Nothing Like the Sun - Sting (CD 1987)

"I don't know what the critics will think of this album...."


When interviewed by Spin magazine back in 1987, Sting remarked that he was trying to create a pop record that was not necessarily filled with one sound and groove and that was going to transcend the well-known definition of pop music. Many people found this statement and others of this sort to be somewhat bizarre and peculiar but he had been leading towards a signature sound before he made this album. However, there were occurrences of trial-and-error before this masterpiece was created. With several albums before this, both his own's and the Police's, he has tried to express his artistic integrity. Honestly, I can't tell you if he had succeeded, since I haven't heard any other albums of his, except this one. However, all I know is that Nothing Like the Sun is a Sting masterpiece and has convinced this reviewer to pick up another Sting album.

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The opening song "Lazarus Heart", despite its upbeat eastern-drum like sound (done wonderfully by his drummer Manu Katche), is disturbing at a cursory listen. He sings of a sad occurrence when his mother is the cause of his death. He says that she stabbed him in his chest with seemingly malicious intent. However, he later describes that "the sword that cut him open...sword in mother's hand" wasn't necessarily meant to kill him. If someone listens to the whole song, they would realize that he's singing that he would sacrifice his life for his mother's, switching her pain onto his ("Birds on the roof of my mother's house/Will sit on my roof someday"). A song like this sounds like it would require a ethereal, unnatural production to it, however, due to the aforementioned eastern-drum pattern and nice vocoder effects, it sounds quasi-whimsical and carnival-like.

He continues his exploration of matters of the heart with "Be Still My Beating Heart". This song is one of the best love songs this reviewer has heard. Normally, a regular love song would describe what the heart makes someone feel for someone, but for this song, Sting tells things for his heart not to do when he's thinking of someone. In addition, instead of trying to describe what love is (like many others do), he doesn't take umbrage since he doesn't know why his heart is acting this way. Nevertheless, while listening to this song, the listener gets a sense of sweet desperation as Sting describes what he doesn't want his heart to do.

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

I'm sure we all have felt something like this, knowing that falling in love with someone may not be the best thing to do, but our heart won't let us not fall in love. Going along with that fact which shows that we don't know everything about the emotional centers of our bodies, we also know that love can not be duplicated or truly reciprocated without a special someone to share it with. On "Straight to My Heart", which actually comes on down the line on the CD, Sting sings that his beloved feels him with so much affection that he realizes that nothing can create the feeling that he feels for her. He realizes that even though science may try to re-create feelings, there would be nothing like pure human love. The Latin sound of this song somehow matches the subject matter well by emphasizing his impactful verses.

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Love is not the only emotion emitted by the heart, obviously. Sometimes, love can be overwhelmed by poignancy and sadness. Sting exhibits this on one of the numerous chilling songs on here: "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" which was a tribute to the victims of the Pinochet regime in Chile. Immediately, the various percussion effects that sound like stomping soldiers put chills into your mind as Sting sings in a soft, subdued voice about the mothers of the sons, fathers, and husbands killed. If Sting's meaningful and passionate delivery doesn't get you, the spoken-word bridge in the middle by Ruben Blades will immediately make you feel sad (Here it follows in Spanish and English).

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

If you listen to this song and don't feel emotions of sadness evoking within yourself, then something serious may be wrong with you. However, this song's sadness is only matched by the following song's heartrending sadness. On "Fragile", which was originally dedicated to a Peace Corps worker that was killed in Nicaragua, Sting sings of the inevitablity of human life and how violence is folly when it comes to human life? While doing some research about this song, I heard that it was sung on 9/11, encompassing all of the grief and sad incredulity on the day. I wish I could have heard that live interpretation of this song, but I digress.

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Even with the poignant theme of the album, Sting still finds time to be rather light-spirited on a few songs. On "We'll Be Together" which sounds like pop mixed with funk, he sings rather fancifully about his exploits to convince a girl to be with him. This song sounds like someone with no sense of restraint or had immense testicular fortitude would sing to a girl, no matter if he got positive results or not. This song would also be a perfect anthem for a down-on-the-luck lothario. The hilarity continues with "Rock Steady" in which Sting sings a funny story about going on a boat with his lady, being led by an old man. It turns out that this entire story was a big metaphor about them being blessed by the Lord, but I was too busy laughing at lines like "He's as cool as November and as smooth as China silk" to really understand this song.

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Honestly, I didn't truly understand this album. Maybe as I grow older and become more experienced, I could understand more of what Sting sings about on this CD and review it again with those influences. However, I can still realize that this album was like an enigma in pop music. There is no other pop album in my memory that has affected me and made me think as much about life in general as this one has. Therefore, I recommend this album for anyone who claims they love music. It'll be one amazing aural experience.