Louder Than Words (album)

Following years of intense touring and recording, Richie was suffering from burnout symptoms by March 1986.[2] While he only intended to take a year off, his father, Lionel Richie Sr., fell ill before dying in 1990.[2] After his death, Richie struggled with what he descibred as "a massive depression."[3] At the same time, he was divorcing from his first wife Brenda Harvey after nearly two decades of marriage.[2] Right after that, amid the release of his first compilation album Back to Front (1992) and the pre-production of a new studio album, his best friend informed Richie that he was dying from AIDS-related causes.[2] It was not until his passing, that Richie felt ready to produce new music.[2] Welcoming his second child, son Miles, with his second wife Diane Alexander in May 1994 eventually helped jumpstarting a return to recording.[3] In a 2018 interview with People magazine, Richie commented: "They didn’t know what the hell I did for a living so I thought at that particular point, let’s go back and prove to the kids what I do. And so that was the incentive. I realized, this is what I should be doing."[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Robert Christgau	[6]

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine found that "although there are some slight attempts to incorporate new jack and hip-hop influences into Richie's sound, Louder Than Words relies on his trademark balladeering, which remains his forte. All of the weak moments on Louder Than Words are ill-advised forays into rap – to put it bluntly, he can rap about as well as Snoop Dogg can sing. Although the ballads aren't as strong as his late-'70s and early-'80s standards, they are nevertheless pleasant, which makes the record a worthwhile purchase for fans."[1] Chicago Tribune critic Calvin Wilson declared the album "a mixed bag. Some of the selections are little more than filler – but when Richie is fully engaged, he comes up with music that's truly exhilarating. To be sure, Richie understands what's expected of him."[7]

Cheo Hodari Coker, writing for The Los Angeles Times, called the album a "welcome return" and wrote: "From beginning to end, Louder Than Words is palatable enough for the crossover crowd, but also soulful enough for his now-older black female fans, many of whom moved on to Babyface in Richie’s absence. The elegant “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” the uncharacteristically sensual "Say I Do" and the easygoing jam "Ordinary Girl" show that Richie hasn’t lost any of his charm or compositional powers."[5] Entertainment Weekly critic J.D. Considine remarked that "Richie’s middle-of-the-road R&B may as well be from another century. It isn’t that he can’t work a groove; what makes Richie seem so old-fashioned is that he doesn’t understand that these days the groove is everything. A pity, because even if he hasn’t kept up with the times, he has grown [...] Even if Louder Than Words doesn’t put him back on top of the charts, it’s proof that Richie is on top of his game."[4]

In the United States, Louder Than Words debuted at number 33 on the US Billboard 200 with first weeks sales of 28,000 copies.[8] It peaked at number 28.[9]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer

Credits lifted from the album's liner notes.[10]

Performers and musicians

Technical