...Nothing Like the Sun

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For the Anthony Burgess novel, see Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life.
...Nothing Like the Sun
…Nothing Like the Sun (Sting album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by Sting
Released 13 October 1987 (1987-10-13)
Recorded March–August 1987
Studio Air Studios, Montserrat
Genre
Length 54:45
Label A&M
75021-6402-2
Producer
Sting chronology
Bring on the Night
(1986)Bring on the Night1986		 ...Nothing Like the Sun
(1987)		 Nada como el sol
(1988)Nada como el sol1988
Singles from ...Nothing Like the Sun
  1. "We'll Be Together"
    Released: November 1, 1987
  2. "Be Still My Beating Heart"
    Released: December 1, 1987
  3. "Englishman in New York"
    Released: February 1, 1988
  4. "Fragile"
    Released: April 1, 1988
  5. "They Dance Alone"
    Released: August 1, 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars [1]
Chicago Tribune 2.5/4 stars[2]
Los Angeles Times 4/4 stars[3]
Rolling Stone 4.5/5 stars [4]
Robert Christgau (B) [5]

…Nothing Like the Sun is the second solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Sting. The album was originally released on 13 October 1987 on A&M (worldwide). The album explores the genres of pop rock, soft rock, jazz, reggae, world, acoustic rock, dance-rock, and funk rock. The songs were recorded during March–August in 1987 in sessions that took place at Air Studios, in Montserrat, assisted by record producers Hugh Padgham, Bryan Loren, and Neil Dorfsman. It features a number of high profile guest guitarists, including former Police member Andy Summers, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, and Hiram Bullock, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of Sting's early work.

On release, the album was received favorably by the majority of music critics and in 1989, the album was ranked #90 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties".[6] "We'll Be Together", "Be Still My Beating Heart", "Englishman in New York", "Fragile", and "They Dance Alone" were all released as singles.

It won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards. In 1989 the album received three Grammy nominations including Album of the Year while the album's second single ("Be Still My Beating Heart") was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Album title

The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". He added that his inspiration for this was a close encounter with a drunk, in which Sting quoted the sonnet in response to the drunk's importunate query, "How beautiful is the moon?"[7]

Production and recording

The album was influenced by two events in Sting's life: first, the death in late 1986 of his mother, which contributed to the sombre tone of several songs; and second, his participation in the Conspiracy of Hope Tour on behalf of Amnesty International, which brought Sting to parts of Latin America that had been ravaged by civil wars, and introduced him to victims of government oppression. "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" was inspired by his witnessing of public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, tortured and murdered by the military dictatorship of the time, who danced the Cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) by themselves, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their clothes. "Be Still My Beating Heart" and "The Lazarus Heart" approach the subjects of life, love and death. Elsewhere on the album, "Englishman in New York", in honour of Quentin Crisp, continues the jazz-influenced music more commonly found on Sting's previous album, as does "Sister Moon".

Release and chart performance

The album's first single and biggest hit, "We'll Be Together" (reportedly not one of Sting's favorites), sported a prominent dance beat and funk overtones; it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 1987 and even crossed over to the R&B charts.

The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese, and in the case of Fragile, both languages. The Brazilian CD edition of ...Nothing Like the Sun also contained Fragile in Portuguese (Frágil) as the tenth track (between Rock Steady and Sister Moon).[8]

Three years after its initial release on both the album and in single form, "Englishman in New York" was remixed in mid-1990 by Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, apparently to increase Sting's commercial viability after a two-year absence from the charts. Providing a stronger dance beat, as well as an extended introduction, the song was a hit in clubs and reached number 15 in the UK pop charts. The maxi-single also included a dance remix of "We'll Be Together" as a B-side.

Sting's most commercially successful solo album, it went on to peak at number one in three countries, including the UK. According to the RIAA, the record sold over two million copies in the US, and in the UK, the album sold over 300,000 copies, and was certified platinum. Worldwide, the album has sold over four million copies.

...Nothing Like the Sun was one of the first fully digital audio recordings (DDD) to achieve multi-platinum status. It is also Sting's biggest-selling album yet, with worldwide sales of 11 million copies as of 1997.

Critical reception

In 1989, the album was ranked #90 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties".[6]

The album has consistently been praised by critics. Reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis wrote: "...Nothing Like the Sun represents [an] impressive growth for Sting. His voice is rich, grainy and more mature; his ideas are gaining in complexity; and musically he is stretching without straining. His mistress's eyes may be nothing like the sun, but on this fine new album Sting's intrepid talent shines on brightly."

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine admired the track "We'll Be Together", while giving the album a star rating of 4.5 out of 5, writing: "If Dream of the Blue Turtles was an unabashedly pretentious affair, it looks positively lighthearted in comparison to Sting's sophomore effort, Nothing Like the Sun, one of the most doggedly serious pop albums ever recorded." adding that "If Nothing Like the Sun runs a little too long, with only his Gil Evans-assisted cover of "Little Wing" standing out in the final quarter, it still maintains its tone until the end" and noting that "it's one of his better albums."

In a negative review for the Chicago Tribune, critic Greg Kot simply wrote of the album: "Nuanced singing and literate lyrics [are] weighed down by ponderous music."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Sting, except where noted. 

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "The Lazarus Heart" (Was supposed to be the theme song to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.[9]) 4:34
2. "Be Still My Beating Heart"   5:32
3. "Englishman in New York"   4:25
Side two
No. Title Length
4. "History Will Teach Us Nothing"   4:58
5. "They Dance Alone"   7:16
6. "Fragile"   3:54
Side three
No. Title Length
7. "We'll Be Together"   4:52
8. "Straight to My Heart"   3:55
9. "Rock Steady"   4:27
Side four
No. Title Length
10. "Sister Moon"   3:46
11. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) 5:04
12. "The Secret Marriage" (Hanns Eisler, Sting) 2:03
Total length:
 54:45

B Sides

  1. "Ghost in the Strand" ("Englishman In New York" 7"/ Maxi Single)
  2. "Ellas Danzan Solas" ("They Dance Alone" Maxi Single)
  3. "If You There" ("They Dance Alone" 7")
  4. "Conversation with a Dog" ("We'll Be Together" 7"/ Maxi Single)
  5. "Someone to Watch Over Me" ("Englishman in New York" 3-inch CD single)
  6. "Up from the Skies" (Jimi Hendrix cover with Gil Evans and His Orchestra, "Englishman in New York" 3-inch CD single)

Singles

  • 1987 – "We'll Be Together" #7 US
  • 1988 – "Be Still My Beating Heart" #15 US
  • 1988 – "Englishman in New York" #84 US #51 UK
  • 1988 – "Fragile" #70 UK
  • 1988 – "They Dance Alone" #94 UK
  • 1990 – "Englishman in New York" (Remix) #15 UK?

Personnel

[10][11]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Platinum 100,000
France (SNEP)[13] 2× Platinum 689,200[14]
Germany (BVMI)[15] Platinum 500,000
Japan (Oricon Charts) 221,000[16]
Netherlands (NVPI)[17] 2× Platinum 200,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] Platinum 100,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[19] 2× Platinum 100,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Platinum 300,000
United States (RIAA)[21] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Decade-end charts

Chart (1980s) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[47] 19

References

  1. ↑ ...Nothing Like the Sun at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Nothing Like the Sun Album Review Rolling Stone. 29 December 2011
  8. ↑ PolyGram Brazil, Brazilian CD cover and booklet, CD SKU 396941-2
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Nothing Like the Sun credits, Discogs.
  11. ↑ Official Sting Discography, Sting.com. Accessed 2015-02-20. Archived 2015-03-25.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Nothing Like the Sun in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 May 2012
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  • Liner notes to the album.
Preceded by UK number one album
24–30 October 1987		 Succeeded by
Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac
Preceded by Japanese Oricon Weekly number-one album
26 October 1987		 Succeeded by
Naturally by Naoyuki Fujii
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