3 keepers
keeper avg .250
By his second solo album Sting had more fully made the transition to jazzy adult contemporary, presumably the music he had wanted to make all along. The jazz club swing of "Rock Steady," the moody, restrained top twenty hit "Be Still My Beating Heart," and even the somewhat goofy "Englishman in New York" are all in this vein but still accessible; the jammy "History Will Teach Us Nothing" (chorus is "sooner or lay-tah") and the tense "Straight to My Heart" are more angular and remote.
Branford Marsalis' tasteful saxophone hook gives album opener "The Lazarus Heart"**** a fashionable sophistication, but Sting's catchy bass groove drives the song, and former bandmate Andy Summers' expressive guitar flourishes provide uplifting atmosphere. Though the studio polish of Sting's cover of "Little Wing"**** reeks of 80's excess, Hiram Bullock's lead guitar is tuneful with a cheeky bit of chaos, and overall surprisingly does Jimi proud; I'd rather hear it than Derek and the Dominos' cover version any day. Of course, the stand-out track of the album is the playfully punchy top ten hit "We'll Be Together"****, featuring backing vocals by Annie Lennox and Vesta Williams.
Of the remaining songs, the tuneful but interminable "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)", the sleepy, world music "Fragile", and torch song "Sister Moon," are the ballads, so not an overwhelming number. Sting closes the album with "The Secret Marriage," a piano ballad respectfully adapted from Hanns Eisler's "An den kleinen Radioapparat"; that original song (1942) is a poignant little snippet of history.
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