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Sting: ... Nothing Like The Sun

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: A&M Records
Released: 1987
Time:
 54:45
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.sting.com
Appears with: The Police
Purchase date: 2007.09.23
Price in €: 7,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] The Lazarus Heart (Sting) - 4:35
[2] Be Still My Beating Heart (Sting) - 5:34
[3] Englishman in New York (Sting) - 4:27
[4] History Will Teach Us Nothing (Sting) - 5:07
[5] They Dance Alone [Cueca Solo] (Sting) - 6:48
[6] Fragile (Sting) - 3:58
[7] We'll Be Together (Sting) - 4:53
[8] Straight to My Heart (Sting) - 3:54
[9] Rock Steady (Sting) - 4:28
[10] Sister Moon (Sting) - 3:57
[11] Little Wing (J.Hendrix) - 5:03
[12] The Secret Marriage (Eisler/Sting) - 2:02

[13] Enhanced CD Video "Englishman in New York"

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Sting - Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Vocals, Liner Notes, Producer

Gil Evans Orchestra, Conductor
Branford Marsalis - Saxophone
Rubén Blades - Guitar, Vocals
Hiram Bullock - Guitar
Mino Cinelu - Percussion, Vocoder
Eric Clapton - Guitar
Kenwood Dennard - Drums
Mark Egan - Bass, Guitar
Fareed Haque - Guitar
Ken Helman - Piano
Manu Katche - Drums
Kenny Kirkland - Keyboards
Mark Knopfler - Guitar
Jeff Levison - Guitar
Andy Newmark - Drums
Andy Summers - Guitar

Renee Geyer - Background Vocals
Dollette McDonald - Background Vocals
Janice Pendarvis - Background Vocals
Vesta Williams - Background Vocals

Bryan Loren - Producer
Neil Dorfsman - Producer
Hugh Padgham - Producer
Rory Kaplan - Executive Producer
Dave O'Donnell - Assistant Producer
Rod Michaels - Engineer
David Tickle - Mastering, Mixing
Brian Aris - Photography
Richard Frankel - Art Direction, Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

1987 LP A&M 75021-6402-1
1987 CD A&M 75021-6402-2
1987 CS A&M 75021-6402-4
1991 CD Mobile Fidelity 546
1993 CD Universal 6402
1995 CD Mobile Fidelity UDCD-546
1995 CD Mobile Fidelity 546
1999 CD Polygram International 540993
2001 CD Digital Sound 1063
2001 DVA Digital Sound 1063
2003 CD Universal 2043
2008 CD Universal Japan 90744

Sting's double-length follow-up to his solo debut DREAMS OFTHE BLUE TURTLE is very much in the same sophisticated, adult pop vein, although darker and less jazzy (notwithstandinga collaboration with Miles Davis's arranger Gil Evans on a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"). The songs are a generally varied lot, ranging from a tribute to victims of repression in Argentina ("They Dance Alone") to a tongue-in-cheek, sort-of-reggae tribute to famous eccentric Quentin Crisp ("An Englishman in New York"). The sort-of-funk "We'll Be Together"(originally written for a Japanese beer commercial) isthe most upbeat and pop-ish thing here, and was deservedly a hit single, although Sting now disdains it.



Sting's second and most conceptually dense solo album moved on from jazz to ideas picked up from Latin music. Even when he's not using Latin music's tricky polyrhythms, the melodies of the ballad "Be Still My Beating Heart" and the hit dance single "We'll Be Together" suggest he'd been listening to lots of salsa. If you can sting, you can cross-pollinate, too, and there are some other subtle hybrids here, notably the Gil Evans Orchestra's gliding arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the reggae-in-a-Cole Porter suit of "Englishman in New York." Of course, the former schoolteacher has some lyrical messages to deliver and the three songs that originally made up the second side of a double LP are a bitter meditation on Latin American politics and history.

Douglas Wolk - Amazon.com essential recording



Für das Album ein Zitat aus einem Shakespeare-Sonett auszuwählen, erzeugt natürlich hohe Erwartungen. Aber Sting konnte sich beruhigt der teuren Worte des großen Meisters bedienen, gelang ihm doch über weite Strecken hier selbst große Kunst. Er läßt seine Liebe zum Reggae einfließen, stellt simple Rock-Rhythmen neben komplexe musikalische Gerüste, die seine großartige Band aber nie vor unlösbare Probleme stellen. "They dance alone" beschreibt den stummen Protest südamerikanischer Mütter, deren Söhne verschleppt wurden und die ihren ohnmächtigen Protest tanzend ausdrückten. Zunächst ruhig aufbauend, leitet Sting dann nur folgerichtig zum südamerikanischen Hüftschwung über. "Fragile" dürfte eine der perfektesten und zartesten Auseinandersetzungen mit dem Sinn des Lebens in der Pop-Geschichte sein. Der gelernte Bassist demonstriert hier auch eindrucksvoll sein gewachsenes Können an der Gitarre. Auch wie der bekennende Hendrix-Fan "Little Wing" bearbeitet hat, ist hörenswert: Zur gesungenen Liebeserklärung steuert Saxophonist Branford Marsalis ein grandioses Solo bei. Überhaupt ist Nothing like the sun ein Zeugnis der genialen Zusammenarbeit des nordenglischen Musikers mit dem jungen Sproß aus der amerikanischen Jazz-Dynastie. Marsalis gelingt es immer wieder, Stings Kompositionen noch aufzuwerten. Der "Englishman in New York" oder "Sister Moon" sind dafür gute Beispiele.

Wolfram Lumpe - Amazon.de



Als Gordon Sumner sein zweites Solo-Werk veröffentlichte, kürte AUDIO das Opus prompt zur Platte des Monats (12/1987). Eine erstklassige Begleitband gab den zwölf meist recht melancholischen Songs genau die Prise Swing und melodische Raffinesse mit, die sie weit über den sonst üblichen Pop- Standard hob. Dazu kam eine brillante, wenn auch gegenüber dem Vorgänger (von MFSL: MFCD 528) etwas sterilere Produktion. Diese MFSL-Version nimmt den Höhen ein wenig ihre Schärfe und zirkelt die Stimme noch klarer ab.

© Audio



If Dream of the Blue Turtles was an unabashedly pretentious affair, it looks positively lighthearted in comparison to Sting's sophomore effort, Nothing Like the Sun, one of the most doggedly serious pop albums ever recorded. This is an album where the only up-tempo track, the only trifle -- the cheerfully stiff white-funk "We'll Be Together" -- was added at the insistence of the label because they believed there wasn't a cut on the record that could be pulled as a single, one that would break down the doors to mainstream radio. And they were right, since everything else here is too measured, calm, and deliberately subtle to be immediate (including the intentional throwaway, "Rock Steady"). So, why is it a better album than its predecessor? Because Sting doesn't seem to be trying so hard. It flows naturally, largely because this isn't trying to explicitly be a jazz-rock record (thank the presence of a new rhythm section of Sting and drummer Manu Katche for that) and because the melodies are insinuating, slowly working their way into memory, while the entire record plays like a mood piece -- playing equally well as background music or as intensive, serious listening. Sting's words can still grate -- the stifling pompousness of "History Will Teach Us Nothing" the clearest example, yet calls of "Hey Mr. Pinochet" also strike an uneasy chord -- but his lyricism shines on "The Lazarus Heart," "Be Still My Beating Heart," "They Dance Alone," and "Fragile," a quartet of his very finest songs. If Nothing Like the Sun runs a little too long, with only his Gil Evans-assisted cover of "Little Wing" standing out in the final quarter, it still maintains its tone until the end and, since it's buoyed by those previously mentioned stunners, it's one of his better albums.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



These twelve tracks are primarily slow, often intellectual and pensive, generally splitting their interest between love and politics. They're richly textured, with sweeping synthesizer backdrops and percolating polyrhythms, often bouncing to a reggae lilt, and always featuring superbly executed instrumentation. The songs are so finely constructed that each listen reveals more and more. However, while ...Nothing But The Sun benefits from contributions from a variety of jazz notables and does have jazzy overtones, it is not a jazz album. It's too bad that Sting doesn't allow for more straight-ahead jazz playing on the album, as many of the songs would benefit from improvisational workouts. If Branford Marsalis is going to play on your album, what's the point of not letting him cut loose? On "Fragile," for example, Sting himself picks out some emotionally charged guitar lines that make the song sound like a Michael Franks tune. Another real stand-out track is "Little Wing," the Hendrix number featuring the Gil Evans Orchestra (a real coup) and outstanding guitar work from Hiram Bullock. Recommended tracks: the above, "Englishman In New York" and "We'll Be Together."

CMJ.com - Nov 10, 2000



Ranked #90 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The Eighties" survey.

Rolling Stone - (November '89)
 

 L y r i c s


The Lazarus Heart

He looked beneath his shirt today
There was a wound in his flesh so deep and wide
From the wound a lovely flower grew
From somewhere deep inside
He turned around to face his mother
To show her the wound in his breast
That burned like a brand
But the sword that cut him open
Was the sword in his mother's hand

Every day another miracle
Only death will tear us apart
To sacrifice a life for yours
I'd be the blood of the Lazarus heart
The blood of the Lazarus heart

Though the sword was his protection
The wound itself would give him power
The power to remake himself at the time of his darkest hour
She said the wound would give him courage and pain
The kind of pain that you can't hide
From the wound a lovely flower grew
From somewhere deep inside

Every day another miracle
Only death will keep us apart
To sacrifice a life for yours
I'd be the blood of the Lazarus heart
The blood of the Lazarus heart

Birds on the roof of my mother's house
I've no stones to chase them away
Birds on the roof of my mother's house
Will sit on my roof someday
They fly at the window, they fly at the door
Where does she get the strength to fight them anymore
She counts all her children as a shield against the pain
Lifts her eyes to the sky like a flower to the rain

Every day another miracle
Only death will keep us apart
To sacrifice a life for yours
I'd be the blood of the Lazarus heart
The blood of the Lazarus heart


Be Still My Beating Heart

Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so

I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart

Restore my broken dreams
Shattered like a falling glass
I'm not ready to be broken just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget

Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart

Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
And I struggle to avoid any help at hand

I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart


Englishman In New York

I don't drink coffee I'll take tea my dear
I like my toast done on one side
As you can hear it in my accent when I talk
I'm an Englishman in New York

See me walking down Fifth Avenue
A walking cane here at my side
I take it everywhere I walk
I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York

If "manners maketh man" as someone said
Then he's the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York

Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety
You could end up as the only one
Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society
At night a candle's brighter than the sun

Takes more than combat gear to make a man
Takes more than license for a gun
Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can
A gentleman will walk but never run

If "manners maketh man" as someone said
Then he's the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York


History Will Teach Us Nothing

If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past
Security in human systems we're told will always, always last
Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast
Without the breath of real freedom we're getting nowhere fast

If God is dead and an actor plays his part
His words of fear will find their way to a place in your heart
Without the voice of reason every faith is its own curse
Without freedom from the past things can only get worse

Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away

Our written history is a catalogue of crime
The sordid and the powerful, the architects of time
The mother of invention, the oppression of the mild
The constant fear of scarcity, aggression as its child

Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later

Convince an enemy, convince him that he's wrong
Is to win a bloodless battle where victory is long
A simple act of faith
In reason over might
To blow up his children will only prove him right
History will teach us nothing

Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away

History will teach us nothing
History will teach us nothing

Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for


They Dance Alone

Why are these women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here
Their faces fixed like stone?
I can't see what it is that they despise
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone, they dance alone

It's the only form of protest they're allowed
I've seen their silent faces they scream so loud
If they were to speak these words they'd go missing too
Another woman on the torture table what else can they do
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone, they dance alone

One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance



Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
danzan con los muertos
danzan con amores invisibles
con silenciosa angustia
Danzan con sus padres
con sus hijos
con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas
Danzan solas

Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancin' with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone, they dance alone


Fragile

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay

Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star, like tears from a star
On and on the rain will SEE
How fragile we are, how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star, like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are, how fragile we are
How fragile we are, how fragile we are


We'll Be Together

I see me with you and all the things you do
Keep turning round and round in my mind
Forget the weather we should always be together
And any other thought is unkind

To have you with me I would swim the seven seas
I need you as my guide and my light
My love is a flame that burns in your name
We'll be together, we'll be together tonight

We'll be together, yeah
We'll be together, yeah
We'll be together, yeah

I see you with me and all I want to be
Is dancing here with you in my arms
Forget the weather we should always be together
I'll always be a slave to your charms

To have you with me I would swim the seven seas
I need you as my guide in my life
My love is a flame that burns in your name
We'll be together, we'll be together tonight

We'll be together, yeah
We'll be together, yeah
We'll be together, yeah

Call me baby
You can call me anything you want
Call me baby, call me, just call me

I see you with me and baby makes three
I see me with you and all the things you do
Forget the weather we should always be together
I need you as my guide and my light
My love is the flame that burns in your name
We'll be together, we'll be together tonight


Straight To My Heart

Well in a hundred years from now
They will attempt to tell us how
A scientific means to bliss
Will supercede the human kiss

A sub atomic chain
Will maybe galvanize the brain
A biochemic trance
Will eliminate romance

But why ever should we care
When there are arrows in the air
Formed by lovers' ancient art
That go straight to my heart

A future sugar coated pill
Would give our lovers time to kill
I think they're working far too much
For the redundancy of touch

But what will make me yours
Are a million deadly spores
Formed by lovers' ancient art
That go straight to my heart

Come into my door
Be the light of my life
Come into my door

You'll never have to sweep the floor
Come into my door
Be the light of my life
Come into my door
Come and be my wife
I'll be true. To no one but you

If it's a future world we fear
We have tomorrow's seeds right here
For you can hold them in your hand
Or let them fall into the sand

But if our love is pure
The only thing of which we're sure
Then you can play your part
And go straight to my heart

If I should seek immunity
And love you with impunity
Then the only thing to do
Is for me to pledge myself to you

But they only dealt one card
So for me it is not hard
You're the bright star in my chart
You go straight to my heart

Come into my door
Be the light of my life
Come into my door
You'll never have to sweep the floor
Come into my door
Be the light of my life
Come into my door
Come and be my wife
I'll be true. To no one but you


Rock Steady

Saw an ad in the newspaper that caught my eye
I said to my baby this sounds like the ticket for you and I
It said volunteers wanted for a very special trip
To commune with Mother Nature on a big wooden ship
We took a taxi to the river in case any places were free
There was an old guy with a beard
And every kind of creature as far as the eye could see

This old guy was the boss, he said,
"I won't tell you no lie
But there's more to this journey
Than is apparent to the eye"
He said he'd heard God's message on the radio
It was going to rain forever and he'd told him to go
"I'll protect you all don't worry I'll be father to you all
I'll save two of every animal, no matter how small
But I'll need some assistants to look after the zoo
I can't see nobody better so you'll just have to do"
I said, "Just tell me something before it's too late and we're gone
I mean just how safe is this boat we'll be on?"

"It's Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock stead, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady"

It rained for forty days and forty long nights
I'd never seen rain like it and it looked like our old friend
Was being proved right
We had no time to worry though there was just too much to do
Between the signified monkey and the kangaroo
We had to wash all the animals we had to feed them too
We were merely human slaves in a big floating zoo
She said, "Hey Baby I don't mean to be flip
But it seems this old man is on some power trip"
I said, "No, no sugar you must be wrong
I mean look at the size of this boat we're on
We're as safe as houses, as safe as mother's milk
He's as cool as November and as smooth as China silk
He's God's best friend, he's got a seat on the board
And life may be tough but we're sailing with the lord."

Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady

Woke up this morning and something had changed
Like a room in my house had just been rearranged
She said, "It's stopped raining and
I know the guy's kind
But if we stay here much longer
I'm gonna lose my mind."
So we said we had a mission for his favourite dove
To see if there was any mercy from this great God above
So to find dry land, away the white bird flew
We didn't need no country just a rock would do
When the dove came back to us, he threw down a twig
It was manna from heaven and meant we could blow this gig
"But the rock's too small," he said, "can't you see?"
I said, "It's just perfect for her, it's perfect for me."

Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady
Rock steady, rock steady


Sister Moon

Sister moon will be my guide,
in your blue blue shadows I would hide.
All good people asleep tonight
I'm all by myself in your silver light
I would gaze at your face the whole night through
I'd go out of my mind but for you
I'd go out of my mind but for you

Lying in a mother's arms
the primal root of a woman's charms.
I'm a stranger to the sun my eyes are too weak
How cold is a heart when it's warmth that it seeks?
You watch every night, you don't care what I do
I'd go out of my mind, but for you
I'd go out of my mind, but for you

My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun.
My hunger for her explains everything I've done
To howl at the moon the whole night through.
And they really don't care if I do
I'd go out of my mind but for you.

Sister Moon...


Little Wing

Well, she's walking through the clouds
with a circus mind
that's running wild
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams
and fairy tales,

That's all she ever thinks about...

Riding the wind

When I'm sad she comes to me
with a thousand smiles
she gives to me free

It's alright, she says,
It's alright
Take anything you want from me,
anything,

Fly on, little wing


The Secret Marriage

No earthly church has ever blessed our union
No state has ever granted us permission
No family bond has ever made us two
No company has ever earned commission

No debt was paid no dowry to be gained
No treaty over border land or power
No semblance of the world outside remained
To stain the beauty of this nuptial hour

The secret marriage vow is never spoken
The secret marriage never can be broken

No flowers on the altar
No white veil in your hair
No maiden dress to alter
No bible oath to swear

The secret marriage vow is never spoken
The secret marriage never can be broken

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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