Pros: Sting and his talented band weave a masterpiece of styles and sounds
Cons: this space deliberately devoid of any negative information
The Bottom Line: Sting's genesis as a solo artist showcases his talented band of jazz musicians and allows the creative process to shine in each song. This is a must-own album.
bob_tomato's Full Review: The Dream of the Blue Turtles (A&M) by Sting
"Once you're in a successful group you become part of people's gestalt, and you're not allowed to escape from it. Freedom is everything to me - freedom to change my mind, freedom to be seen differently."
- Sting, Record, 1985
Throughout my high school years, The Police was one of my very favorite bands - I loved the sparse sounds which conveyed a richness and depth in both lyric and tone. Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers and Sting had created one of the most successful bands of the early eighties, and in my senior year, they ruled the airwaves and MTV with the album Synchcronicity, presenting wonderful songs like Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain, and Every Breath You Take. My friends and I all owned the album, knew every word, every beat, and every nuance - we were Sting's captors.
"I needed to exorcise the Police, which in a way had a defined form and structure. I wanted to escape that and present a whole plethora of possibilities."
- Sting, Billboard, September, 1999
I recall the shock and disappointment of my friends and myself when we found out that the band was dissolving. I remember thinking "at least they went out on top..." I couldn't imagine that any of the band's members would go on to other projects, other possibilities - I was caught up in the gestalt, the enclosing circle of opinion.
"...for me (The Dream of The Blue Turtles) was just a banner, saying, "Here, I can do this! I can fly here, I can fly there, up, down, go sideways!" That was me exercising my freedom."
- Sting, Billboard, September, 1999
Sting raised his flag of freedom in June of 1985, declaring If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free. To many, this first glimpse of Sting as a solo artist did not match his Police profile - I was familiar with an arrogant prince, not a thoughtful and beguiling troubador fronting a band of accomplished musicians who, more often than not, seemed to be creating the music around Sting. Janice Pendarvis and Dolette McDonald were the first voices heard on the album: "Free, Free...set them free", Branford Marsalis graced each phrase with a fluid saxophone, Omar Hakim provided rhythmic flourishes that still touched on Stewart Copeland's skills with the hi-hat and toms yet suggested that something new was happening, Kenny Kirkland infused jazz and gospel into the sounds with his amazing command of the keyboards, and Daryl Jones aptly handled the bass, given rein over Sting's own instrument. Here was something new, something different, and after first hearing, something exciting. From the very start, The Dream of The Blue Turtles lifted above The Police, above the murky English new wave favored by the Breakfast Club wannabes walking in my footsteps after my graduation from high school. And, it lifted me into a new appreciation for Sting as a lyricist and composer.
I was swept away with this new sound that Sting and his band had created. The skill and talent of the musicians was nothing short of astonishing. Jazz, gospel, reggae and rock came together in a new world sound, woven together by improvisational freedom, most evident in the title song and Shadows In The Rain. I could hear the creation process at work in these songs - they had an energy that was somehow molded and shaped until nearly polished, but not perfected. It was this raw feeling that drew me in - here was a band that seemed to delight in flying in the face of convention - pop radio was all about synthesizers and drum machines at the time. Everyone in this band was involved in the creation process, and the passion for the work showed in every song of the album.
The Dream of The Blue Turtles had pulled me in with upbeat songs such as the popular favorites Love Is The Seventh Wave,, and If You Love Somebody..., but as I dug deeper into the album, I found that my favorite songs were the slower, moodier songs. These were songs that spoke of real issues and dark passions, history's lessons, and fears of destruction and rejection - these were all things that I, as a college freshman, wished to explore, and the songs resonated deep within me. Sting and his band infused each song with meaning and portent, drawing emotion from each instrument to breathe life into every phrase - Branford's haunting counter melodies in the gravely romantic Moon Over Bourbon Street, Kirkland's punchy keyboards echoing the sounds of a failing industry within We Work The Black Seam, and Hakim's driving percussion pushing Sting away from broken love in Consider Me Gone. Sting's insightful lyrics reflected on history, past and present, in Children's Crusade, and spoke of breaking down the barriers between himself and another in Fortress Around Your Heart. I remember watching the band open the 1986 Grammy Awards show in un-Grammy like style - performing Russians, Sting's Prokofiev-laced plea to Reagan and Gorbachev, calling for an end to the Cold War. I hoped the Russians loved their children, too...and the wall of a very real fortress came down not long after.
It's now over twenty years since The Police released Synchronicity, and the band has since been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sting recently released a new solo album, and is due for a greatest hits album celebrating a second decade of stellar solo material. I'm far removed from my high school friends and the suffocating devotion to a band that shaped us. The Dream Of The Blue Turtles broke Sting free of my conceptions, providing a new freedom of expression that has stayed with me all this time.
The dream goes on...
Song List
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
Love Is The Seventh Wave
Russians
Childrens Crusade
Shadows In The Rain
We Work The Black Seam
Consider Me Gone
The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
Moon Over Bourbon Street
Fortress Around Your Heart.
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