Sting

Sting - Live In Berlin (AUDIO CD) - 2010 - UMG Recordings Inc.

"Live In Berlin" was recorded on September 21st, 2010 at Berlin's O2 Arena as part of Sting's acclaimed Symphonicity world tour, and features fourteen of Sting's best songs re-imagined for symphonic arrangement and featuring the Royal Philarmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio. One review of the DVD/CD package stated that "it is more like the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra performing the music of Sting, featuring Sting, instead of Sting and his band backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra". There is no doubt that these arrangements can be overwhelming at times and can often detract from the original album versions. Nothing here eclipses the studio versions, but Sting's vocals are good and the quality of the songs is distinguished by outstanding musicianship throughout. The great saxophonist, Branford Marsalis plays on "Englishman In New York", and "Whenever I Say Your Name". It is worthwhile looking at the 22 track DVD version of this concert which was mixed by the great Elliot Scheiner. Listen to Sting's "Nothing Like the Sun" and "The Soul Cages" albums [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: 2 x rar files: Pt 1 (Tracks 1-7) = 96.2 Mb, & Pt 2 (Tracks 8-14 = 83.6 Mb]

TRACKS

1 If I Ever Lose My Faith in You 4:46
2 Englishman in New York 4:38
3 Fields of Gold 3:35
4 Why Should I Cry for You? 7:45
5 All Would Envy 5:36
6 Tomorrow We'll See 4:48
7 The End of the Game 6:21
8 Whenever I Say Your Name 7:21
9 Shape of My Heart 4:49
10 Moon Over Bourbon Street 6:04
11 Mad About You 4:45
12 King of Pain 5:39
13 Desert Rose 4:44
14 Fragile 4:50

All songs composed by Sting except "Shape of My Heart" by Sting & Dominic Miller, and "Desert Rose" by Sting & Cheb Mami

MUSIC CREDITS

Sting - Guitar, Vocals
Dominic Miller - Guitar
Ira Coleman - Bass
Kylie Davies, Nicola Davenport, Rebecca Welsh - Double Bass
Clive Dunstall - Keyboards, Piano
Rhani Krija, Kevin Earley, David Cossin - Percussion
Stephen Quigley - Tympani
Branford Marsalis - Saxophone
Chris Cotter, Miles Maguire - Trumpet
Robert Price - Trombone
Tim Anderson, Nicholas Ireson, Alex Hambleton - French Horn
Jacqueline Hayter - Bassoon
Helen Barker - Oboe
Charys Green, Massimo Di Trolio - Clarinet
David Cuthbert, Ian Mullin - Flute
Cristina Gestido, Nozomi Cohen, Amanda Denley, Graeme McKean, Henrietta Ridgeon - Viola
Gerald Gregory, James Dickenson, Vernon Dean, Nia Bevan, Susan Croot, Miranda Allen, Karen Anstee, Stephen Kear, Susan Watson, Dorina Markoff, Martin Lissolla, Joanna McWeeney, Catriona Parker, Clare Raybould, Kirra Thomas, Kaoru Yamada - Violin
Roz Gladstone, Daniel Hammersley, Gemma Kost, Toby Turton, Tim Smedley - Cello
Daniel De Fry - Harp
Jo Lawry - Vocals
Ian Brignall - Orchestra Director
Steven Mercurio - Conductor, Orchestration
David Hartley, Vince Mendoza, Michel Legrand, Jorge Calandrelli - Orchestration
Elliot Scheiner - Mixing, Surround Mix

BIO

After disbanding the Police at the peak of their popularity in 1984, Sting quickly established himself as a viable solo artist, one obsessed with expanding the boundaries of pop music. Sting incorporated heavy elements of jazz, classical, and worldbeat into his music, writing lyrics that were literate and self-consciously meaningful, and he was never afraid to emphasize this fact in the press. For such unabashed ambition, he was equally loved and reviled, with supporters believing that he was at the forefront of literate, intelligent rock and his critics finding his entire body of work pompous. Either way, Sting remained one of pop's biggest superstars for the first ten years of his solo career, before his record sales began to slip. Before the Police were officially disbanded, Sting began work on his first solo album late in 1984, rounding up a group of jazz musicians as a supporting band. Moving from bass to guitar, he recorded his solo debut, 1985's The Dream of the Blue Turtles, with Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, and Omar Hakim. The move wasn't entirely unexpected, since Sting had played with jazz and progressive rock bands in his youth, but the result was considerably more mature and diverse than any Police record. The album became a hit, with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "Love Is the Seventh Wave," and "Fortress Around Your Heart" reaching the American Top Ten. Sting brought the band out on an extensive tour and filmed the proceedings for a 1986 documentary called Bring on the Night, which appeared alongside a live double album of the same name. That year, Sting participated in a half-hearted Police reunion that resulted in only one new song, a re-recorded version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me." Following the aborted Police reunion, Sting began working on the ambitious Nothing Like the Sun, which was dedicated to his recently deceased mother. Proceeding from a jazz foundation, and again collaborating with Marsalis, Sting worked with a number of different musicians on the album, including Gil Evans and former Police guitarist Andy Summers. The album received generally positive reviews upon its release in late 1987, and it generated hit singles with "We'll Be Together" and "They Dance Alone." Following its release, Sting began actively campaigning for Amnesty International and environmentalism, establishing the Rainforest Foundation, which was designed to raise awareness about preserving the Brazilian rainforest. An abridged Spanish version of Nothing Like the Sun, Nada Como el Sol, was released in 1988. Sting took several years to deliver the follow-up to Nothing Like the Sun, during which time he appeared in a failed Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera in 1989. His father also died, which inspired 1991's The Soul Cages, a dense, dark, and complex album. Although the album peaked at number two and spawned the Top Ten hit "All This Time," the record was less successful than its predecessor. Two years later, he delivered Ten Summoner's Tales, a light, pop-oriented record that became a hit on the strength of two Top 20 singles, "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" and "Fields of Gold." At the end of 1993, "All for Love," a song he recorded with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams for The Three Musketeers, became a number one hit. The single confirmed that Sting's audience had shifted from new wave/college rock fans to adult contemporary, and the 1994 compilation Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting played to that new fan base. Three years after Ten Summoner's Tales, Sting released Mercury Falling in the spring of 1996. Although the album debuted highly, it quickly fell down the charts, stalling at platinum sales and failing to generate a hit single. Although the album failed, Sting remained a popular concert attraction, a feat that confirmed his immense popularity regardless of his chart status. Released in 1999, Brand New Day turned his commercial fortunes around in a big way, though, eventually going triple-platinum and earning two Grammy Awards. Issued in 2003, Sacred Love also did well, and Sting spent several years with the reunited Police before returning to his solo game for 2009's If on a Winter's Night.... One year later, he hit the road alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, who added their own symphonic arrangements to his material. Symphonicities, a companion CD, and Live in Berlin, released in conjunction with the world tour, arrived that same year. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sting-p5536/biography