Customer Reviews
2007-10-23
Sting's Style is Timeless, Extraordinary, Always a Joy...
I really owe Sting a whole lot of five star plus reviews. THIS is one outstanding CD of 15 songs, each one enirely unique, each one memorable in its own way.
Sting's style - has an array of influences, and my favorite are the Middle Eastern notes & style.
Favorite Songs from this CD that always bring me joy are:
Fragile
A Thousand Years
All This Time
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
Brand New Day
Fields of Gold
If I Ever Lose My Faith in You
His music is extraordinary in person, live as well in 1978/9 at "Speaks" in Long Island, NY - very down to earth, and super talented. Then in either 1980 or 81, a huge concert in London was spellbinding.
Sting's music has been bringing meso much joy -going all the way back to the beginning of (his old band) The Police.
There's also intriguing range in this CD - it's music that brings excitement and anticipation with each beat & each verse. I've been listening to Sting for around 30 years - the songs are as pulling as ever.
Talent is eternal. Sting IS talent, Amazing and Extraordinary Music.
Other timeless favorites by Sting you might be interested in are:
Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994, Brand New Day, Ten Summoner's Tales, Mercury Falling
Either in CD or MP3 downloads, these would all make great gifts for the lucky receiver.
2007-03-11
WoW...
Sting is one talented Englishman!! This cd is awesome, it was recorded live in Italy on Sept 11, 2001. this is a must have in any music lovers collection.
2006-07-08
Discovered After, Well... All This Time...
I note that one of my fellow "citizen reviewers" below felt that this "live" CD--consisting as it does of live takes of previously recorded songs--was a bit on the superfluous side and would likely appeal only to the "casual fan." Funny thing though, several others have posted (ironically for similar reasons) that it should only be of interest to Sting COMPLETISTS, the folks who feel compelled to literally possess every recording the Stingle has ever made. So who's right? Neither? Both?
Well, that likely all depends on the beholder--or the "be-hearer." , but I can say that *I* like it a lot. But if anyone could be classified as definitive casual fan when it comes to Sting, I guess that'd be me. After a somewhat rocky start with "Roxanne" (HATED it the first few times I heard it on the radio), I soon came to appreciate the Police and was intrigued by their intelligent lyrics and tight reggae-influenced rock. That is to say, I liked what I heard but was never felt compelled to rush out and buy their latest album the day it was released. And yeah, it did seem that Sting's critics had a point. He did seem to be a little full of himself, and that put me off at least a little bit. Had the same complicated reaction to Bono a few years later. Talented, yes. Compelling, yes. Egotistical, yes...but then it's not totally unwarranted.
Years later, I have to ask myself why that was such a sticking point for me. Why did I always cut Lou Reed or John Lennon considerable slack in the pretentiousness department, but resisted doing the same for those who came a bit later. Who knows? What I do know now is that if I had given the Police and Sting's later solo works more of a chance, I almost certainly would have come to overlook (and maybe even embrace) the minor failings. There are, as it turns out, more than enough strengths to allow for that.
So anyway this "casual fan" was familiar with about half the tunes included in this concert album. I knew the Police tracks of course, and certainly remembered early solo stuff like "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free." Whatever my initial misgivings about "Roxanne" way back when, I did come to like that song well enough to be a bit disappointed in almost campy version included here. It's starts off well enough but soon devolves into a near lounge number. Sorry, but that tune just demands a SINCERE delivery. And the perfunctory take on "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is a bit disappointing too.
So maybe Sting is a little uncomfortable by some his efforts of his youthful period? Or perhaps just tired of them? He can, however, still wrap himself around the romantic sentiment of "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and captures the still spooky irony of the CD's closer "Every Breath You Take" (still deliciously creepy after all these years). It's hard to believe that there are those who misunderstand this song's sinister import totally? I mean, do they really actually play it at WEDDINGS?? Listen to the words, boys and girls. This is NOT a healthy relationship.
Over the years, Sting has taken a few jabs for his rather overt, matinee idol romanticism. Well, you either like it or you don't. Give him credit though: he's smart enough to mix up the lush, metaphysical swoon of "A Thousand Years" with the comic swagger of "Perfect Love Gone Wrong." That makes for just about the perfect segue and just the right leavening touch. Similarly, he and the band shift effortlessly from those sunny "Fields of Gold" to sinister Anne Rice territory with "Moon Over Bourbon Street."
The brief notes on the inner sleeve make mention of the fact that the concert this live record documents took place in Italy on September 11, 2001. The album is "respectfully dedicated to those who lost their lives that day." I suspect many a jaded listener may have been a little skeptical about that. And there will certainly be those who would maintain that the proper response would have been to cancel the concert and the recording thereof (an evening concert European time would have been just hours after the day's actual events after all.) Regardless of how you may feel about all that, a genuine spirit of solemnity does indeed permeate many of the tracks. The album's opener "Fragile" is eerily poignant in light of the horror of that day. The song's vaguely wistful pacifist sentiment takes on new significance given the day's carnage. Five years--and considerably more carnage--later, it still bears listening to.
As does the whole album. Whether you're a "casual fan" or a devotee.
2006-05-03
His Best cd Ever....
This is clearly Stings best cd but look at how many people who are still not satisfied..can an artist please everyone...clearly not.
2005-01-30
Love it but......
Why is Seven Days not on this CD. It was my favorite part of the DVD and then I find out its only on the Import CD. Still a great CD though.
Statistics
This album is
owned by only 1
user
and there
is
1 more
Sting
album in
Music Codex.
Users tagged this album with
2 tags.
See more Sting albums.
This album was release on
2001-11-20.
New & Used from $4.90 and $0.79