Nothing Like The Sun
	Produced by Neil Dorfsman and Sting (track 7 by Bryan Loren and Sting)
	Released on October 13, 1987
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #9 . . . 2x PLATINUM RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
SP-6402 cover [high resolution scan]

S ophisticated, subtle, stately, subdued and a stone cold bore. That was my initial impression of Nothing Like The Sun. I’ve warmed up to it a little over the years, but I was drawn this close to the Sun because of “We’ll Be Together,” the funky exception to another serious album. Albums, actually, since this was packaged as a double elpee to give it weightiness. Probably settled to the bottom of more than a few garbage bags from frustrated Police fans who could no longer logically maintain the man would go back to writing real rock songs. Joe Jackson could get away with making music like this because he kept his sense of humor. And his shirt on. Sting is another story. He’s full of good ideas, but too full of himself to realize that most people just wanted him to smile, look pretty and play reggaefied rock music, maybe toss a smart ballad in there for the ladies. Instead, this sounds like a(n unholy inverted) cross between Peter Gabriel and Harry Connick. The rare moments when Sting has fun with it (e.g., “Englishman In New York,” “Little Wing”) are breaths of fresh air on an otherwise stuffy opus. At least he gave up his six-stringed conceit and went back to playing the bass. Maybe Sting really wanted to be Bertol Brecht. Or at least to be taken seriously. I think Blue Turtles kind of got that point across, slowly, and the artist doth protest too much over these two albums. That said, Sting’s fans will still want to check this out for songs like “Fragile,” “They Dance Alone,” “History Will Teach Us Nothing” and “The Lazarus Heart.” Nothing Like The Sun is very much like its author: smart, sexy, intellectual, romantic, pedantic, conceited, remarkable, intractable.

TRACK LISTING

record one

1. THE LAZARUS HEART    4:34
2. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART    5:32
3. ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK    4:25
4. HISTORY WILL TEACH US NOTHING    4:58
5. THEY DANCE ALONE (GUECA SOLO)    7:16
6. FRAGILE    3:54
   
   record two
   
7. WE'LL BE TOGETHER    4:52
8. STRAIGHT TO MY HEART    3:54
9. ROCK STEADY    4:27
10. SISTER MOON    3:46
11. LITTLE WING    (Jimi Hendrix)    5:04
12. THE SECRET MARRIAGE    2:03
    
    CD reissue bonus track
    
13. ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK (VIDEO)
    
    Spanish language version
    
1. THE LAZARUS HEART
2. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART
3. ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK
4. SI ESTAMOS JUNTOS
5. HISTORY WILL TEACH US NOTHING
6. THEY DANCE ALONE (GUECA SOLO)
7. FRAGILE
8. WE'LL BE TOGETHER
9. STRAIGHT TO MY HEART
10. ROCK STEADY
11. SISTER MOON
12. LITTLE WING
13. THE SECRET MARRIAGE
14. FRAGILIDAD
    
    All songs written and arranged by Sting unless noted

CREDITS

STING -- vocals, bass, guitar (4,6)
MINO CINELU -- percussion, vocoder
MANU KATCHÉ -- drums
KENNY KIRKLAND -- keyboards
BRANFORD MARSALIS -- saxophone
Ruben Blades -- spanish (5)
Hiram Bullock -- guitar (11)
Eric Clapton -- guitar (5)
Kenwood Dennard -- drums(11)
Mark Egan -- bass (11)
Gil Evans & his orchestra -- (11)
Reneé Gayer -- backing vocals
Fareed Haque -- guitar (5)
Ken Helman -- piano (12)
Mark Knopfler -- guitar (5)
Dollette McDonald -- backing vocals
Andy Newmark -- additional drums
Janice Pendarvis -- backing vocals
Andy Summers -- guitar (1,2)
Vesta Williams -- backing vocals
Neil Dorfsman -- mixing
Hugh Padgham -- mixing
Paul McKenna -- mixing (7)
Brian Aris -- photographs
Richard Frankel -- art direction and design

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