Name: Nothing Like the Sun
Brand: A&M
SKU: 864867
Price: 14.04 GBP
Availability: InStock

Nothing Like the Sun

Rating

Album: Nothing Like the Sun
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The Lazarus Heart	More Info...	4:38
2)	Be Still My Beating Heart	More Info...	5:35
3)	Englishman In New York	More Info...	4:27
4)	History Will Teach Us Nothing	More Info...	5:00
5)	They Dance Alone	More Info...	7:13
6)	Fragile	More Info...	3:56
7)	We'll Be Together	More Info...	4:56
8)	Straight To My Heart	More Info...	3:54
9)	Rock Steady	More Info...	4:28
10)	Sister Moon	More Info...	3:47
11)	Little Wing	More Info...	5:10
12)	The Secret Marriage	More Info...	2:07
2)	Be Still My Beating Heart	More Info...	0:05
3)	Englishman in New York	More Info...	0:04
4)	History Will Teach Us Nothing	More Info...	0:05
5)	They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)	More Info...	0:07
6)	Fragile	More Info...	0:04
7)	We'll Be Together	More Info...	0:05
8)	Straight to My Heart	More Info...	0:04
9)	Rock Steady	More Info...	0:04
10)	Sister Moon	More Info...	0:03
11)	Little Wing	More Info...	0:05
12)	The Secret Marriage	More Info...	0:02

Album: Nothing Like the Sun
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The Lazarus Heart	More Info...	4:38
2)	Be Still My Beating Heart	More Info...	5:35
3)	Englishman In New York	More Info...	4:27
4)	History Will Teach Us Nothing	More Info...	5:00
5)	They Dance Alone	More Info...	7:13
6)	Fragile	More Info...	3:56
7)	We'll Be Together	More Info...	4:56
8)	Straight To My Heart	More Info...	3:54
9)	Rock Steady	More Info...	4:28
10)	Sister Moon	More Info...	3:47
11)	Little Wing	More Info...	5:10
12)	The Secret Marriage	More Info...	2:07
2)	Be Still My Beating Heart	More Info...	0:05
3)	Englishman in New York	More Info...	0:04
4)	History Will Teach Us Nothing	More Info...	0:05
5)	They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)	More Info...	0:07
6)	Fragile	More Info...	0:04
7)	We'll Be Together	More Info...	0:05
8)	Straight to My Heart	More Info...	0:04
9)	Rock Steady	More Info...	0:04
10)	Sister Moon	More Info...	0:03
11)	Little Wing	More Info...	0:05
12)	The Secret Marriage	More Info...	0:02

Performer Notes

Personnel includes: Sting (vocals, guitar, bass); Fareed Haque (guitar); Ken Helman (piano); Kenny Kirkland (keyboards); Manu Katche, Andy Newmark, Kenwood Dennard (drums); Mino Cenelu (percussion, vocoder); Dolette McDonald, Janice Pendarvis, Vesta Williams, Renee Geyer (background vocals).
Producers include: Sting, Neil Dorfsman, Bryan Loren.
Recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat. Includes liner notes by Sting.
German remaster adds a video.
If Dream of the Blue Turtles was an unabashedly pretentious affair, it looks positively lighthearted in comparison to Sting's sophomore effort, Nothing Like the Sun, one of the most doggedly serious pop albums ever recorded. This is an album where the only up-tempo track, the only trifle -- the cheerfully stiff white-funk "We'll Be Together" -- was added at the insistence of the label because they believed there wasn't a cut on the record that could be pulled as a single, one that would break down the doors to mainstream radio. And they were right, since everything else here is too measured, calm, and deliberately subtle to be immediate (including the intentional throwaway, "Rock Steady"). So, why is it a better album than its predecessor? Because Sting doesn't seem to be trying so hard. It flows naturally, largely because this isn't trying to explicitly be a jazz-rock record (thank the presence of a new rhythm section of Sting and drummer Manu Katche for that) and because the melodies are insinuating, slowly working their way into memory, while the entire record plays like a mood piece -- playing equally well as background music or as intensive, serious listening. Sting's words can still grate -- the stifling pompousness of "History Will Teach Us Nothing" the clearest example, yet calls of "Hey Mr. Pinochet" also strike an uneasy chord -- but his lyricism shines on "The Lazarus Heart," "Be Still My Beating Heart," "They Dance Alone," and "Fragile," a quartet of his very finest songs. If Nothing Like the Sun runs a little too long, with only his Gil Evans-assisted cover of "Little Wing" standing out in the final quarter, it still maintains its tone until the end and, since it's buoyed by those previously mentioned stunners, it's one of his better albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - Ranked #90 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The Eighties" survey. (November '89)