Sting – Symphonicities – 2010 – CD review
I suppose the knee-jerk reaction to Sting‘s latest endeavor is to simply dismiss the whole thing and say he’s scraping the bottom of the creative barrel. And yes, it’s true Sting hasn’t released an album’s worth of original material since 2003′s Sacred Love which might indicate some sort of writer’s block. But whatever the case may be, Symphonicities is surprisingly an enjoyable listen. It’s far from being a perfect record, mind you, but even with the flaws, there’s just something about hearing a full orchestra reinterpret these ol’ tunes that make you wanna hit the repeat button again. and again. Maybe I’m just like the rest of Sting’s ever-aging fanbase who are all inclined to nostalgia but there’s just no denying the power of well-written melodies featured in songs like “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and “Roxanne”.
The new arrangements vary in quality though. Some are very inventive including the new versions of “I Burn For You” and “We Work the Black Seam” but others are unimaginative and basically play it safe like “Englishman in New York” (almost a carbon copy of the original down to the hip-hop drum break in the middle which is a bit lazy in my opinion), “I Hung My Head”, “When We Dance”.
But in the end, let’s just say the album is some damn fine ear candy for the middle-aged. and there’s nothing wrong with that.
retroGrade: B-
Sting – Symphonicities
label: Deutsche Grammophon
released: Jul 2010
produced by Rob Mathes and Sting
mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Claudius Mittendorfer
Tracklist:
1 Next to You 2:31
2 Englishman in New York 4:24
3 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 4:59
4 I Hung My Head 5:32
5 You Will Be My Ain True Love 3:45
6 Roxanne 3:38
7 When We Dance 5:27
8 The End of the Game 6:09
9 I Burn for You 4:05
10 We Work the Black Seam 7:19
11 She’s Too Good for Me 3:04
12 The Pirate’s Bride 5:07
Catch Sting and The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as they continue on their extensive world tour -
Sat 07/17/10 Highland Park, IL Ravinia Festival At Ravinia Park
Sun 07/18/10 Highland Park, IL Ravinia Festival At Ravinia Park
Tue 07/20/10 Cincinnati, OH PNC Pavilion At Riverbend
Wed 07/21/10 London, ON The John Labatt Centre
Fri 07/23/10 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Sat 07/24/10 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Sun 07/25/10 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
Tue 07/27/10 Wantagh, NY Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
Thu 07/29/10 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
Fri 07/30/10 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center For The Arts
Sat 07/31/10 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Fri 09/03/10 Oslo, Norway Oslo Konserthus AS
Sun 09/05/10 Copenhagen, Denmark Royal Theatre
Mon 09/06/10 Copenhagen, Denmark Royal Theatre
Wed 09/08/10 Stockholm, Sweden Ericsson Globe
Fri 09/10/10 Helsinki, Finland Hartwall Arena
Sat 09/11/10 Tallinn, Estonia Saku Suurhall
Mon 09/13/10 St. Petersburg, Russia Ice Palace
Wed 09/15/10 Moscow, Russia Crocus Expo Hall
Fri 09/17/10 Vilnius, Lithuania Siemens Arena
Sat 09/18/10 Minsk, Belarus Minsk Arena
Mon 09/20/10 Ostrow Wielkopolski, Poland Stadion Miejski
Tue 09/21/10 Berlin, Germany O2 World
Wed 09/22/10 Prague, Czech Republic O2 Arena
Fri 09/24/10 Cologne, Germany LANXESS arena
Sun 09/26/10 Geneva, Switzerland Geneva Arena
Tue 09/28/10 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion Zurich
Thu 09/30/10 Paris, France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
Fri 10/01/10 London, United Kingdom Royal Albert Hall
Sat 10/02/10 London, United Kingdom Royal Albert Hall
Mon 10/04/10 Manchester, United Kingdom Manchester Evening News Arena
Tue 10/05/10 Gateshead, United Kingdom The Sage
Thu 10/07/10 Dublin, Ireland The O2 Dublin
Sat 10/09/10 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Edinburgh Playhouse
Mon 10/11/10 Nantes, France Zenith
Wed 10/13/10 Merksem, Belgium Sportpaleis Antwerpen
Fri 10/15/10 Arnhem, Netherlands Gelredome
Sat 10/16/10 Arnhem, Netherlands Gelredome
Tue 10/19/10 Hamburg, Germany O2 World Hamburg
Wed 10/20/10 Frankfurt, Germany Festhalle – Messe Frankfurt
Sat 10/23/10 Stuttgart, Germany Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle
Mon 10/25/10 Florence, Italy Teatro Verdi
Wed 10/27/10 Bilbao, Spain Bilbao Exhibition Centre
Fri 10/29/10 Barcelona, Spain Palau Sant Jordi
Sat 10/30/10 Madrid, Spain Palacio de Deportes
Tue 11/02/10 Milan, Italy Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
Wed 11/03/10 Torino, Italy Palaolimpico
Fri 11/05/10 Vienna, Austria Wiener Stadthalle
Sat 11/06/10 Budapest, Hungary Budapest Sportarena
Mon 11/08/10 Zagreb, Croatia Arena
Wed 11/10/10 Rome, Italy Santa Ceclia
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