Pride
Titre : Pride
Date de publication : 1983
Label : Island
Type : Album
Classement : US#112 / UK#37
Morceaux :
1. Pride
2. Deadline
3. Want You More
4. Dance For Me
6. It's Not Difficult
7. Say You Will
8. You Can Have It (Take My Heart)
9. What You Waiting For
10. The Silver Gun
Des rééditions de l'album chez Edsel (2013+2023) intègrent des morceaux supplémentaires :
You Are In My System (12" mix)
Ain't It Funky (Si Chatouilleux - extended version)
Pride (12" mix)
Parade Of The Obliterators
You Can Have It (Take My Heart) (12" mix)
You Are In My System (instrumental mix)
Deadline (12" mix)
Simples :
- Pride b/w Pride - instrumental (7")
- Pride - 12" mix b/w Parade Of The Obliterators (12")
- Pride - 12" mix b/w Pride - edit + dub (US promo 12")
- You Are In My System - edit b/w Deadline (7")
- You Are In My System - 12" mix b/w Deadline (12")
- You Can Have It (Take My Heart) b/w The Silver Gun - edit (7")
- You Can Have It (Take My Heart) - 12" mix b/w The Silver Gun (12")
Critiques / Reviews :
- "Recorded in the Bahamas and Britain, this album sees Palmer experiment with a number of different styles and moods, ranging from the somber urgency of 'Want You More' to the joyous calypso beat of the title tune, from the fusion funk of 'Say You Will' to a steamy, stormy cover version of The System's smash dancer 'You Are In My System'. Masterful sound reproduction only serves to enrich the vinyl's various textures, and Palmer's vocals have rarely been in finer form. Expect instant adds and subsequent chart escalation from this finely crafted and powerful recording." (Cash Box)
- "The problem with Bob is that he's an acquired taste. But if you make the effort, you'll be richly rewarded. This hops round the world, stitching together African, Caribbean and New York dance music into a genuinely exciting brew with a diamond-hard production. A summer sizzler." Rating: 8 out of 10 (Smash Hits)
- "'Pride' is such a big music it, literally, bursts. (...) 'Pride' is desperately mad, slightly moving. If you think genuinely that Marillion are about 'mystery' and 'adventure', it will give you a heart attack." (Sounds) Read complete review
- "This is Palmer's most experimental work to date. He explores African and Caribbean rhythms, New Wave, polyrhythm and Indian classical music. Palmer's mannered vocals blend superbly with the heavily synthesized music on all the 10 tracks. The most enthralling cut is the album's closer, 'The Silver Gun', on which Palmer intones like an Egyptian singer. The backing musicians - especially Frank Blair on bass and Dony Wynn and Michael Dawe, both on drums - lay down some really solid lines." (New Sunday Times)
- "Palmer helped integrate synthesizers into the white funk mainstream, and also introduced reggae and other Third World rhythms to ears more comfortable with his early conventional blue-eyed soul excursions. 'Pride' follows the course set with his last studio album 'Clues', and if nothing leaps out with the brilliance of that LP's 'Johnny And Mary', 'Pride' is more even, and even more in the dance market groove. The synthetic coldness inspired by Gary Numan that marred parts of 'Clues' has been abandoned here for the torrid calypso-reggae clutter of the title track, the sweet uptempo smoothness of Kool and the Gang's 'You Can Have It (Take My Heart)' and the tough guitar riffing of 'What You waiting For.' Only the adventurous Eastern-esque sitars and chanting of 'The Silver Gun' and the interplay between drums and keyboards on the haunting 'Want You More' betray 'Pride''s physical intentions. By doing so they serve notice that Palmer's explorations aren't over yet." (The Montreal Gazette)
- "Forget the dance club hit 'You Are in My System'. The good song on this dark and percussive LP is the gorgeous ballad 'Want You More'. Other than those two cuts, Palmer hasn't much to offer with his new, complex, island rhythms. But it's an interesting change from his rocker days and shows a real intelligence at work. Keep trying." (Rome News Tribune)
- "Just as he studied the rhythms of the tropics on his earlier, FM-staple albums, so GQ-aspirant Robert Palmer appropriated forbidding machine rhythms to play against his dilettante rep in 1980's 'Clues', and he does so again on his new 'Pride'. The desperation of his recent efforts rejects the escapism of his earlier ones while renouncing their frivolity. But Palmer's good taste comes through anyway - most powerfully on a cover of The System's 'You Are In My System', wherein his eager commitment surprises in the punful context of the song's icy synths and rhythms." (The Boston Phoenix)
- "Robert Palmer once liked to play it safe, but with 'Pride' he has decided to trot off into left field. When the man opts for adventure he certainly goes for it in a big way. The set includes reggae, Africana, avant-guard and plastic dancefloor music. These odd bedfellows are sequenced with relative grace but it doesn't hide the fact that Palmer spreads himself too thin. Some individual tracks work nicely. 'The Silver Gun' which closes the album mixes Eastern vocals , a synthesizer orchestra and psychedelia. Pitting such unlikely elements produces some fascinating results, but also some turkeys that don't quite go through the hoop. The album as a whole fails. Even though his unchecked creative spirit should be commended, Palmer covers so much disjointed territory that the project doesn't really make any sense." (The Ottawa Citizen)
- "A typical Palmer LP - one part pop-soul brilliance, two parts under-achievement and one part embarassment. The sophisticatman will continue to rove but perharps he has discovered a solid enough base here for him to soon produce the album he is really capable of." (NME) Read complete review
- "In which Palmer tries to jump on two bandwagons at once, Eurodisco and reggae, misses both and lands on his behind." Rating: One star (The Spokesman Review)