Fields of POLL: The Best of Sting

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Luckily the two worst songs -- "Russians" and "We'll Be Together" -- are back to back.

http://media.musictoday.com/store/bands/1514/product_large/1GCD10.JPG

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Englishman in New York – 4:27 6
Fields of Gold – 3:39 5
Fortress Around Your Heart – 4:36 5
Russians – 3:58 4
Fragile – 3:53 3
We'll Be Together – 3:51 2
They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo) – 7:10 2
If I Ever Lose My Faith in You – 4:31 2
All This Time – 4:55 2
Be Still My Beating Heart – 5:32 1
Why Should I Cry for You – 4:50 0
When We Dance – 5:59 0
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free – 4:15 0
This Cowboy Song – 5:00 0


The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:17 (fifteen years ago)

fortress around your heart. after that, it's all bloodless, clumsy, and horrible.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:20 (fifteen years ago)

I'm very fond of at least two songs here: "All This Time" (in which he attempts Paul Simon style talk-singing with some success), and "Why Should I Cry For You," the best vehicle for his smugness.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:22 (fifteen years ago)

"Fragile" isn't bad either (Neil Tennant loves it). But, egad, I heard "We'll Be Together" at a BBQ today -- one of the few times a songwriter makes you feel his contempt for writing hit singles.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:23 (fifteen years ago)

Songs like that and "Be Still My Beating Heart" remind me of a certain groping towards elegant melancholy that I wanted to learn more about, fitfully. It makes me think of Bryan Ferry's "Is Your Love Strong Enough," Pet Shop Boys' "Rent," songs from my high school years that suggested something other, something else.

xpost And I wrote that before Alfred noted Tennant enjoyed "Fragile!"

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:25 (fifteen years ago)

Good call, Ned: "Be Still My Beating Heart" is real good adult contemporary.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:26 (fifteen years ago)

Speaking of Bryan Ferry, I wonder if he and Sting shared a target audience in the late eighties. I own the first three Sting releases, and one of the weird quirks about Billboard's "modern rock" chart is allowing "All This Time" to chart in '91, which makes sense: college students listened to El Stingo through '94 at least.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:28 (fifteen years ago)

Speaking of Bryan Ferry, I wonder if he and Sting shared a target audience in the late eighties.

Oh god, completely. Adult Album Alternative avec le lettre, essentially.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:31 (fifteen years ago)

lol, El Stingo.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:33 (fifteen years ago)

Not so lol if you think about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nada_Como_el_Sol

He busted out the Spanish "Fragile" at the show I saw him at back in 1988.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:36 (fifteen years ago)

El Stingo Lameo.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:38 (fifteen years ago)

El Stingo LMAO

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:41 (fifteen years ago)

Arriba.

Besides, the passion:

We'd only stopped for a few burritos
But they told us of the trouble with los banditos
A poor little town in need of aid
My brothers and me had never been afraid
The age of chivalry is not dead
Lonesome nights in a cowboy bed
There’d be a bride for every man
Who chased away the evil gang
Love is stronger than justice
Love is thicker than blood
Love, love, love is stronger than justice
Love is a big fat river in flood

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:43 (fifteen years ago)

I think a cogent argument could be made for the entirety of Ten Summoner's Tales being the worst lyrics by anyone, anywhere.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:43 (fifteen years ago)

Consider:

Turned on the weather man just after the news
I needed sweet rain to wash away my blues
He looked at the chart but he look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain

Back in time with Louis XVI
At the court of the people he was number one
He'd be the bluest blood they'd ever seen
When the king said hi to the guillotine
The royal astrologer was run out of breath
He thought that maybe the rain would postpone his death
He look in sky but he look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain

Well the land was cracking and the river was dry
All the crops were dying when they ought to be high
So to save his farm from the banker's draft
The farmer took out a book on some old witchcraft
He made a spell and a potion on a midsummer's night
He killed a brindled calf in the pale moonlight
He prayed to the sky but he prayed in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:45 (fifteen years ago)

The operating theory here seems to be that Sting noticed that David Bowie said he liked the Pixies and then wondered if he himself could do something like that but have it be not so weird.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

wait, those are real lyrics? from sting?

o_O

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

Also. . . lololololololololol

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

Pick and choose! It's a fiesta of mierda!

http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/sting/ten_summoners_tales/

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 02:48 (fifteen years ago)

Would she prefer it if I washed myself more often than I do
Would she prefer it if I took her to an opera or two

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:54 (fifteen years ago)

dr. seuss is a better lyricist than sting.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 02:54 (fifteen years ago)

There's one song in which he thinks he's being so clever by attacking rock critics, when really it sounds like your kid brother wearing a penciled mustache in a school play.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 02:55 (fifteen years ago)

my heart says fields of gold my head says fragile

max, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:00 (fifteen years ago)

i like englishman in new york more than it deserves i think

max, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:00 (fifteen years ago)

if you like it at all, you like it more than it deserves

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 03:02 (fifteen years ago)

I don't drink coffee I take tea my dear.

I like my toast done on one side.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 03:02 (fifteen years ago)

I think I'm camper than old Quentin was

I only wish he hadn't died

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:04 (fifteen years ago)

Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 03:04 (fifteen years ago)

If you love these songs set them free.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 03:05 (fifteen years ago)

Wait, wait! What key is it in!

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:06 (fifteen years ago)

If you guys want I could reproduce the liner notes to ...Nothing Like the Sun, in which he compiles anecdotes on the composition of each song.

On "Be Still My Beating Heart": "Why does tradition locate our emotion center at the heart and not somewhere in the brain? Why is the common image in popular music the broken heart? I don't know..."

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 03:08 (fifteen years ago)

Your cruel mockery has driven Sting to emote via the bass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCNp5rtreUU

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:09 (fifteen years ago)

2010 marks ten years since El Stingo taught us to love keening Third Worlders pimping cars.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 03:11 (fifteen years ago)

totally want the liner notes! hope they are in iambic pentameter.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 03:12 (fifteen years ago)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45182000/jpg/_45182049_bf5ceb9d-5cdd-4893-be05-785da4c84e64.jpg

i am a bard. mock me not.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 03:14 (fifteen years ago)

Sting can put together some nice chord progressions and melody, but the guy took all of the balls out of the rhythm section during his solo career (maybe the first album excepted). Being a kid that loved the Police, it was weird being a fan that slowly became repulsed. I suppose people that dug the Faces and the Jeff Beck Group probably had a similar feeling with Rod Stewart (but at least the change was blatent and he was fun).

earlnash, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:31 (fifteen years ago)

Ok Soto, now you're taking this love of the well-made 1980s studio pop-rock song waaay too far. Next poll: Best Sounding Espresso Machine.

Also, is this true?:

college students listened to El Stingo through '94 at least

I think there was some bleed over from the Adult Contemporary chart. Or Adult Album Alternative. Which is what he was from the solo git, no?

Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, 15 March 2010 03:58 (fifteen years ago)

"They Dance Alone". His best ever solo moment.

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Monday, 15 March 2010 10:09 (fifteen years ago)

Englishman In New York is pretty much the only solo Sting I like.

dog latin, Monday, 15 March 2010 10:19 (fifteen years ago)

Ok Soto, now you're taking this love of the well-made 1980s studio pop-rock song waaay too far.

I don't love it -- I wanted to poll El Stingo.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 12:06 (fifteen years ago)

I suppose people that dug the Faces and the Jeff Beck Group probably had a similar feeling with Rod Stewart (but at least the change was blatent and he was fun).

OTM

the mighty the mighty BOHANNON (m coleman), Monday, 15 March 2010 12:07 (fifteen years ago)

I guess "All This Time", though I remember being surprised by how much play it got on my local "alt rock" station at the time. But I shouldn't have been: they heavily promoted Peter Gabriel's Us at the time, and Sarah McLaughlin, both in a similar adult-y neighborhood I think.

Most important performer of our generation: (Euler), Monday, 15 March 2010 12:08 (fifteen years ago)

Being a kid that loved the Police, it was weird being a fan that slowly became repulsed.

otm.

i was kinda glad when he did the three amigos thing with bryan adams and rod stewart, because i felt like i'd been contractually released from ever paying attention to him again.

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Monday, 15 March 2010 13:09 (fifteen years ago)

^^^^^
truest thing ever spoken on ILX

Sean Carruthers, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:54 (fifteen years ago)

oh c'mon -- they did it all for love.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:57 (fifteen years ago)

i was kinda glad when he did the three amigos thing with bryan adams and rod stewart, because i felt like i'd been contractually released from ever paying attention to him again.

i'd ask what "thing" you're referring to, but i think i'm happier and more content not knowing about it.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 22:37 (fifteen years ago)

happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,
* * * *
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries ,
at ease,
* * * *
(no bad dreams)

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 22:38 (fifteen years ago)

somewhere post-Dream of the Blue Turtles (ie, high school) I realized what horrible music this guy makes and I just can't abide him. So much so that my wife has to listen to her Police box set when I'm not home.

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 22:41 (fifteen years ago)

Let's make it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall for one and all for loooooooooove

We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Monday, 15 March 2010 22:41 (fifteen years ago)

my wife has to listen to her Police box set when I'm not home

yeah, i have that box-set. i like a lot of the songs, but i can't bring myself to listen to it.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 March 2010 22:56 (fifteen years ago)

goin for "be still my beating heart"

hobbes, Monday, 15 March 2010 23:09 (fifteen years ago)

Sue me, but I still like "Fortress Around Your Heart"

Alex in NYC, Monday, 15 March 2010 23:52 (fifteen years ago)

That the Police were better than solo Sting is a fact too obvious to restate but in this case it instructs us, reliably, to vote for the one song on here that sounds like a good Police single, "Fortress Around Your Heart."

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:16 (fifteen years ago)

Suggest Ban Permalink

dr. seuss is a better lyricist than sting.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, March 14, 2010 9:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

There might not be a rock lyricist better than Dr. Seuss. For sure at most 5.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:17 (fifteen years ago)

That the Police were better than solo Sting is a fact too obvious to restate but in this case it instructs us, reliably, to vote for the one song on here that sounds like a good Police single, "Fortress Around Your Heart."

i don't think FAYH sounds anything like the police, but i (reluctantly) admit it's a good song.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:19 (fifteen years ago)

Fortress Around your Heart still would have been better with Andy Summers putting some of that creamy chorus guitar around it. He would have eaten that chord progression for breakfast.

earlnash, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:27 (fifteen years ago)

agreed.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:29 (fifteen years ago)

Ha! Is it the modern lot of wives, listening to the Police box set only when their husband is away? I qualify! It must be how he feels when he watches pornography when I'm not around, kind of dirty but also relieved.

How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:32 (fifteen years ago)

sting is much more sorid than pornography.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:35 (fifteen years ago)

sting is horrible.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:35 (fifteen years ago)

Sting pornography would be the worst.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:38 (fifteen years ago)

It probably would last a long time.

earlnash, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:43 (fifteen years ago)

http://imgsrv.nightswithalicecooper.com/image/nwac/UserFiles/Image/sting.jpg

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:44 (fifteen years ago)

I would watch a Sting pornography if, in it, he had intercourse with younger guys who looked sort of like him, like Neil Patrick Harris and Christopher Masterson.

How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:44 (fifteen years ago)

It probably would last a long time.

only if you include dinner and a movie in calculating the time.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

lol. TS: Sting (professional bard) v. Sting (professional wrestler)

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

I'm abstaining, though I'd vote for "Desert Rose" (w/ Cheb Mami) if it was on here.

xhuxk, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 03:09 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyf4KDbnrP0

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 03:11 (fifteen years ago)

I still reckon his first three solo albums were indeed quite good. Even "Ten Summoner Tales" contained a couple of nice singles, but by then he was completely on his way into ZZZ-land.

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 10:19 (fifteen years ago)

Had to stop reading Daniel Levitin's The World in Six Songs after he went on at length about the genius of Russians and referred to "my friend Sting".

gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 11:25 (fifteen years ago)

Really hate that Mr Kruschev/Mr Pinochet mister-thing that Sting does.

We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 11:27 (fifteen years ago)

No Love Is The Seventh Wave, no credibility.

kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:24 (fifteen years ago)

oh lord, "Russians" is the most embarrassing song in the world that isn't "They Dance Alone"

smoking cigarette shades? it doesn't even make any sense. (HI DERE), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:28 (fifteen years ago)

Love is a big fat river in flood

btw this is very very gross

smoking cigarette shades? it doesn't even make any sense. (HI DERE), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:29 (fifteen years ago)

You really should read the rest of those lyrics I linked. Feel the revulsion!

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:30 (fifteen years ago)

"love is stronger than justice" is pretty cool music-wise; all that shit about burritos, bandidos and "ethical stuff" needs to die, though

hobbes, Friday, 19 March 2010 05:11 (fifteen years ago)

gah nevermind, just listened to it for the first time in like 10 years and it's totally unredeemable. need to wash my ears out w/some bizcuit now

hobbes, Friday, 19 March 2010 05:22 (fifteen years ago)

Maybe because it's embarrassing, I voted for "Russians" -- a gorgeous (cribbed) melody, the clunkiest of lyrics, that new dad feeling along with all its attendant earnestness, all those "misters"... what's not to love?

Lostandfound, Friday, 19 March 2010 06:40 (fifteen years ago)

cribbed from what?

take me to your lemur (ledge), Friday, 19 March 2010 09:46 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5w-PP6UQo

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Farting in Space (NickB), Friday, 19 March 2010 11:44 (fifteen years ago)

ok now i'm less guilty about my secret fondness for 'russians'. see, i didn't even confess it till now. lostandfound otm iow.

take me to your lemur (ledge), Friday, 19 March 2010 11:47 (fifteen years ago)

How would history had differed if he'd used the Trololo melody.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 March 2010 12:18 (fifteen years ago)

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly trololololo?

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Farting in Space (NickB), Friday, 19 March 2010 12:24 (fifteen years ago)

I like my toast done on one side.

Eh? Is this considered an English affectation?

The Oort Locker (Tom D.), Friday, 19 March 2010 12:25 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah, like cooking the left half of a pizza.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 March 2010 12:25 (fifteen years ago)

Am eagerly waiting on Sting's "Disgusting Savages" song.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 March 2010 12:26 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah, like cooking the left half of a pizza.

No, we only cook the edge

The Oort Locker (Tom D.), Friday, 19 March 2010 12:28 (fifteen years ago)

But that's a Scottish thing, surely. The English do what I have described, then dunk it in tea.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 March 2010 12:30 (fifteen years ago)

In fields of barley.

The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 19 March 2010 12:34 (fifteen years ago)

Lute-fired pizzas.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 March 2010 12:35 (fifteen years ago)

no "Desert Rose", no credibility

shining for no apparent reason (The Reverend), Friday, 19 March 2010 13:13 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Sunday, 21 March 2010 00:01 (fifteen years ago)

"If I Evah Lose My Faith in You" is a catchy little number, but I'll go with "Fields of Gold".

musicfanatic, Sunday, 21 March 2010 01:17 (fifteen years ago)

never got into "desert rose". half-assed vocals (ending every other line with "ay-ay-ay-ay"), super cluttered, plus cheb mami being so low in the mix makes his vox obstructive to everything else that's going on. boring melody, too.

hobbes, Sunday, 21 March 2010 02:19 (fifteen years ago)

i meant to append an "i dunno" at the end of that so as to not seem rude

hobbes, Sunday, 21 March 2010 02:21 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Monday, 22 March 2010 00:01 (fifteen years ago)

NO VOTES FOR THIS COWBOY SONG?

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 22 March 2010 00:05 (fifteen years ago)

outrageous.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 22 March 2010 00:05 (fifteen years ago)

all the time was robbed

goole, Monday, 22 March 2010 00:24 (fifteen years ago)

Didn't vote, but would have added one more to "Be Still My Beating Heart." It helped, during my senior year of high school, to not know that expression, much less be aware it was literary, and I loved Andy's guitar and the beat and sound. Also, I never cared as much about lyrics as most people. Also, I was super depressed.

Pete Scholtes, Monday, 22 March 2010 04:23 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

Been getting back into the Bring on the Night live album, which was just reissued a couple years back. it's Sting with the famous jazz band that played on Blue Turtles, and it's actually really good, much better than any of his studio albums. It's split between Police tunes and his solo stuff. The Police tunes in particular get some pretty interesting workouts. The most notable thing about it is that there's almost nothing on there that was a hit - only "Moon Over Bourbon Street" which wasn't even really a big one. Instead he focuses on stuff like "Demolition Man", "Bring on the Night", and some obscure Police tunes like "Low Life" and "I Burn For You". Some of it is quite dated - there's a ridiculous rap on the first track, and way too much clarinet overall, but this is really a great live set!!

Hard to believe he turns 60 this year!!

frogbs, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 20:52 (fourteen years ago)

two months pass...

came here to say Englishman In New York is fantastic innit? glad it won!

ace video too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk

piscesx, Tuesday, 16 August 2011 02:41 (thirteen years ago)

hobbes

buzza, Tuesday, 16 August 2011 06:49 (thirteen years ago)

one year passes...

Sting is often silly, often insufferable. But for all his peaks and valleys - and each of those"silly"/"insufferable" descriptions can be assigned to both his highs and lows - I've always come back to "... Nothing Like the Sun" as a particularly melancholy bit of soft rock. Everything is so drifty and dreamy, even the Hendrix cover is slow and sad. It's got its goofy pop moments and stuff, but it's surprisingly diverse and adventurous. And sometimes playfully weird.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 18 July 2013 21:24 (eleven years ago)

http://sweetserene.buzznet.com/photos/yoga30daychallenge/?id=67904481

The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Thursday, 18 July 2013 22:44 (eleven years ago)

http://sweetserene.buzznet.com/photos/yoga30daychallenge/?id=67904481

The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Thursday, 18 July 2013 22:44 (eleven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJK_X9SsZk

the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Friday, 19 July 2013 00:00 (eleven years ago)

Would have voted for 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You'.

I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Friday, 19 July 2013 00:02 (eleven years ago)

Sting >>>>>>Family Guy.

I don't even get the joke, Sting has great diction. It's all the yoga.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 July 2013 00:21 (eleven years ago)

u mad?

the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Friday, 19 July 2013 00:23 (eleven years ago)

I'm more mad that Family Guy exists than I am that Sting exists, yes. Except for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184

Surfin' Bird>>>>>Radiohead>>>>>>>Sting>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Family Guy

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 July 2013 00:29 (eleven years ago)

jesus how did englishman in ny win this?

akm, Friday, 19 July 2013 01:16 (eleven years ago)

i think once you've committed to Stingism the rest comes inevitable

the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Friday, 19 July 2013 01:20 (eleven years ago)

i like the first solo album, admittedly

akm, Friday, 19 July 2013 04:05 (eleven years ago)

actually I really like the soul cages

akm, Friday, 19 July 2013 04:05 (eleven years ago)

Soul Cages I liked at the time, but it's pretty dull compared to " ... Nothing ..." First album is just so po-faced I can't really get with it. Saw him tour behind "Ten Summoners" and he was great; dirt floor bullfighting arena in Spain! But I've seen him maybe three times since then for work, and he was soooooooo boring. Well, the most recent one was OK. But at the end he brings out his little step-stool. puts his foot up and busts out his nylon string guitar, then proceeds to fuck up "Message in a Bottle." Because it's hard, Sting. That's why you had ringers like Andy Summers play it, not you.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 July 2013 12:21 (eleven years ago)

three years pass...

boy do I find "Why Should I Cry For You" affecting

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 12 September 2016 23:07 (eight years ago)

I dunno man but it really is. It's his "In Your Eyes"

frogbs, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 16:02 (eight years ago)

'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You' still remains my favourite solo Sting song, and Ten Summoner's Tales still remains the only Sting album that I would gladly listen to if I had to listen to a Sting album. 'Saint Augustine In Hell' still brings a smile to my face, particularly the part where the guy comes in playing the devil and explains the type of people that hell is full of... "Certified accountants, music critics, they're all here!" hehehehe...

the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Tuesday, 13 September 2016 16:17 (eight years ago)

Funny, that "St. Augustine" song to me is some kind of nadir, where his smugness can't be contained in song and bursts out in monologue.

Fields of Gold sounds better the older it (and he) gets.

dinnerboat, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 16:32 (eight years ago)

I'm a fan of "The Soul Cages" and "Nothing Like the Sun," the latter an awesome adult contemporary work of ace session players. Don't remember much of "Ten Summoner's Tales.". Don't know anything really from the following albums except "Mercury Falling" (which he keeps playing to let his backing vocalist show off) and "I Hung My Head," which is really great by Sting and also the version by Johnny Cash.

From the looks of this set, the only two songs I don't recognize are "When We Dance" and "The Cowboy Song" (?). Want to say the only one I don't like is "Russians," and even that one I think is just a bad idea, badly written, but not really bad to listen to, as long as you barely listen to it.

Saw him this year with Peter Gabriel and he was in better form/spirits than any other time I'd seen him recently.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:05 (eight years ago)

'ten summoner's tales' imo is an excellent album overall

nomar, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:08 (eight years ago)

I just remember it being a little too boring to be that slick, if that makes any sense. Like, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Fields of Gold" are not bad, just sort of hermetically sealed, safe.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:16 (eight years ago)

oddly the album i always associate it with, maybe in terms of production and even in terms of some of the pacing and atmosphere, is 'san francisco days' by chris isaak.

nomar, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:18 (eight years ago)

Huh. See, I really like "San Francisco Days," feels very loose and airy and live, vs. Sting's click-tracky early '90s CD-ready sound.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:20 (eight years ago)

I'm with Josh re TSG but it's not that different from the others. The one about the rock critics is horrifiyng though.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:23 (eight years ago)

to be fair i haven't heard TST in a long time but i remember the production being fairly lush and smooth in a way that didn't seem too saccharine or bland.

nomar, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:26 (eight years ago)

he can go choke on an alto sax though

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:31 (eight years ago)

The Soul Cages is one of those records I'm surprised to like. Concept album + Stingo + Stingo writing about dead dad + no rock? But its gravity and stateliness has real warmth too.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 13 September 2016 17:32 (eight years ago)

From the looks of this set, the only two songs I don't recognize are "When We Dance" and "The Cowboy Song" (?).

those two were both collector bait, though I will admit "When We Dance" is as pretty a song as Sting ever did ("This Cowboy Song" pretty much bites it though)

I dug a number of songs from TST - "Everybody Laughed But You" and "Something The Boy Said" both seemed pretty good for album tracks. But yeah it's too much of a wine n' cheese album for me. Sadly his last kinda good one though I'm willing to give Mercury Falling another shot.

frogbs, Tuesday, 13 September 2016 18:21 (eight years ago)

The drop off with Mercury Falling was palpable. TST had been such a consolidation of his entire solo career to that point – with rousing singles ("If I Ever..."), smooth Nothing Like the Sun ballads ("Fields of Gold," "It's Probably Me"), the usual hamfisted attempts at humor ("Cowboy Song," "Saint Augustine in Hell"), Blue Turtles jazzbo ("Heavy Clouds"), and TSG-like ethereal-ness ("Something the Boy Said"), but with a warmth few of those records had achieved. My memory was that he recorded TST in his home/castle with windows wide open and his kids running around. It shows. As a friend of mine said at the time, the only real weak spot of the record was that the bridges on these songs were kinda forgettable.

It doesn't quite hold up the way it did then. But it is almost certainly the best record he made.

Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 16 September 2016 12:51 (eight years ago)

Should add that Blue Turtles is probably a close second on tunes alone. "We Work the Black Seam," "Children's Crusade," and "Fortress Around Your Heart" are as melodically solid as anything he ever wrote but the Synclavier jazz arrangements and high school earnestness of the lyrics drag them all down.

Bring On the Night is a bit of an improvement, as his band around then (particularly Omar Hakim and Kenny Kirkland, RIP) def. took the material if not to another level at least another place. "When the World Is Running Down" in particular is completely transformed.

Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 16 September 2016 13:11 (eight years ago)

yeah Bring on the Night is really great, definitely the best Sting solo release (IMO), even better because it intentionally seems to skip the hits. even The Police songs they trot out are relatively obscure.

frogbs, Friday, 16 September 2016 13:14 (eight years ago)

Bring On the Night is a bit of an improvement, as his band around then (particularly Omar Hakim and Kenny Kirkland, RIP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgxy9lMbqJc

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 September 2016 13:20 (eight years ago)

(Basically minute two and onwards, well, burns)

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 September 2016 13:21 (eight years ago)

Yes. Tho you don't go to Sting for a cooking lite jazz band. And you still are left with the optics of a white guy fronting an all black band in an attempt for respectability. Sort of like a KC and the Sunshine Band AP course credit.

YT has the whole BotN movie, directed by Michael Apted. Kind of worth a spin thru for the odd moment.

Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 16 September 2016 14:19 (eight years ago)

(BTW that's supposed to mean a cooking...lite jazz band – tho I suspect a Cooking Lite jazz band would be equally appropriate)

Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 16 September 2016 14:21 (eight years ago)

The doc is pretty good. Sting has a self-righteous attitude about hiring an "all-black" band but when they interview the musicians they definitely know what's up

frogbs, Friday, 16 September 2016 14:23 (eight years ago)

The best part is when Sting bristles at the term "motherfucker."

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 September 2016 14:32 (eight years ago)

Unless I am misremembering. Though it does have his wife giving birth!

I think you can generally gauge Sting's pretentiousness by whether or not he is playing guitar. He's a lot more comfortable on bass. He was having a blast playing with Peter Gabriel.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 September 2016 14:37 (eight years ago)

Yech, from the I Burn For You vid posted above:

00:39: [Sting sings while dry humping the air] "You and I are lovers!"
00:41: [Stings smirks lasciviously at audience]

Cut to

00:42: [Underage girl smiles back shyly]

dinnerboat, Friday, 16 September 2016 16:22 (eight years ago)

Hey, blame it on Apted. Maybe he originally planned to follow the next 42 years of that girl's life?

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 September 2016 17:05 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

Want to say the only one I don't like is "Russians," and even that one I think is just a bad idea, badly written, but not really bad to listen to, as long as you barely listen to it.

And how!!

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 10 November 2017 03:20 (seven years ago)

I disagree about 'Synchronicity I' and 'Mother', and 'Saint Augustine in Hell' has that funny segment where he disses music critics.

Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Friday, 10 November 2017 07:05 (seven years ago)

"fragile" or "be still my beaten heart" both solid jams

brimstead, Saturday, 11 November 2017 01:30 (seven years ago)

how in the world did Englishman in NY win this? what a dumb song.

akm, Saturday, 11 November 2017 16:26 (seven years ago)

I dunno, The Soul Cages is a good album.

campreverb, Saturday, 11 November 2017 18:21 (seven years ago)

i still ride for Ten Summoner's Tales, though "feel her body rise/when you kiss her mouth" is one of the great all time terrible lyrics.

omar little, Saturday, 11 November 2017 18:29 (seven years ago)

That's a good line!

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 11 November 2017 18:44 (seven years ago)

two years pass...

I might be officially getting old and lame because I just heard Fragile and Fields of Gold after years of not hearing any Sting music and I'm finding them sort of brilliant. They also sound tacky as hell with those 'sensuous' Spanish guitars and the overall new age seriousness so a part of me is still resisting its charm.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 16 June 2020 17:55 (four years ago)

ok 'desert rose' sounds like something off some cirque du soleil soundtrack so that one is definitely still going to the dump.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 16 June 2020 17:58 (four years ago)

“Fragile” and “Be Still My Beating Heart” are pretty great

Damn there’s a lot of trash on this CD

brimstead, Tuesday, 16 June 2020 18:16 (four years ago)

Always had a soft spot for ‘We’ll Be Together’...’Nothing Like The Sun’ sounds awfully quaint now in a good way

X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Tuesday, 16 June 2020 21:20 (four years ago)

It sounds like he wrote the damn thing in less time than it plays, but "Fields of Gold" is a gorgeous song. "If I Ever Lose My Faith" is also one of those songs that has stuck with me

Vinnie, Tuesday, 16 June 2020 23:10 (four years ago)

I love Nothing Like the Sun. Peak adult contemporary Sting, with some really interesting musical and stylistic choices. In some ways like. So if Peter Gabriel weren't weird.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 16 June 2020 23:42 (four years ago)

I think ...Nothing Like The Sun and Soul Cages are better than any Police album, but not many of his singles touch his best work with The Police - 'Fortress Around Your Heart' is just about the only one that sounds like a viable Police hit.

aphoristical, Wednesday, 17 June 2020 00:32 (four years ago)

The flip is that a song like "Fragile" could never be a Police song, and essentially codifies solo Sting.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 17 June 2020 02:02 (four years ago)

I would watch a Sting pornography if, in it, he had intercourse with younger guys who looked sort of like him, like Neil Patrick Harris and Christopher Masterson.

Underrated post on this thread.

Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 17 June 2020 17:56 (four years ago)

Doogie Does Stingus

"...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 17 June 2020 18:05 (four years ago)

two years pass...

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45182000/jpg/_45182049_bf5ceb9d-5cdd-4893-be05-785da4c84e64.jpg

i am a bard. mock me not.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:14 PM (thirteen years ago)

LMAO

I was surprised to find out that Ten Summoner's Tales was Down Beat's album of the year - don't know if that was typical of them back then, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and gave it a good listen as I only knew the two hit singles. As jazz or pop, it couldn't have been a more ludicrous pick. The only unfamiliar tracks that had some appeal were "Seven Days" (I can see this being a fun song for a jazz singer to cover - rhythmically it's pretty engaging) and "Shape of My Heart" (appropriately shapely acoustic guitar part - that may have been his guitarist/co-writer's doing). The rest was like getting through a visit to the dentist.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 18:34 (two years ago)

My dentist plays Bad Bunny and Sheryl Crow, as I learned last week, so we may have to retire that trope.

"Shape of My Heart" has been a staple of hip-hop producers looking for a pretty sample.

the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 May 2023 18:38 (two years ago)

LOL - mine actually plays a lot of '50s and '60s jazz (big Miles Davis fan). Whenever I go, he does a thorough job of cleaning, which means cleaning below every bit of my gumline and setting off every nerve - so if you can picture what that's like, sitting there and gripping the armrest, waiting for the process to run its course and be over, that's what I had in mind.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 18:58 (two years ago)

"Shape of My Heart" has been a staple of hip-hop producers looking for a pretty sample.

Still digging for these, but here's the opening track on Nas's second album (I should probably give that another try):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3CGu0ezd68

Also the Roots's "Break You Off" - sounds like they re-recorded it as a keyboard part, but I guess it could be buried in there as a guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPcwUu_gcqo

A blog post from 2018 with more:

https://hypebeast.com/2018/6/sting-shape-of-my-heart-sad-rap-20-years-nas-the-message-juice-wrld-lucid-dreams

birdistheword, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 19:08 (two years ago)

It Was Written? Most of it is marvelous.

the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 May 2023 19:18 (two years ago)

"Seven Days" is indeed very intrguiging, I just hate the lyrics so much I can't listen to it. the chorus is fine at least.

I think I posted this in another thread but one really nice deep cut is "The Lazarus Heart" from Nothing like the Sun. I guess it's not a deep cut when it's the first track on the album, but still it's not a tune I've ever really heard anyone talk about. Sounds like something people would be crazy for...if it was done by Peter Gabriel

frogbs, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 23:35 (two years ago)

That whole album is great, peak adult contemporary. Yes, even the song Soto hates.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 23:41 (two years ago)

"Seven Days" is indeed very intrguiging, I just hate the lyrics so much I can't listen to it. the chorus is fine at least.

Has Sting ever written great lyrics? I want to say no, even with the Police, and I love their singles (as well as a good portion of their catalog - Zenyatta Mondatta especially). I kind of wish he was paired with a gifted lyricist because whenever he does anything with the written word, whether it's lyrics or liner notes, it can be pretty awful. I probably pay far less attention to the words of his songs than the actual music for that reason. Jon Pareles argued that "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is a terrible song on the basis of its lyrics: "a postgrammatical, T-shirt sentiment and a denunciation of possessiveness that would be a lot more convincing issued by someone other than a millionaire." Maybe, but musically it's pretty engaging and would have sounded right at home with the Police.

birdistheword, Thursday, 4 May 2023 02:56 (two years ago)

I think he's written some great lines

frogbs, Thursday, 4 May 2023 03:04 (two years ago)

to me the thing he's most guilty of is using a lot of dumb filler words and nonsense phrases which makes his lyrics come off like shitty childrens books. "so they danced for his pleasure/with a joy you could not measure". like what does that even mean? congrats on making the rhyme though

frogbs, Thursday, 4 May 2023 03:10 (two years ago)

a denunciation of possessiveness that would be a lot more convincing issued by someone other than a millionaire

It’s about “possessiveness” in a relationship (not in a material sense), right? Not sure why a millionaire can’t express that sentiment…

Are You There God? It's a-Me, Mario (morrisp), Thursday, 4 May 2023 03:12 (two years ago)

xp LOL

One exception (at least for me): I know "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" got trashed in the Police thread, but lyrically it's kind of the perfect Police song for me. On some level, it's acknowledging his deficiencies as a lyricist and having a laugh on him.

birdistheword, Thursday, 4 May 2023 03:13 (two years ago)

Re. Ten Summoners Tales, I think the fact that it was a warm, unpretentious record (for Sting anyway) with two very big singles led a lot of people to overrate it at the time and overlook that a lot of the writing was pretty lightweight (tho I’d argue “It’s Probably Me” is a cut above a lot of the material here). Jazzers really loved the playing, particularly Vinnie Colaiuta’s. So the combo explains why Downbeat rated it so highly.

Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 5 May 2023 01:31 (two years ago)

I hear ya, but you'd think there was a better consensus pick in the jazz world. Joshua Redman's debut came out the same year - maybe they didn't want to pile on the hype for someone who just got established as a big name star, but I think it would've held up as a much better mainstream pick.

birdistheword, Friday, 5 May 2023 01:44 (two years ago)

(same month actually - just a few weeks later)

birdistheword, Friday, 5 May 2023 01:44 (two years ago)

one year passes...

Listening to ...Nothing Like The Sun this morning. This and Bowie's Tonight both have this particular '87 pre-crash NYC VH-1 gloss that might sound better the more they become artifacts of a specific era.

paisley got boring (Eazy), Monday, 24 June 2024 17:57 (eleven months ago)

NLTS, ye gods, is a better album. No?

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 June 2024 18:08 (eleven months ago)

Definitely. I'd play "Loving The Alien" and "Don't Look Down" (the latter more for this particular sound) and stop there.

paisley got boring (Eazy), Monday, 24 June 2024 18:11 (eleven months ago)

four months pass...

Watching *Radio On*. I'd forgotten Sting pops up and steals the thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqZwjxZuOFc

I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Saturday, 16 November 2024 10:52 (six months ago)

Apropos of nothing this came on my feed the other day, joyous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPqOHay8fM

Dan Worsley, Saturday, 16 November 2024 12:39 (six months ago)

Upon reading through the comments above, I just want to point out that pop-synth-punk genius Atom and His Package recorded an instrumental track in 1997 called “Sting Cannot Possibly Be the Same Guy Who Was In the Police“ https://genius.com/Atom-and-his-package-sting-cannot-possibly-be-the-same-guy-who-was-in-the-police-lyrics"> https://genius.com/Atom-and-his-package-sting-cannot-possibly-be-the-same-guy-who-was-in-the-police-lyrics

christopher.ivan, Saturday, 16 November 2024 13:45 (six months ago)

https://theonion.com/you-know-i-used-to-be-kind-of-cool-once-1819583601/

Rumspringsteen (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 16 November 2024 16:52 (six months ago)

I built an elaborate defense perimeter around your heart

calstars, Saturday, 16 November 2024 17:30 (six months ago)

Really enjoying Andy's book, One Train Later.

Psychocandy Apple Grey (Pyschocandles), Saturday, 16 November 2024 23:55 (six months ago)

People forget how old Andy is - 81! - and that book does a great job placing him in the context of all those post-war ground zero British guitarist peers.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 17 November 2024 00:21 (six months ago)

two months pass...

Turns out he's playing this live for the first time in about 35 years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NGeWLcS-14

braunschweiger winter (Eazy), Thursday, 13 February 2025 20:40 (four months ago)

sorry "Sting 3.0" what

frogbs, Thursday, 13 February 2025 20:43 (four months ago)

They updated his firmware

Leprecan't even (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 13 February 2025 20:46 (four months ago)

(The embarrassing part was seeing that he and Billy Joel played a 70K-capacity football stadium in Indianapolis this week and then had to see what the setlists were.)

braunschweiger winter (Eazy), Thursday, 13 February 2025 20:58 (four months ago)

What a boring drummer he has now, who is this Zach Jones dude?

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 February 2025 21:45 (four months ago)

They updated his firmware

I heard it took 7 hours

Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 17 February 2025 03:10 (three months ago)


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