(The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". He added that his inspiration for this was a close encounter with a drunk, in which Sting quoted the sonnet in response to the drunk's importunate query, "How beautiful is the moon?"

The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards.)

This album was released in 1987. I latched onto it immediately after hearing "Rock Steady" on the radio somewhere in Philadelphia. It was a constant companion through my short two-year Navy stint. I hated the Navy in general, and the job was stressful to the point that I'd rather never look back at that part of it. All that said, ...Nothing Like The Sun was something that soothed the savage E. I don't think there's a bad song on it. It was an unexpected love affair I had with the album. I never thought I'd be that into Sting or his music (I was never a huge Police fan, but I did love their more Top 20 stuff). But Mr. Sumner really honed his craft in 1987, was inspired by incredible world and personal events, and made an album that could rival Sign O The Times, Like A Prayer, or Songs In The Key Of Life. Yeah, I think it's that good.

1. "The Lazarus Heart" – 4:34
2. "Be Still My Beating Heart" – 5:32
3. "Englishman in New York" – 4:25
4. "History Will Teach Us Nothing" – 4:58
5. "They Dance Alone" – 7:16
6. "Fragile" – 3:54
7. "We'll Be Together" – 4:52
8. "Straight to My Heart" – 3:54
9. "Rock Steady" – 4:27
10. "Sister Moon" – 3:46
11. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:04
12. "The Secret Marriage" (Eisler, Sting) – 2:03

From wikipedia, some cool facts:

The album was influenced by two events in Sting's life: first, the death in late 1986 of his mother, which contributed to the sombre tone of several songs; and second, his participation in A Conspiracy of Hope Tour on behalf of Amnesty International, which brought Sting to parts of Latin America that had been ravaged by civil wars, and introduced him to victims of government oppression. "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" was inspired by his witnessing of public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, tortured and murdered by the military dictatorship of the time, who danced the cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) by themselves, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their clothes. "Be Still My Beating Heart" and "The Lazarus Heart" approach the subjects of life, love and death and also featured Police guitarist Andy Summers. Elsewhere on the album, "Englishman in New York", which is an honour to the gay writer and performer, Quentin Crisp, continues the jazz-influenced music more commonly found on Sting's previous album, as does "Sister Moon". The album's first single and biggest hit, "We'll Be Together" (reportedly, not one of Sting's favorites), sported a prominent dance beat and funk overtones; it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 1987 and even crossed over to the R&B charts. Overall the album's sales now stand at over 2 million, making it one of Sting's best-sellers.

The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese and in the case of "Fragile", both languages.

Three years after its initial release on both the album and in single form, "Englishman in New York" was remixed in mid-1990 by Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, apparently to increase Sting's commercial viability after a two-year absence in the charts. Providing a stronger dance beat, as well as an extended introduction, the song was a hit in clubs and reached number 15 on the UK pop charts. The maxi-single also included a dance remix of "We'll Be Together" as a B-side.

"...Nothing Like the Sun" was one of the first fully digital audio recordings (DDD) to achieve multi-platinum status. It is also Sting's biggest selling album yet with worldwide sales of 11 million copies as of 1997.

One of my favorites from Sting! Full of great melody and great songwriting.

ernestsewell said:

(The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". He added that his inspiration for this was a close encounter with a drunk, in which Sting quoted the sonnet in response to the drunk's importunate query, "How beautiful is the moon?"

The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards.)

This album was released in 1987. I latched onto it immediately after hearing "Rock Steady" on the radio somewhere in Philadelphia. It was a constant companion through my short two-year Navy stint. I hated the Navy in general, and the job was stressful to the point that I'd rather never look back at that part of it. All that said, ...Nothing Like The Sun was something that soothed the savage E. I don't think there's a bad song on it. It was an unexpected love affair I had with the album. I never thought I'd be that into Sting or his music (I was never a huge Police fan, but I did love their more Top 20 stuff). But Mr. Sumner really honed his craft in 1987, was inspired by incredible world and personal events, and made an album that could rival Sign O The Times, Like A Prayer, or Songs In The Key Of Life. Yeah, I think it's that good.

1. "The Lazarus Heart" – 4:34
2. "Be Still My Beating Heart" – 5:32
3. "Englishman in New York" – 4:25
4. "History Will Teach Us Nothing" – 4:58
5. "They Dance Alone" – 7:16
6. "Fragile" – 3:54
7. "We'll Be Together" – 4:52
8. "Straight to My Heart" – 3:54
9. "Rock Steady" – 4:27
10. "Sister Moon" – 3:46
11. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:04
12. "The Secret Marriage" (Eisler, Sting) – 2:03

From wikipedia, some cool facts:

The album was influenced by two events in Sting's life: first, the death in late 1986 of his mother, which contributed to the sombre tone of several songs; and second, his participation in A Conspiracy of Hope Tour on behalf of Amnesty International, which brought Sting to parts of Latin America that had been ravaged by civil wars, and introduced him to victims of government oppression. "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" was inspired by his witnessing of public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, tortured and murdered by the military dictatorship of the time, who danced the cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) by themselves, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their clothes. "Be Still My Beating Heart" and "The Lazarus Heart" approach the subjects of life, love and death and also featured Police guitarist Andy Summers. Elsewhere on the album, "Englishman in New York", which is an honour to the gay writer and performer, Quentin Crisp, continues the jazz-influenced music more commonly found on Sting's previous album, as does "Sister Moon". The album's first single and biggest hit, "We'll Be Together" (reportedly, not one of Sting's favorites), sported a prominent dance beat and funk overtones; it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 1987 and even crossed over to the R&B charts. Overall the album's sales now stand at over 2 million, making it one of Sting's best-sellers.

The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese and in the case of "Fragile", both languages.

Three years after its initial release on both the album and in single form, "Englishman in New York" was remixed in mid-1990 by Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, apparently to increase Sting's commercial viability after a two-year absence in the charts. Providing a stronger dance beat, as well as an extended introduction, the song was a hit in clubs and reached number 15 on the UK pop charts. The maxi-single also included a dance remix of "We'll Be Together" as a B-side.

"...Nothing Like the Sun" was one of the first fully digital audio recordings (DDD) to achieve multi-platinum status. It is also Sting's biggest selling album yet with worldwide sales of 11 million copies as of 1997.

This was when Sting was at his peak. After "Blue Turtles", he came out with this beautiful album. I have the special edition import of this album, certain cuts are done in different languages. If you can find it, I highly recommend getting that one as well.

[Edited 7/1/10 13:39pm]

Man it has been forever and a month since I listened to this album. But I wore the grooves off the vinyl on this back in the day.

I remember being thrown off by a double album that only had 3 tracks per side by a band not named Yes or Rush.

Any way, this one holds some very fond memories for me.

These tracks range from great to absolute genius:

1. "The Lazarus Heart" – 4:34
2. "Be Still My Beating Heart" – 5:32
3. "Englishman in New York" – 4:25
5. "They Dance Alone" – 7:16 (God the uplifting instrumental ending is so magical)
6. "Fragile" – 3:54
8. "Straight to My Heart" – 3:54
9. "Rock Steady" – 4:27
11. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:04
12. "The Secret Marriage" (Eisler, Sting) – 2:03

These - not so much - especially #4

4. "History Will Teach Us Nothing" – 4:58

7. "We'll Be Together" – 4:52
10. "Sister Moon" – 3:46

shorttrini said:

This was when Sting was at his peak. After "Blue Turtles", he came out with this beautiful album. I have the special edition import of this album, certain cuts are done in different languages. If you can find it, I highly recommend getting that one as well.

Check the second paragraph of the wikipedia part. I just learned about that in recent years. Those songs were an offshoot album. Definitely a beautiful part of the project.

"They Dance Alone" was my favorite track on that album. I remember that it garnered a lot of critical acclaim, but he released "Fragile" as the next single instead.

[center]

"Englishman in New York"
"Fragile"
"Sister Moon"

The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese and in the case of "Fragile", both languages.

ooh. i haven't played this album in a while. my favourite tracks are:

"Englishman in New York" (one of my top 2 favourite Sting songs. )
"Fragile"
"Sister Moon"

i also like the video for "we'll be together". nice choreography in that one. and this ep is a nice bonus as well...

Sting...

superb album indeed. "Be Still My Beating Heart" is one of the most dreamy, gorgeous songs of the 80s

NoVideo said:

superb album indeed. "Be Still My Beating Heart" is one of the most dreamy, gorgeous songs of the 80s

Wow, I wasn't sure anyone would have been into this album. Good to see folks have good taste.

I'm a big fan of all of Sting's solo albums up through and including "Mercury Falling". His last 2 - "Brand New Day" and "Sacred Love" - I pretty much hated.

Blue Turtles.. Nothing Like The Sun... Soul Cages... Ten Summoners Tales... Mercury Falling.

A terrific run. Even better when you consider the terrific work he did w/ the Police prior to that, especially "Synchronicity" which is very high on my list of best 80's albums.

NoVideo said:

I'm a big fan of all of Sting's solo albums up through and including "Mercury Falling". His last 2 - "Brand New Day" and "Sacred Love" - I pretty much hated.

Blue Turtles.. Nothing Like The Sun... Soul Cages... Ten Summoners Tales... Mercury Falling.

A terrific run. Even better when you consider the terrific work he did w/ the Police prior to that, especially "Synchronicity" which is very high on my list of best 80's albums.

again.... just post for me ok?

this is my other favourite.... gets me here every time.

and one more...

As a big fan of Sting/The Police this album is one of my fave albums of all time.

I'd say NLTS and Soul Cages are my fave Sting albums. I like stuff before and after but these 2 do it for me.

Also check out the great B-sides from NLTS era...if you can find them:

If You There

Ghost In The Strand

Walk Like A Dog

Up From the Skies - Yes another Jimi Hendrix remake with Gil Evans Orchestra.

Wow! Great thread...and a damn near perfect album.

I heard some tracks off Dream of the Blue Turtles back in '85, and I liked them, but this is the album that made me a fan of Sting. Outside of the really popular stuff that was unavoidable on MTV back in the day, I wasn't really familiar with The Police when ...Nothing Like The Sun was released. Sting's solo work (specifically this album) actually made me a Police fan, rather than the other way around.

This has been a cool walk down memory lane...I'm gonna have to revisit some of these great tracks soon. IMO this is Sting's best album - and one of the best projects I've ever owned...in my top ten easily.

Sting is one of my all time favorite singer-songwriters! But I don't have this album! I bought several of his old single artists albums at a sale years ago but this wasn't among them! I'll have to find it. Loved most of his single artist's stuff from "Dream of Blue Turtles" to "A Brand New Day." Thanks for the info.

I don't have this release but I LOVE tracks 2,6, and 7 with "Fragile" being the top one or two fave Sting solo tracks. It tugs at my heart.

Bfunkthe1 said:

As a big fan of Sting/The Police this album is one of my fave albums of all time.

I'd say NLTS and Soul Cages are my fave Sting albums. I like stuff before and after but these 2 do it for me.

Also check out the great B-sides from NLTS era...if you can find them:

If You There

Ghost In The Strand

Walk Like A Dog

Up From the Skies - Yes another Jimi Hendrix remake with Gil Evans Orchestra.

I've been searching for a good copy of "Another Day" for ages. I bought the "If You Love Someone" single used recently, all excited cuz I'd finally have the b-side, but it was the wrong track. It was a printing error apparently. The label said "Another Day" but the song itself was by a completely different artist. Sting needs to come out with some reissues or at least a b-sides collection.

One of my favorite Sting songs is "25 to Midnight" an absolutely stellar track from the "Mercury Falling" period - he was a fool not to release it as a single, and an even bigger fool for leaving it off the album.

This album and Dream Of the Blue Turtles bury anything Sting put out afterwards. I hear the AC-friendly crap he's done since and I weep.

Rogue588 said:

This album and Dream Of the Blue Turtles bury anything Sting put out afterwards. I hear the AC-friendly crap he's done since and I weep.

Agreed. There's hit and miss after this album for me. Those first two albums were exponentially better than anything after then.

Now ya'll got me listening to Nada Como El Sol today.

Rogue588 said:

This album and Dream Of the Blue Turtles bury anything Sting put out afterwards. I hear the AC-friendly crap he's done since and I weep.

I will agree that they are his strongest solo albums overall. If the 2nd half of "The Soul Cages" was as good as the first half, it might be his best overall. I think there is some great writing on "Ten Summoners Tales" - terrific songs - but it just doesn't have the same grace and power of "Nothing Like The Sun". It's more of a hodgepodge of styles that, while good, doesn't stand together with as much potency. I know most fans didn't pay much attention to "Mercury Falling" but I think it's really good. Very slick, but more focused and introspective than "Summoners Tales".

I couldn't really get into "Brand New Days" at all, although I like "Desert Rose". "Sacred Love" is unlistenable, as far as I'm concerned.