Sting - Mercury Falling - Disc Two - 1996

My best friend got Sting's Mercury Falling as a Christmas gift for my wife and I on our first Christmas.  My wife and I had been married about 6 months, and he was still struggling through medical school, so he was pretty much broke.  We appreciated that he got this for us.

Unfortunately, this was probably my least favorite Sting album for a long, long time.  I was very disappointed when it came out, after his three previous gems.  To me, this was adult contemporary elevator music.  And, in 1996, the music scene was going wild with Electronica, Britrock, American Alternative, and I'm sure some other genres that I didn't care too much about.  All I'm saying is that the music choices at that time were broad and all extremely good, Especially for someone in their mid to late 20s.  So, to decide to listen to this....  well, it wasn't high up on my list.

His Brand New Day album really changed things for him, and for me, and my wife and I saw him the summer of 2000 for that glorious tour.  The best show we saw that summer, beating out both Duran2 and Cure.  In fact, sweaty Simon and Fat Bob could hold a torch to him.  (And, Simon really was sweating through his t-shirt, leaving dark sweat marks in his pits and on his belly.  Gross.)

Having changed my thoughts on Sting after Brand New Day, I went back and gave Mercury Falling another shot.  Yes, the album isn't the most exciting one out there.  But, it is sincere, well-written, performed gracefully and succinctly, and showed Sting's growth and maturity.  The song hooks were subtle yet lasting, the mood was one of happiness and sadness, but ultimately human.

I was going to do the original album with the extra tracks, but it just worked out better to do everything BUT the album, so a disc two to be precise.  Just line this disc up beside/behind the original, and now you have everything.

Yes, this may not have been one of Sting's best ones.  But, it's still better than most out there, and still a necessity for any Sting collection.  He's not just Fields of Gold....

Sting - Mercury Falling - Disc Two - 1996

Sting - Live In Italy - 1987

So, this one takes place about 9 years after my next post.  You've all probably already heard this show, as it was commercially released as the "Sting & Gil Evans" live performance.  But, it's still one of my favorites.  The diversity of the songs on here, coupled with their unifying elements make it a wonderful performance in an almost intimate setting.  Great stuff, and time well spent....

Sting - Live In Italy - 1987

Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales - 1993

When I got this album, it was the first semester of my sophomore year in college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  I vividly remember the street I was walking on, and the buildings I was walking between while walking on campus with my headphones on.  So, wanting to be complete and really set the stage for you, I went to Google Maps to specifically find the location so you could see what I saw those two and a half decades ago.  Zooming down to the exact, precise location in my memory on the map, I found myself literally on top of a giant building I had never seen before, in the middle of a garden campus with paths all over.  The entire face of the college has changed.  Some of the buildings are the same, but there is so much that has grown so much in and around what was once downtown Lincoln, it's almost like a cancerous growth.  And people wonder why kids can't afford college anymore.  I would digress, but this isn't the place...

I really liked this album.   Sort of.   I wanted to like it immediately.  And, I did, with IIELMFIY and LISTJ and Fields of Gold.  I said "HOORAY!"  But, slowly, the style and the demeanor of the music changed.  "Gasp!" I said.  "I think Sting's moving into that adult contemporary phase and maturing!  No more rock and roll!"  And, at the time with Grunge, Techno and Madchester in full swing, listening to this one seemed almost boring.

But, as I've listened to it for two and a half decades, I know well that it's an example of Sting's incredible versatility and fearlessness in exploring all musical options.  He has shown incredible strength in writing songs that can inspire and warm the heart, bringing out emotions and conveying them in ways only Sting can. 

After listening to this album as I was working on the cover, I found myself singing Love Is Stronger Than Justice for almost two weeks.  Excellent song.  Love is a big fat river in flood.  Only Sting can do that!

Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales - 1993

Sting - The Chicago Sessions - 1991-1993

On the coat tails of the Oasis Demos, I'm posting Sting's awesome Chicago Sessions.  Lord only knows what they were recorded for, or why they were recorded.  All of the sources I've researched just state that they were soundboard recordings.  So, my guess would be it was some sort of show, although there aren't any crowd noises, if that's the case.

You'll find this collection all over the internet.  I am, by far, not the first to post this.  You could probably download these tracks from two dozen different sites, or more.  BUT, I am the only one with such a cool cover that will fit in nicely with all the other Sting albums available.  Sting has a picture of himself on all of his albums, with the exception of Soul Cages.  So, I had to find a good pic circa 91-93 that was in good quality/high resolution, and also not already used.  Trust me, it was hard to find.  But, the pics of Chicago were abundant, and I think I found a great one for the back.

Got this one back when I lived in Kansas City, during my "great depression".  It was a soul-soother.  I got it back when there were still these bootleggers who sold CDs on the web, and I got this one from this site called DMD Digital World. I also purchased three A-ha collections, an INXS live CD, and about five different Duran2 concerts.  I bet I spent 300 bucks with this guy for CD-R burns and laser printed cut out covers.  Stupid.  Now I can get all the material and more, and create my own covers, all for free.  Imagine the things I could have spent my money on instead of some cheap burns and printer paper.  Made in the Czech Republic my ass.

Hopefully, some of you don't have this yet.  If you do, I'm sorry.  Maybe next time.

Sting - The Chicago Sessions - 1991-1993

Sting - Dream Of the Blue Turtles - 1985

I didn't fall in love with Sting's work until Nothing Like the Sun.  That being said, I still really liked a lot of the singles from this album, and after I started really paying attention to him, I learned what a wonderfully written album this truly was. 

When I was a kid (13 or so?) I remember seeing the If You Love Somebody video on MTV and enjoying it and the unique way in which they shot it (check it here).  Were they actually in that room or not?  And William Orbit's mix is awesome.  I heard Russians on the radio (I remember driving from the suburbs into Chicago and it played) and it was great, it was sad and beautiful and perfectly captured the essence of the 80s political stage.  To this day, I still think that Fortress Around Your Heart is one of the best songs he's ever written.  It is a cathartic pop hook that helped me sort through several relationships.  And Seventh Wave is a clever balance between objective happiness and nihilism. 

One track I had never heard before until I compiled this collection is Code Word Elvis.  It is stupid and silly, but it's supposed to be.  In fact, it's hilarious. 

I'm not going to say that Sting wrote his best work when he went solo, but damn near close.  If it weren't for Synchronicity, it would be a definite yes.

Sting - Dream Of the Blue Turtles - 1985

Sting - Nothing Like the Sun - 1987

Who all loves Gordon Sumner, raise hands!

It would be hard to deny Sting as being one of the most accomplished British artists out there whose music and style has evolved and grown and matured as Sting has evolved, grown and matured.  He sings his age, he acts his age, he writes his age.

This album was introduced to me by the same girl in High School who dogged me out for listening to INXS too much in gym class.  She loaned this tape to me (anything to get to talk to her again) and I fell in love with it.  I remember it was late October and I was taking the activity bus home from school.  Headphones on, listening to Englishman in New York while taking a ride through suburban Chicago on a dark evening.  Streets wet and cold, headlights reflecting from the surface.  Snow drifted, shovelled, pushed from the sidewalks and streets, all the trees barren of leaves, the ground white and dirty.  Be Still My Beating Heart.

A very mature sound, I strongly feel this is a Jazz album, but there are also some World elements in there as well.  I have all the b-sides put somewhere between the two side sets of the album, and also some at the end.  They are just as good as the album tracks.  I love every song here, with the exception of Rock Steady, which I think is a crap stupid song, and I'd cut it out of this set if it wouldn't betray the integrity of the collection.  That being said, I did have to edit about 15 seconds of the end of it just so I could fit all of the songs within that 80 minute CD barrier. 

You really can't alter the power of the original album cover, so I didn't and left it the same.  If I had decided to change the album cover at all, it may have been replaced with BSMBH, as that pic sleeve is a great shot of Sting as well.

Enjoy, relax.  Sit back and drink a snifter of brandy and let your mind fall into Sting's masterpiece release, his last for the eighties....

Sting - Nothing Like the Sun - 1987