Ten Summoner's Tales - Sting (CD 1993)

Ten Summoner's Tales was the last album released by Sting before the famously comprehensive Best Of compilation, which also just so happens to be the first CD I ever seriously considered buying (back when I was still in my cassette phase).

In many ways, because of the timing, this was the last album we would ever see from what I call the "Summer Sumner" version of Sting. After the Best Of came and went, the mercury started falling. And since then, all Sting's album covers have been dark by comparison. So has the music.

Although I have always been a huge fan of the introspective Sting, I don't mind the playful moments peppered throughout the later albums. "Four Seasons", "Fill Her Up" and even that remix of "Send Your Love" show that even a serious guy like Sting still can't deny his own sense of humor.

Given the challenge of describing Ten Summoner's Tales in one word, "playful" would be my first choice.

While I'm not a big fan of using one song to justify purchasing an album, I still feel compelled to speak up for "Love Is Stronger Than Justice". Any time 10 Summoner's Tales is mentioned, that is the first song I think of. It's all about the free-spirited melody, and an unwieldy contrast between frantic pace and dark murderous story. You almost have to assume he's being sarcastic in some way, just to get past the joyfulness of the implication.

I look forward to a better day
Ethical stuff never got in my way
And though there used to be brothers seven
The other six are singin' in Heaven

What a mind-boggling tune that is. Only "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" lies between the push of play and THAT monstrosity. "If I Ever Lose My Faith" showcases another of Sting's numerous talents -- the ability to come up with a song that can be recognized almost immediately even just off someone else humming. Yeah, sure, we've heard the song a hundred times, but when you really think about it, that's a crazy way to start out a chorus. His vocal notes imply that the chord has no intention of changing, and the music has to fight to get away from him.

I was never a big fan of "Fields Of Gold", I wish I could tell ya why. I guess 'cause I always wanted to compare it to "Fields of Gray" a much happier and prettier Bruce Hornsby song that came out the same year.

"Heavy Cloud, No Rain" and "She's Too Good For Me" bring down the first half of the album nicely. You wouldn't think "Heavy Cloud" sounded in any way playful by listening to ten seconds of it, but most of the song stubbornly sticks to this one single chord, to the point it almost becomes funny. "She's Too Good For Me" bludgeons forward like a speeding freight train; its intense melody could be heard for miles. Sting's voice is kept a little bit down on the verses, so that only those on the train (that's you) can hear his self-depreciating confessions.

She don't like the clothes I wear
She don't like the way I stare
She don't like the tales I tell
She don't like the way I smell

"Seven Days" is one of those epic songs that sounds like it's being played in a cathedral of some type. Not surprising, I guess, since that seems to be the theme of the liner background. It alternates between sporadic, plucky notes and a slowly ascending chorus. There are tons of songs out there about days of the week, but I've yet to see one that matched The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love". Still that's an awfully high standard, and comparing Sting to The Cure is probably ridiculous.

In what seems like attempt to somehow match the intriguing "off beat" of "Justice", "St. Augustine In Hell" fails miserably. Hate to say it. The chorus is fine, but the verses are just so cluttered with restless organs and the whole thing practically feels like Hell. Of course I can't help but laugh at Satan's little speech in the middle when he says "We've got cardinals, archbishops, barristers, certified accountants, music critics, they're all here!"

And to further cement my reservations down there, I have to say that "It's Probably Me" ain't all that great itself. Muzak played it to death where I used to work, and it never fails to bring a yawn outta me, with or without Clapton's soloing (CD version = without). Plus I could never really make much sense of it. He says "If there's one guy, just one guy, who'd lay down his life for you and die, it's hard to say it, I hate to say it but it's probably me." Who is he referring to, and if it's someone he cares about, why does he hate to say it? Maybe he's embarrassed? I guess, maybe.

Bringing things back up to par is "Shape Of My Heart", a woeful ballad with one of the most poetic anti-war choruses you'll ever hear.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart.

There is an underlying subtext just screaming to be exposed there -- that you don't gamble with people's lives.

"Something The Boy Said" is a bit like "Fields of Gold" but faster. This is one of those songs that revels in atmospheric, jazzy ennui only to "explode" about three minutes out and rock like it has any right to do that. Finishing things out is an 11th tale, an Epilogue called "Nothin' Bout Me". For a brief time, this song was also on the radio.

Ten Summoner's Tales has its downtime and its uptime. I don't find it nearly as adventurous or touching as some of Sting's other efforts. Were I to rank all Sting's albums from best to worst, I'd imagine Ten Summoner's Tales as being just a notch above Mercury Falling.


Mercury Falling
Dream of the Blue Turtles
Sacred Love
Brand New Day
Synchronicity