Before people fous on his breakings with the police
This is possibly the only work taht made me ponder whether it might have been a good idea breaking from the police (other than The Soul Cages)

This album made me want to create songs and launched me into my journey into music
Songs like "Sister Moon" and "Be still my beating heart" take the cake in this work
And the melodic norwegian pipes(i think norwegian, could be northubrian) of the Politcally charge "They Dance Alone" make this a great C.D.
Even Sting's Uptempo songs are incredibally Melodic Such as "The Lazarus Heart"
and the ironic "Englishman in New york"
Even his cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" was up to Par!
harmonic Basslines and beautiful song writing make this one of his best work outside the police

i think this is the last consistently good album sting ever made, police or no.

great album through and through. love the lazarus heart and englishman in new york, be still my beating heart and....all of it!!!

AGREED...

AND AGREED....



AND OH YES...AGREED!!

Great album!Always an album I think about. I like it all,but "straight to my heat" is a tune I will never get out of my head. It's just super!

Anxiety said:

I agree with this. But I like Blue Turtles better, because I find the music funner & more interesting. Sting was showing sigs of getting boring and pretentious with Nothing Like the Sun, though on the whole it's a good record. Just my opinion, I know lots of people love Nothing Like the Sun.

I like blue turtles,
it was fun and jazzy
But i believe Nothing like the sun was a more complete album
Plus They Dance Alone, really touched a sore spot because i've lost family during Pinochet's antics in chile
so it got me pretty sad

Hmmm...I really enjoyed TEN SUMMONER'S TALES...DOTBT, NLTS and TST are my favorites...I do have a soft spot for SOUL CAGES because it's mostly about his father and I love the title track-I think that is one of his catchiest melodies.

Dream of the blue turtles is great indeed.... But ten Sumoner's tales and Soul cages are also beauties... I think that was his last really GREAT one...
I still like his new work though, but not that special as the 1st 4 solo albums!
[Edited 10/14/04 10:54am]

I agree, Nothing like the Sun is still the best...that's the masterpiece...

U may be right. I loved Fragile and They Dance Alone for their messages.

i have consistently loved all of Sting's work except A Brand New Day.

Agreed!!

Definitely my favourite.

that and the best of of course.

I don't know. It's a fucking fantastic album, don't get me wrong, but his best? Especially when you have "Dream of The Blue Turtles" to contend with.

I agree that it's Sting's best work

Agreed. I feel that ...Nothing Like The Sun is Sting's masterpiece.

Nothing Like the Sun, Dream of the Blue Turtles, and Ten Summoner's Tales are all fantastic albums, and close contenders for his best albums. However, to be completely honest, my "favorite" Sting album would be Mercury Falling. It's the most emotionally and musically expressive album of his, imo. That one really speaks to me. It also just happened to be his least commercial album.

And I do think "Brand New Day" was an underrated album. Some great moments on that disc, much better than his most recent one "Sacred Love".

jtgillia said:

I'm not a big fan of Mercury Falling but I LOVE "THe Hounds of Winter."

My top 3 Nothing Like The Sun, The Soul Cages and ten summoners tale
I wasn't found of mercury falling
the blend of Country kind of chocked me,
hounds of winter and let your soul be your pilot were good songs though

Personally, this one's almost tied with The Soul Cages. Both show a wide range of styles, and both focus strongly on the death of his parents (NLTS, his mother. SC his father). Really rich songwriting, and lyrically, the best stuff he's ever done.

Here's my own take on each of his studio albums, with my grade. (Personal opinion here, so no one get your panties in a bunch if you disagree):

The Dream Of The Blue Turtles- Fantastic solo project that began life as a new Police album (Stewart and Andy balked at the idea of doing a jazz flavoured record. Sting enjoyed doing his own thing so much, he never went back to the band). A-

Nothing Like The Sun- Rich, well thought out songwriting. The album continues his experiments with jazz fusion. The lyrics are quite stunning A

The Soul Cages- Sting in top form, he combines many different styles into a uniformed concept album. Incredible lyrics reflecting the anguish of the death of his father, and the personal demons that it dredges up. A

Ten Summoner's Tales- After the two rather dark, introspective albums prior, Sting chooses to lighten up a bit on TST. Good move, for it showed that the guy had a sense of humour still (just listen to "Love Is Stronger Than Justice"). Notable for the inclusion of "The Shape Of My Heart", a personal fave. B

Mercury Falling- Other than one or two songs, its the most uninspired piece of dreck he's ever done. I really didn't think Sting could write stuff that bad. A boring-ass crap-fest that lowers Sting into the likes of Phil Collins and other formerlly decent rockers who went AC. His New Power Soul F

Brand New Day- Sting gets back on track with this release, although it does follow the same basic formula that he did with TST. Still, the songs are solid and fun B-

Sacred Love- A totally new direction for Sting, and I gotta hand it to him, he's still got it. Personally, I think its his strongest work in years. The inclusion of electronic sounds to a few of the tracks lends a different edge to the sound. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the absolutely wonderful "Whenever I Say Your Name" featuring Mary J Blige! B+

JediMaster said:

Oh come on, it wasn't THAT bad...

The Hounds Of Winter, Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot, I Was Brought To My Senses, All Four Seasons, La Belle Dame Sans Regrets, Lithium Sunset...

VinaBlue said:

Depending on your taste
Mercury falling can be good
but to me
MERCURY FALLING SUCKED!

I felt the way you guys felt about Mercury Falling, at first. It took several listens to get into it, but it really grew on me and now it's my favorite. The first two tracks are phenomenal, and "I Was Brought to My Senses" is the best thing he has ever done, solo or with The Police.

jtgillia said:

I have this interview disc that came with the cd when I bought Mercury Falling through cdnow.com and Brandford Marsalis said that was the first time he was ever stumped while working out a solo. He had to sit down with it and take notes before recording it! He litterally left the recording booth and came back a few minutes later. He said he never did that before. I know Mercury Falling is not his best, I just don't think it's horrible.

VinaBlue said:[quote]

jtgillia said:

Some are not legendary as the first ones, but non of his work is horrible I think!
Gonna see him, by the way, november the 2nd in concert.... This show should have been on may 4th, but was cancelled due to illness...

I said to myself i would never go to a Sting show again (seen him alot, but it is a kind of boring, when u're spoiled with great Prince shows) ...but i'm going again!

VinaBlue said:

Well, I like Hounds Of Winter. To me, it was the ONLY redeeming thing about that album.

I tried to like it, I really did. I was always such a HUGE fan of Sting, so I felt I owed it to him to give it multiple chances. I just cannot stand it. Its truly horrible, IMHO.