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  1. Originally posted by iTim:I will review Sting when I get the chance, but it's the final week of university and I'm so busy. Regarding The Church, is this the same artist that released "Under The Milky Way"?
    Yes. Same Church, different album.
  2. Originally posted by LikeASong:As usual, we're stringing some delays together since a few albums ago, which is normal. I think we should leave a few more days for Sting's reviews and then head on to Greg's album
    Ok. You just say the word.

  3. Sting- Ten Summoner´s tales

    Sting is one of my favourite artists ever, ranking second after U2 and paired with Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler. I know his whole catalogue back and forth from memory So let's say that reviewing this album is like interviewing your best friend for the neigbourhood newspaper Won't be an objective review, not even interesting, but hey.


    You could say I... If I Ever Lose My Faith in You is an amazing song and an amazing album opener. I love the lyrics, some of Sting's finest works in my opinion. Simple yet profound (I never saw no military solution - didn't that always end up as something worse?). Harmonically, the song is incredible as well. Goes from D major in the verses to a strange E>F#7>G>A progression for the chorus, and to F#m>C#>B in the bridge. Wow.
    Love Is Stronger Than Justice has never been one of my favourites until I became obsessed with weird time signatures - as I've stated abundantly throughout different album reviews over time haha. This is a weird mix of 7/8 time for the verses and 4/4 for the chorus; the title of the song makes reference to that seven time (the munificient seven) which is pretty genius!
    Fields Of Gold is a different matter altogether. Delicate, lovely love song... One of the first songs I learnt to play on guitar ever, even before than most U2 songs! It's a bittersweet song to me nowadays since I associate it strongly with my ex-girlfriend and I didn't even want to listen to it when doing the obligued album listen... I finally fell for it. Oh man, what a song. What a memories. I never made promises lightly, and there have been some that I've broken... But I swear in the days still left we'll walk in fields of gold...
    Sting's phrasing on Heavy Cloud No Rain reminds me of his vocal style during the late Police era, or his first solo album. Funky little song, I love the slightly dissonant guitar break at 1:45, but otherwise this is one of the more forgettable songs off TST to me.
    She's Too Good For Me shares that '85 feeling, but it's a much better song than Heavy Cloud in my opinion. I love it, the hammond organ, the fast rhythm... And then that puzzing classical break at 1:30, what the fuck Sting?! GENIUS!!
    Seven Days is another unusual time signature - and my favourite one: 5/4. It's amazing how Sting manages to make weird jazzy time signatures sound so natural. As a Police fan, the song's highlight is the Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic reference, both in the instrumentation and the final lyrics... Do I have to tell a story of a thousand rainy days since we first met? It's a big enough umbrella but it's always me that ends up getting wet! I love this kind of inside hints.
    Saint Augustine In Hell is another 7/8 time with a dark theme and sound. Lots of religious references and that spoken break... "Hell is full of high court judges, failed saints... We've got Cardinals, Archbishops, barristers, certified accountants and music critics" haha, brilliant. I never truly got into this song as it was too dark for a kid's ear, but now I appreciate it a lot more.
    It's a shame that the It's Probably Me version on the album isn't the same as the single/soundtrack version with the epic zippo opening rhythm AND THE GUITAR + SAX SOLO!!!! It's fucking miles ahead the album version in every possible way!
    Everybody Laughed But You is nothing special, just an ok song with lyrics I can pretty much relate to. Never been a fav but it's fine.

    Just so you get an idea of how this album and artist have shaped my life (no pun intended), I sang Shape Of My Heart in my parents' silver jubilee celebration, last July 11th. Go figure! Incredible song about an avid poker player that is so used to the cards' logic and wearing a mask for not showing his feelings during the game that he ends up not showing his emotions in real life either.
    Something The Boy Said is very different both thematically and sonically. I love Sting's articulation on this song. The fact that it's right after Shape Of My Heart has turned this one into a bit of a forgotten song because I kept rewinding the cassete/CD to hear SOMH again, forgetting about this little number which is very good in itself. Shame on me! It's got a similar start and structure than the opening song and Fields Of Gold, which helps building some kind of recurrent theme around the album. I love how the song is mostly quiet and then explodes after nothing but four (!) minutes, another touch of brilliance by Mr Sumner.
    Nothing About Me goes back to the funky, poppy path of Heavy Cloud and Seven Days. Not the best possible ending for the album, but it's fine. On a slightly unrelated note, the first time I heard about Arctic Monkeys' debut album, which is called "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not", I thought it was a reference to this song, hahaha. The ending reminds to A Day In The Life's orchestral glissando, which I'm pretty sure is not accidental: Sting is a big Beatles fan and in fact A Day In The Life was a staple during the Summoner's Tales tour.

    Top tracks (biased as hell)
    Shape Of My Heart
    Fields Of Gold
    If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

    Overall I can't be impartial with this album as I've listened to it a thousand times since I was a small kid. It's as embedded in my brain as U2's Joshua Tree or Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms. Nevertheless, I have to admit that after not listening to it for a good couple of years (except selected songs), it felt fresh and new to me in many ways. The lesser known -to me anyway- songs like Something The Boy Said and St. Augustine felt exciting to re-discover and listen with fresh ears. This is not Sting's best album for me, but it's still a very enjoyable one, and up there in his top 5 albums. Thanks Pato for choosing a piece of my life And sorry all for the boring, personal review.
  4. well it's great that about Sting, compliments indeed
  5. Sorry guys, got a new job and have almost no time. Will see what next weeks bring. Hopefuly I will be able to make it later...
  6. Congrats on the new job Alvin! I got two jobs and still review albums though......
  8. Listening to Pato's now
  9. I'll begin my review but will have to finish it later

    1. "Prologue (If I Ever Lose My Faith in You)" - This is a pretty upbeat sounding song. The chorus is very catchy. I love this so far. It gives the album promise so far.
    2. "Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)" - This song somehow struck me as quite funny in places. But, it was very good. I didn't like is as much as the first track, and I didn't like how Sting sang as much. The outro was cool.
    3. "Fields of Gold" - I've heard this, my mother loves this song. To me, it sounds a little like The Cranberries, because of the slow tempo and chime-like instrumentals in places. I like this a lot, this is a great album so far.
    4. "Heavy Cloud No Rain" - The intro to this one is funky, I kinda like it. The bass drives this song for me, it has a good feel to it. After a couple minutes some guitar kicks in and has a sort of solo, which was well-placed as guitar hasn't been featured a lot thus far.
    5. "She's Too Good for Me" - The intro to this one has a more Police-like feel to it in my opinion. Nothing about this one stood out to me a lot but it wasn't bad.
    6. "Seven Days" - Also gave me a more Police - like vibe. The drumming was very irregular like Copeland (don't know if that's him or not). Seven Days got catchy after about one minute. Overall, a good song. Did I catch "a thousand rainy days" in those lyrics? Just like one of my Police all-time favorites, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.
    7. "Saint Augustine in Hell" - A groovier track to me. I enjoyed this one but the weird interlude in the middle was strange to me.
    8. "It's Probably Me" (Sting, Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen) - This song was a little slower and more melancholy. I started out not enjoying it much, but it became pretty relaxing and grew on me. This is a top 3 or 4 track for me so far.
    9. "Everybody Laughed but You" (Excluded from original Canada/US releases) - I liked the drums in the intro. The song overall had a cool feel to it, I'm not sure how exactly but the way he sang "everybody laughed...but you" gave me that feeling. In the middle, there's a break in the song filled with what I think is a guitar or some stringed instrument.
    10. "Shape of My Heart" - Right from the start I loved this one. The intro was very beautiful, and the lyrics were very meaningful. Definitely will be in the top three.
    11. "Something the Boy Said" - For me this one was more filler. Not at all bad but it didn't really hook me.
    12. "Epilogue (Nothing 'Bout Me)" - What a great closer! The horns were fantastic, and the intro had me hooked immediately. Very good, jazzy, upbeat way to close a great album.

    I'll continue reviewing this later, but wow! This made me realize I need to go back and listen to and revisit some Police material soon.

    After finishing, I'd give this a 7.5/10. Ten Summoner's Tales was a great listen. Thanks a ton Pato! (Sorry I was a little late). Top tracks: If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Fields of Gold, Shape of My Heart.

    I just bought a Police record today, a vinyl copy of Regatta de Blanc, so this was a good intro to my future Police experience!
  10. Originally posted by Alvin:Sorry guys, got a new job and have almost no time. Will see what next weeks bring. Hopefuly I will be able to make it later...
    Maybe you can drop the prediction game from your diary

    ( congratulations !)
  11. Very nice review Sergio ... nice history ...i didn t know that you loved so much to Sting

    Which is the best Sting album for you ? I think this is the best for me , but is the one i more know
  12. Originally posted by patou2:Very nice review Sergio ... nice history ...i didn t know that you loved so much to Sting

    Which is the best Sting album for you ? I think this is the best for me , but is the one i more know
    The Dream Of The Blue Turtles is slightly above Ten Summoners Tales and The Soul Cages for me I'm a big fan of the more jazzy side of Sting so I obviously like the Blue Turtles above everything else. Plus it contais two of my favourite songs ever (Moon Over Bourbon Street and Fortress Around Your Heart).
    All his studio albums up to 2003's Sacred Love are great though.
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