The Dream of the Blue Turtles [Enhanced] [Gold CD]

The Dream of the Blue Turtles [Enhanced] [Gold CD]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
From one spin of The Dream of the Blue Turtles, Sting's first solo release, it's obvious that for him there would be life beyond the Police. Teamed with a band of top jazz players, he presents his musical visions that had gone unrealized while he was still constrained by his former ensemble. In style and subject matter, it's a decidedly diverse collection of songs and the playing is excellent throughout. The love songs are mostly focused on endings or escapes, and it's quite possible to interpret much of the imagery in reference to the bitter breakup of the Police. Sting's concern with history and politics is in evidence: he makes a father's plea for sanity and restraint in the nuclear age, takes up for the U.K.'s much-abused coal miners, and relates the savage stupidity of World War I to the destructive effects of adolescent heroin addiction. Songs that seem elaborately constructed and recorded contrast with others that are presented as one-take jams. Seen as a whole, The Dream of the Blue Turtles is eclectic, ambitious--sometimes pretentious--but altogether worth owning. --Al Massa

Product Description
Having shed the pop shackles of his popular British rock trio the Police, Sting released a 1985 solo debut foreshadowing both the artistic quality and the pretentiousness of his lucrative solo career. Accompanied by saxophonist Branford Marsalis and other superb players, the singer/bassist pulls off an occasionally excellent mixture of pop and jazz--the radio hits "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart" are gentle and compelling. But Sting's can't-we-get-along lesson about global politics ("Russians") and his occasional stabs at fusion are overbearing kinks that would take years to work out. (Trivia: Darryl Jones, who would replace Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones a decade later, plays bass here.) --Steve Knopper

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The Dream of the Blue Turtles [Enhanced] [Gold CD]

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