Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
In All This Time Sting performs in Italy in front of a select, sympathetic audience drawn from his fan club. As often in recent years, he revisits much old material, often radically recasting it. Such classics as "Roxanne" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me", originally notable for their energy and attack, have mellowed with age, acquiring some new chords, stripped down instrumentation and a rhapsodic, lyrical character. Some may miss the old vitality, but elsewhere Sting hits harder with a loose-limbed Afro-Cuban reading of "Set Them Free", a slamming "Every Breath You Take" and the shuffling boogie of "Brand New Day". As ever, Sting's soft spot for jazz, always evident in the sophistication of his writing, is given flesh in his top-drawer sidemen, among them Christian McBride, Chris Botti and England's own Jason Rebello. Jazz also leads him to turn "Roxanne" into a low-down medium swinger with a beautifully gravelly and sadly short-lived trombone solo from Clark Gayton. There are times when Sting's voice is perhaps over-stretched (when for example he affects an Armstrong-like growl in "Moon Over Bourbon Street") and there's a sense of tokenism in the too-brief glimpses of his talented sidemen, but the delighted audience on this balmy Tuscan evening show no sign of dissent. --Mark Gilbert
Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I like Sting, nah, I love sting. He's the thinking man's musician and I'm not even a thinking man!
Roll back in time to the EPIC Eric Clapton Unplugged, here's a release on par with that!
It's a bluesy/jazzy/smooth rendition of many of the great Police and Sting classics. Check out Don't Stand So Close To Me as you've never heard it before, sort of like the unplugged Layla treatment, a bluesesque version of Brand New Day, a jazzy Moon Over Bourbon and an almost unrecognisable title track.
If you buy one CD to find out what Sting is all about, make it this one..... He's best LIVE (trust me, I was there in Hyde Park 2001 singing along to Message In A Bottle with 15,000 others!) This really shows off his amazing talents as a musician and singer.
Takes a little listening to get the gist, some of the reworks are so distant from the original, but as I say, go back to EC Unplugged, they were very new ideas too!
Only downer for me is the lack of Stings' commentary (he must have said something at the concert) but no hint here.
Fragile seems to have risen to new heights of poignancy in light of recent events and has aptly been lifted to the top of the track listing.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Planned for the evening of September 11th 2001, this recording, out of respect to the events of that day, nearly didn't go ahead. Sting, I am so glad you did as I am now in possession of this elegant selection of some of Sting's greatest work. Opening poignantly with 'Fragile', this CD ranges from the uptempo 'All This Time' to the heartwrenching ('When We Dance').
'Roxanne' retains all of its power after more than 20 years and is performed with energy and freshness. Those that have discovered Eva Cassidy's version of 'Fields of Gold' will not be dissapointed with Sting's low key treatment of this song which deserves classis status.
You may not possess a single Sting recording in your CD collection. However, this CD is seriously cherishable.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
In recent years Sting has been accused of going soft, AOR, even MOR. Certainly little of his solo work displays the fire of his Police recordings. But this new live album is a reminder not only of what a brilliant musician and singer he is, but also of his songwriting genuis. Sting's songs are so well crafted they can be stripped down, reassembled and still sound superb. It's a much more interesting approach than just banging out the hits the same way, and one that few of today's pop/rock artists can match. An album for fans of real music.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
4.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a fan of cover versions and remakes
I only have a minor interest in Sting and was first impressed by his Christmas album.I got this in a trade with my collector mate and said if these were remakes I could be... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Richard
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lifeless gig eventually kicks into gear.
Wow, The levels of praise for this album took me aback somewhat as I have a somewhat different outlook on it. Read more
Published 6 months ago by theone&only
4.0 out of 5 stars
"When flesh and steel are one"
"If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one ... Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could. Read more
Published on 27 April 2008 by Nicholas Casley
4.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect evening album...a fine live effort too
As numerous websites and fans will tell you, the main theme for this album was intimacy, and a desire to create something that would be an antithesis to a stadium performance. Read more
Published on 5 April 2003 by Pete A
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine performances, but the title track suffers
With a superb touring band like this and some good material, how can you go wrong? The answer, on the whole, is that you can't... Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2003 by Simon Barrow
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb performance
Superb re-worked versions of recent Brand New Day material and some familiar old favourites stripped down and jazzed up especially for occasion. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
The classic are there- pleasingly matured with age.
Sting has brought this poignant album to us old Police fans with a richness and quality rarely seen in music these days. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
The same but masterfully different
Wow!!! I had been waiting for this album for quite some time, and frankly was not disappointed. The new arrangements of old Sting and Police tracks is thouroughly inspiring and... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sting and his tunes aging gracefully and enjoyably
Sure, he can be a bit corporate or dubious-of -lyric at times, but if you grew up with Sting's music, then here you can hear it growing up with you. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2001 by J. Reid
3.0 out of 5 stars
More of the same old thing (yet again), only live this time
As a fan of The Police & Sting since the very start in the late 70's, it is a bit disappointing to see Sting finally settling into a rut (called Jazz), like a man who has lost... Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
