Customer Reviews

The Dream of the Blue Turtles

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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I can't believe it's been 15 years since I bought my first copy of this album on vinyl, but what doesn't surprise me is how great it is even today. Every song tried something new and started introducing jazz overtones to a 15-year old kid who was straight rock-and-roll. Not only is the music great, but this has to be far and away one of the best collections of lyrics ever written. Where else do Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Sergei Prokofiev come together with a white former punk and his all black jazz band? Anyone?

The Police were great for taking New Wave and mixing it with reggae and jazz to create something completely unique. Sting took it to the next level and, if you look closely at the lyrics and liner notes, took what was just a vacation from the Police and forged himself a solo career. I don't think he's ever been able to re-create the greatness of this album (although Nothing Like The Sun is close) simply because it wasn't intended to do anything but be fun and different. When the Police broke up, he suddenly was forced to think of himself as a solo artist and I think that hurt him in the long run. Going back and listening to Dream of the Blue Turtles is a pleasure that doesn't go away.

With the release of "Dream of the Blue Turtles" in 1985, Sting embarked upon a new musical direction. This was a definite break with his style with The Police, but Sting has a way of recycling his music. In one way he was getting back to his jazz roots, but in another way he was heading toward the mainstream adult contemporary genre that he occupies today.
Sting also hired a crack band of young jazz pros, including Omar Hakim on drums, Darryl Jones on bass, Kenny Kirkland on keys and Branford Marsalis on saxophone. Sting switched from bass to guitar, but did perform the very cool double bass line on "Moon Over Bourbon Street."
"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is a Motown-style song with lyrics that transcend the usual love song, focusing more on the freedom in the relationship.
"Love is the Seventh Wave" has a world music feel and is a plea for everyone to get along.
"Russians" finds Sting getting a bit preachy, but this Cold War era tune has a haunting (borrowed) classical bent and ticking clock and well-intentioned message.
"Children's Crusade" is a sad ballad about the loss of generations of young men in WWI, first to the war and then to the addiction to morphine. Fast forward to 1984 and the image resonates as another generation is lost to heroin.
"Shadows in the Rain" is a revised Police song, with the classic intro of someone shouting 'wait, what key is it in!' and some outstanding drums. This is a great rock/jazz combination.
"We Work the Black Seam" is a complex tune the invokes the difficult life of coal miners, but also digs into the past and the future of energy and what it means to the focal character.
"Consider Me Gone" uses home metaphors about a relationship gone south, backed by a cool swing beat.
"The Dream of the Blue Turtles" is a the most 'jazzy' piece on the disk, a keyboard led instrumental where the musicians get to break loose and have some fun.
"Moon Over Bourbon Street" is Sting's ode to Anne Rice's 'Interview With the Vampire' and features some very cool lyrics like 'I've the face of a sinner but the hands of a priest.' Very cool double bassline and haunting sax work by Marsalis.
"Fortress Around Your Heart" paints another complex picture of relationships, this time using kind of a mainland WWII metaphor as the basis for the issues between this couple.

Not a weak song in the bunch, and it actually gets string in the second half. A definite must have for your collection, and excellent introduction to Sting's solo work.

When Sting's first solo album came out in 1985, there was a lot of buildup, hype and even NERVOUSNESS!--even from fans, music critics and fellow artists. Can Sting do well on his first album away from the Police? Will it have many hits? Can he continue that momentum? I can say that he has and this debut has been responsible for a lot of his solo success the past two decades. It sold over 3 million copies, a huge seller during '85 and early '86! It's pop, but with a surprisingly jazz touch that fit quite well on mainstream radio. My favorites are If You Love Someone, Set Them Free, Russians and others. I especially love Fortress Around Your Heart and its adventurous landscapes--I actually play that more than the larger hits he had from here. As always, Sting is a dynamic songwriter and he is in top form when it comes to the lyrics of these songs. So if you have been more into Sacred Heart of 2003 and his more recent songs, please make an effort to get this stellar album that he made in 1985. One of his finest works to date!

Face it, The Police's Synchronicity was a great album but simultaneously proved that they had reached a musical cul-de-sac. Sting's masterpiece debut solo album was evidence that he had saved his cleverest writing for himself, and it exceeds anything he did with the Police.

The upbeat pop of "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" originally described the danger in loving someone beyond sanity: "You can't control an independent heart" However, when Sting played this at the Amnesty International concerts, it took on a whole new meaning.

The idyllic bouncy calypso "Love Is The Seventh Wave" shows Sting's religious/philosophical side. He describes love as an ever-pervading wave that permeates into the material world: "Feel ir rising in the cities, feel it sweeping over land, over borders, over frontiers." His mention of the "still point" in "still point of destruction" may be a reference to what Buddha focused on when resisting tempatation.

It was only 1985, but the Cold War fears was still prevalent as evidenced in the gloomy but beautiful "Russians," my favourite song here. Sting equally criticizes both Soviets and Americans for fostering the Cold War. The bomb is referred to as "Oppenheimer's deadly toy." This song says so much that's true, but perhaps I can sum up with the refrain: "We share the same biology/regardless of ideology/What might save us me and you/is that the Russians love their children too." The melody is taken from "Romance" in Sergei Prokoviev's Lieutenant Kije Suite.

The grim "Children's Crusade" thematically ties in the flower of British youth slaughtered in WWI, "strewn on the fields of Belgium and France" with opium addicts in 1984 Soho thus: "The children of England would never be slaves/They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves/The flower of England face down in the mud/And stained in the blood of a whole generation." Love Branford's wailing sax solo!

A more jazzed up version of the Police's "Shadows In The Rain" follows, and I like this one better than the reggaeish one on Zenyatta Mondatta.

"We Work The Black Seam" tells the toil coal miners had to go through and the dangers of replacing fossil fuels with nuclear power: "One day in a nuclear age, they may understand our rage/They build machines that they can't control/and bury the waste in a great big hole."

"Consider Me Gone" details moral deterioration. Love these lines: "There were cupboards of patience/there were shelfloads of care/But whoever came calling found nobody there."

The playful instrumental title track is followed by the slow nighclub jazz "Moon Over Bourbon Street." It's about a vampire, as it was inspired by Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire. There's a classical bridge, with a lovely clarinet.

"Fortress Around Your Heart" about a quarreling couple, is a masterfully spun analogy of a woman's heart to a city besieged by heavy guns. However, the man's mind is also another battleground. The man realizes that reconciliation is the key: "And if I have built this fortress around your heart/encircled you in trenches and barbed wire/Then let me build a bridge, for I cannot fill the chasm/And let me set the battlements on fire."

What also makes this a winning album are the musicians present: Branford Marsalis on sax, Omar Hakim on drums, Darryl Jones on bass, Kenny Kirland on keyboards, and the two Afro-Britons, Dolette McDonald and Janet Pendarvis on backing vocals. Maybe it's because I saw them in the Bring On The Night movie and Sting's "If You Love Somebody" video. One of the greatest albums of the 1980's and that of Sting himself.

I am not going to talk about how good this album is because it is indeed VERY GOOD and you can read all the reviews here. If you are an audiophile or at least you like to hear your favorite albums with great sound quality this is a great album to have. Many audiophile recordings are praised for the quality recording but sometimes the music is boring, dull or nothing special. This album is a great example of how EXCELLENT MUSIC can be combined with EXCELLENT AUDIOPHILE quality sound. As a matter of fact I always use "Love is the Seventh Wave", "The Dream of the Blue Turtles" and "Shadows in the Rain" as one of my stereo system showings to my friends. Sting's voice sounds very crisp and clear and so do the instruments played by the Blue Turtles Band. JUST BE SURE YOU GET THE AM+ AUDIO MASTER PLUS SERIES release. That is the plain, regular and common release. Do not get the "remastered version" because like many other people agree, this remasterings of Sting's albums have not done any favor and have greatly deteriorated the sound quality.

I own this album since it was released and I still think this is his best solo CD. I know Nothing Like The Sun has more hit singles than this but that doesn't count a bit. My favorite songs are Russians, Consider Me Gone, Dream Of The Blue Turtles and Fortress Around Your Heart. All the other songs are great, too. Every song has its own mood though all the songs are have some degree of melancholy - it's a trademark of Sting.

I think Sting managed here to bring some jazz into his music and here the jazz motives suit perfectly with the rest - some might say this is a jazz record though I don't think so. It still has some elements the remind me of the Police era, anyway this is a mature album.

However this CD isn't for first-time listeners, they should buy Nothing Like The Sun or Fields Of Gold, they will buy this CD later because Sting's music is addictive. Once you've listened to it you'll always have a craving for it.

I have to disagree with the reviewer below - though awesome, this CD isn't even close to being the best of Sting's solo work. I adored The Police, and I loved this album when it first came out in the summer when I was 15. I think it's a beautiful work, but, please excuse me, NOT Sting's best. His masterpiece is THE SOUL CAGES, a CD that demands more careful and repeated listening to fully appreciate; it's a darker record with gorgeous arrangements and beautiful melodies as well as masterful lyrics whose stunning metaphors and haunting imagery create surprising interconnections between the songs.

TEN SUMMONER'S TALES is almost equally stunning, romantic, witty and droll, and more commercial and accessible than THE SOUL CAGES. I would put these two CDs ahead of all The Police albums, even SYNCHRONICITY. Of the rest of his solo work I would then recommend either the awesome NOTHING LIKE THE SUN, or the seductive and eclectic BRAND NEW DAY. THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES is IMO fifth among Sting's solo work (ahead of MERCURY FALLING - his weakest in my opinion), though that's not to take anything away from the wonderful achievement of THE BLUE TURTLES' jazziness, its melodies, and its heart.

There are indeed lovely melodies here -- especially on "We Work the Black Seam Together," "Children's Crusade," and "Russians." But there are even more melodic songs on THE SOUL CAGES ("Mad About You, "Why Should I Cry For You," "St. Agnes and the Burning Train") and TEN SUMMONER'S TALES ("Fields of Gold," "Shape of My Heart"), which, excuse me, are FAR more melodic than anything The Police ever did. The Police albums have a rawness and a wild bittersweet energy that Sting's solo work lacks, but most of his solo CD's are superior to The Police albums in melodies, arrangements, and lyrics, as well as the intimacy and emotion of Sting's vocal performances (Compare the sincerety of "Fragile" to anything from the Police catalog). And if you're looking for Sting songs that are reminiscent of The Police, I think "She's Too Good For Me" (TEN SUMMONER'S TALES) and "You Still Touch Me," (MERCURY FALLING) are closer to The Police in their sound than many of the songs on BLUE TURTLES.

Among the gems you can find on THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES is the haunting "We Work the Black Seam Together," (my favorite song here), the strident but moving "Children's Crusade," the beautiful "Fortress Around Your Heart," the jazzy energy of "Shadows in the Rain" and "Consider Me Gone." Though the lyrics to the Prokofiev-inspired "Russians" are a bit dated, the song is still gorgeous musically. "Moon Over Bourbon Street" is a great Kurt Weill-influenced tribute to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE that should have been used in the movie adaptation. "If You Love Somebody Set them Free" is rousing but repetitive and a bit overrated in my opinion. "Dream of the Blue Turtles" is a quick jazzy instrumental outtake. My least favorite is "Love is the Seventh Wave," which is kind of lame, but worth it for the closing lines -- "Every cake you bake / Every leg you break."

If there's a theme here it's one of liberation and freedom -- from possessive relationships, economic oppression, wars, destructive romantic cycles... and from having to repeat ad nauseam the same musical styles and formulas that put The Police on the top of the charts. The Police were a fabulous band, but I'm glad they went out when they were on top instead of waiting for stagnation to set in. Though I agree the melodies are even more satisfying than the superb jazz playing, I think the jazz is an important component of THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES because its breeziness, passion and improvisation make it a musical expression of freedom from being categorized, a freedom Sting has expressed since leaving The Police by putting out something different from his previous work on each of his excellent solo CDs. His career has been nothing if not various, and anyone who can't appreciate this man's versatility and eclecticism is not a true Sting fan.

This has always been my favorite Sting solo album, partly because it doesn't really feel like a solo album. As Sting says in the liner notes, "people keep referring to this album as a solo effort, which of course is ridicilous" well Mr. Sting I agree with you. This Blue Turtles band was absolutely fantastic and kudos to you for hiring these amazing musicians and assembling this great band. Branford Marsalis is absolutely mind blowing on a few of the tracks, such as "Children's Crusade" and "Shadows in the Rain". "Consider Me Gone" is wonderful, just put that on with a nice glass of wine and enjoy.. ahhh! Even dated songs like "Russians" and "We Work the Black Seam" are still very enjoyable. I could go on and on... but this is the finest collection of songs Sting has composed without the Police. I still listen to this one quite often 20+ years later.

This was one of the first albums I ever bought when, as a high school student, I was becoming interested in contemporary popular music in the years 1984-85. Sting had been enormously successful before this time with The Police (1978-84) and reappeared after a year or so away with this fantastic album in July 1985. Its first single was If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, which was a groovy somewhat jazzy uptempo track. Second single Fortress Around Your Heart was terrific - an evocative lyric about chasms, walled cities and dangerous, barren landscapes as metaphors for difficult emotional entanglements. This US #8 hit was one of my favourite tunes of the year. The jolly Love Is The Seventh Wave was a lighthearted fun song that I also liked - it reminds me of the summer of 1985-86. Sting toured widely at this time and scored a fourth hit with the classic song Russians. This was a famous tune about the then-pervasive Cold War divide between Russia and the West. Also dealing in political/social comment on First World War lament Children's Crusade and evils-of-mining lyric We Work The Black Seam, Sting managed to balance the shade with some light too: the rollicking Shadows In The Rain and the weird jazz instrumental title tune The Dream Of The Blue Turtles (complete with the band dissolving into laughter at the end !!). Sting howled at the Moon Over Bourbon Street in this interesting song, while Consider Me Gone was a good mid-paced song with a darker lyric.

Overall, this is really good, demostrating Sting's musical abilities and also showcasing fabulous jazz-world collaborators such as Omar Hakim, Branford Marsalis and the late Kenny Kirkland.

Highly Recommended.

Sting can always be given credit for being a thoroughly singular talent who doesn't "sell out" for the purpose of making the most money, and while he has never made anything that could be called anything other than great music, nothing of his quite reaches the heights of his debut. Few (if any) other artists are able to combine such politically charged lyrics with such a rich melodicism so as to make the listener forget that many of the songs on this album don't have particularly happy themes. Every song is great, but especially of note are the upbeat "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", "Fortress Around Your Heart", and the gloomy but mesmerising "Children's Crusade."