This. All Police is untouchable and Dream of the Blue Turtles is solid, and most of NLtS, Soul Cages and Ten Summoners Tales is strong if a touch snooze worthy. After that forget it. Andy Summers' solo career is much more interesting.
No definitive "jump the shark" moment but there were signs right from the start of his solo career. Such as the excrement that was "Set Them Free" and "We'll Be Together", which at least for me, mar what otherwise would have been total masterpieces and perhaps even magnum opi Soul Cages is the last album of his I can listen to as a whole, TST a mixed bag with "Fields of Gold" being the last song of his I liked even if I do prefer Eva Cassidy's rendition. Mercury Falling and all that came after I find intolerable.
Great sounding record, his best, and the peak in my opinion. Lots of good songs after, but very derivative from that point.
First of all, people need to cease with "jump the shark." Use of that expression hasn't been cool since around 2002. Sting's assembled impressive live bands even after the albums provided diminishing returns.
When he got dressed up as a Brazilian Indian. Post-Police, "Fortress Around Your Heart" was a decent effort.
Sting is a lot like David Byrne, a genius who lost his teeth when he broke up with his rhythm section.
I quite like Nothing Like the Sun despite its preposterous title. Lazarus Heart is a wonderful track, perhaps the best thing he ever did solo, although I despise Fragile and a few others on that album. I find him too precious and enormously humourless music-wise. His Moon Over Bourbon Street rips off Autumn Leaves by the way.
Architectural Digest 1996: "Tour Sting and and Trudie Styler's House in England." Hahahaha, picture me givin' a damn, I said nevah... PS, it is still OK to say "jump the shark," an iconic phrase for which there is no adequate replacement.
While I wouldn't say he lost it, I think things started to decline a blt after Summoner's Tales. But, you know, we all get older and change.
The only album that mixes great songwriting with humor is Ten Summoner's Tales. I think a strong case can be made that it's his masterpiece album (I personally prefer ...Nothing Like the Sun, but I can see where some people find it humorless). Yeah, it lacks the verve of The Police, but it's more consistent than any Police record and has wonderful tunes, arrangements, lyrics.
He lost it with "Sacred Love". Up to that point, everything was at least solid. But man, that album really stunk and though there have been some okay recordings since then, he's never really bounced back, imo.
That movie, Bring on the Night, where his baby is born and he proudly holds his baby up for all to see and worship. Cringe.
Brand New Day was the first Sting album I dumped after a couple of listens. Horribly bland. Incredibly, the next studio album was even more bland and totally killed my interest in ever purchasing a new Sting album again (I don't recall the title). Nothing But The Sun was his solo peak in my opinion.
