The Dream of the Blue Turtles [ENHANCED]

Sting

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GFA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,189 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

From one spin of The Dream of the Blue Turtles, Sting's first solo release, it's obvious that for him there would be life beyond the Police. Teamed with a band of top jazz players, he presents his musical visions that had gone unrealized while he was still constrained by his former ensemble. In style and subject matter, it's a decidedly diverse collection of songs and the playing is excellent throughout. The love songs are mostly focused on endings or escapes, and it's quite possible to interpret much of the imagery in reference to the bitter breakup of the Police. Sting's concern with history and politics is in evidence: he makes a father's plea for sanity and restraint in the nuclear age, takes up for the U.K.'s much-abused coal miners, and relates the savage stupidity of World War I to the destructive effects of adolescent heroin addiction. Songs that seem elaborately constructed and recorded contrast with others that are presented as one-take jams. Seen as a whole, The Dream of the Blue Turtles is eclectic, ambitious--sometimes pretentious--but altogether worth owning. --Al Massa

Product Description

Having shed the pop shackles of his popular British rock trio the Police, Sting released a 1985 solo debut foreshadowing both the artistic quality and the pretentiousness of his lucrative solo career. Accompanied by saxophonist Branford Marsalis and other superb players, the singer/bassist pulls off an occasionally excellent mixture of pop and jazz--the radio hits "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart" are gentle and compelling. But Sting's can't-we-get-along lesson about global politics ("Russians") and his occasional stabs at fusion are overbearing kinks that would take years to work out. (Trivia: Darryl Jones, who would replace Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones a decade later, plays bass here.) --Steve Knopper

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first is still the best, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sting's first solo effort shows a new direction, May 22, 2003

By	Jack Fitzgerald "JFD" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STING SETS HIMSELF FREE-- Terrific but Not His Best Solo CD, August 29, 2000

By	Vegan Foodie - See all my reviews

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.