799. Sting--Brand New Day (1999: #9) (4)

799. Sting--Brand New Day (1999: #9) (4)

1. A Thousand Years (?) (3)
2. Desert Rose (7+)
3. Big Lie, Small World (?) (3)
4. After the Rain Has Fallen (?) (5)
5. Perfect Love...Gone Wrong (?) (4)
6. Tomorrow We'll See (?) (2)
7. Prelude to the End of the Game (?) (2)
8. Fill Her Up (?) (4) (interesting--starts out country--I'm thinking Sting? Country? uh-uh. Ends up jazz-tinged)
9. Ghost Story (?) (2)
10. Brand New Day (7+)

REVIEW: Pretty good stuff, with a chance to move up if I became familiar with the rest of the album aside from the two hits I know. 4.

ED'S TAKE:

799. Sting--Brand New Day (1999: #9)

1. A Thousand Years (6)
2. Desert Rose (7)
3. Big Lie, Small World (4)
4. After the Rain Has Fallen (5)
5. Perfect Love...Gone Wrong (4)
6. Tomorrow We'll See (4)
7. Prelude to the End of the Game *
8. Fill Her Up (5)
9. Ghost Story (4)
10. Brand New Day (6)

OVERALL RATING: 5 (On a lot of days, this would be a 2-0 meaning unlistenable. )

DISCUSSION: It's been awhile. Frankly, I can't remember how many of Sting's solo albums I still have in my collection.....TOO MANY! I don't like the guy much. I don't like his "signature sound", whatever it is. Sometimes when I listen to him, instead of hearing his "artistry", I hear boring easy listening/lite jazz. When I think of the first time I heard Roxanne and then hear THIS, I do not think evolution. (Call him devo....d-e-v-o)......Hey, he surely has the right to make whatever suits him, either as an expression of his art or for the buck. I mean, ok, Elvis C. has evolved/devolved since my favorite of his, "Pump it Up", but his later stuff is usually quite listenable regardless of stylistic changes. But that's Elvis and this is Sting.

God, Mark, were there HITS on this album? By the time I was trying to listen to this one for the first time, I was probably so disconnected that I had no idea which were the "big songs". (I'm sure I bought most of them, after the first, in used bargain bins for $.50-2.50. That's one of my problems. I convince myself that at bargain basement prices, it's worth taking a flier, even if only a few songs are good enought to ever play again. I wind up clogging my collection with a lot of lightweight stuff that I keep for others, not me. People sometimes think of Sting and Bono in the same breath....both with one name pretensions and both quite vocal about their causes which may irritate some people but if he gives money and time and publicity for the good of humanity, I'll forgive him his ego. The difference is, even today, I expect to enjoy U2's new music. I never expect much from Sting.