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....
I confess I do love his work from '...Tales' to 'Brand New Day', mostly because my parents were addicted to them throughout my childhood. If you wanna listen to anything good from around then I highly recommend the 'Miracles of Science' mix of 'If I ever loose my faith in you'. It's one of the most 90's remixes I've ever heard! Got all the cheesy samples and typical styles of instruments. Also if you can find a torrent get hold of the movie he did for that album. It's shot in a castle over the course of a day and is stunning!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this 2nd disc!
ReplyDeleteNice! Big Sting & Police fan here. I'd collected most of these via CD singles but there's a couple here I don't think I have. At any rate, nice to have them in one collection...*thumbs up*
ReplyDeleteThanks!
could you up the link again for disc2? Appreciate it very muck.
ReplyDelete