Brand New Day - Sting (CD 1999)

General Sting Commentary
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Sting has been a big name since his punk/rock days with the Police. He moved me then and now, some 15 years later, he moves me still (You Still Move Me). As my tastes in music have matured, so too have Sting's.

Now, first let's give the guy credit for being a talented performer (aside from his recent acting appearance on Ally McBeal). He's a man that can jam with the best jazz musicians in the world. Anyone who caught him in his 'Bring on the Night' tour back in the late 80's is aware of that. However, at that point he was pushing into jazz pretty hard, and most of his pop appeal was set on the back burner as far as I could tell.

His formidable success with 'Dream of the Blue Turtle' and monumental achievement in 'Nothing Like the Sun' planted him firmly as a true pop icon. His looks, I guess, didn't hurt. Since then, while his commercial successes have been huge, many fans have received his music with mixed feelings. I am not in this group. My feeling is that he has committed himself to pushing into uncharted areas musically, and as such has moved at times from pop to jazz to rap (ugh) to country (Fill Her Up). His music has definite rock, gospel, jazz and country influence, for those with distinguishing musical taste. In this album, he integrated splendidly cross-cultural styles.

Because of these reasons, Sting is always my 'sure buy' when it comes to music. I haven't missed an album.
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Brand New Day
This album (BND) was the best of the year (1999) in my opinion, an the Grammy's agreed, giving it Best Pop Album. But these awards are dime-a-dozen for Sting. Ten Summoner's Tales received similar acclaim.

Sting pushes into the melodic pop chant in A Thousand Years. This is a mesmerizing tune with rich, deep bass running throughout. Sting's lyrics are grand, and I hesitate to include them out of context with the song.

His collaboration with Chem Maim is now famous in Desert Rose, which was one of the two big hits from this album. Middle Eastern meets Western in grand fashion.

After the Rain Has Fallen is my favorite tune on the album, with a great mellow beat and groovy rhythm. An uplifting tune of love.

The surprise song on the album is Fill Her Up , a country song that ambitiously ends with a gospel flavor--truly inspirational. My children adore this tune for its simple, singable lyrics and slide guitar. I enjoy it for its fun poke at country music, which Sting is apparently taking a liking to.

I don't believe I need to discuss Brand New Day as it has received plenty of airplay (heck, he played it on every television show and even the millenium party). An inspirational tune itself.

This album is well worth the money. I'd say 6 of the 10 songs are superb, the other 3 are passable, and the 'Perfect Love...Gone Wrong' is skippable. On a one to 10 scale, this album is an 8, which says a lot in my book.

Play this album will taking a weekend drive with your friend or spouse, you'll enjoy it.