depressing that you hit the bottle "Clean Heart". The track the outshines them all is the final track and one of my top ten Sade tracks "Siempre Hay Esperanza", Sade is not singing here, but the rest of the band cuts loose. If I was to make my own Sade CD, this track would definately be on there.



If you are a Sade fan and don't have this album in your collection, I would advise you to pick this one up. It very well may be the weaker of all Sade albums, but it's very solid and stands on its own, compared to the others, "Siempre Hay Esperanza" alone is enough to pick this album up.