Biding His Time
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Sting expanded on the jazzy feel of his debut when he released this expansive (originally double) album. He played with polyrythms, crossing styles over each other, even bringing in the Gil Evans Orchestra to accompany him on a Jimi Hendrix cover ("Little Wing"). It made "Nothing Like the Sun" a very ambitious album, and one that contains some of his best individual songs.
After all, any album that contains something as painfully beautiful as "Fragile" or quirky and clever as his tribute to Quentin Crisp ("Englishman in New York") is worth more than passing notice. To be certain, Sting added a pop-matic single in "We'll Be Together" and goofy (and frankly, slight) take on the story of Noah's Ark on "Rock Steady."
Take those away, and you have a solemn, moody album that lives up to its creators reputation for flights or pretension. Because as beautiful as "Fragile" is, it is the simplicity of that particular song that makes the inferior "They Dance Alone" sputter. Sting has always likes his music on the 'serious' side, so "Nothing Like The Sun" has always held up well if you allow the artist his leeway. On the other hand, I've always found "Soul Cages" to be a less pretentious and more personal album, even if "Nothing Like The Sun" contains the better of the songs.
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