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(More customer reviews)First of all, I have to say that I am a HUGE Sting fan. The depth and personal nature of his lyrics, coupled with his cool, smooth voice and brilliantly adept songwriting capabilities, are an inspiration.
That's why this review was so crippling to write.
"Sacred Love" is by no means a bad album. It just lacks the catchiness, conciseness, and memorable nature of his past work.
The first thing that took me aback about the album was how amazingly uncatchy the songs are. Apart from a few tunes ("Stolen Car", "Never Coming Home", "Dead Man's Rope" and "Send Your Love"), the songs' choruses rarely repeat the same lyrics, melody, or rhythm, thus rendering them unfamiliar. Sting has always had a penchant for a send-up chorus ("Fragile", "If I Ever Lose My Faith", "Englishman in New York", and "All This Time" are some great examples). However, this album noteably lacks this decidedly Sting-ish element.
The production is, of course, first rate. The added bass contribuitions of Christian McBride, sitarist Anoushka Shankbar, and flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo, are well-tempered and very enriching. Sting's voice hasn't lost anything, as he comes across with a refined, cool maturity. Mary J. Blige's performance, while noteworthy, is a bit alarming, her bombastic revival-choir vocal somersaults oddly coupled with Sting's soulfull smoothness.
One of the possible reasons for the difficult nature of the album could be the abundance of lyrics to be found. Take the lead-off track, "Inside" for example. It starts off beautifully, but careens into obnoxious, overtly metaphoric and relentless ranting ("Love me like an innocent, love me like your favorite toy...annihilate me, suffocate me...blah blah blah). It's almost too much at times, and made me long for the sweet, spare nature of 10 Summoner's Tales/Soul Cages-era Sting, where each word actually counted. Here, it's just self-indulgent.
Some of the tunes also seem to have a marked lack of focus. The tunes "This War" and the title track, "Sacred Love" seem like demos, plodding along, waiting for something to happen, then ditching into a chorus when nothing does.
In a nutshell, the album falls short. Too wordy, uncatchy and undeveloped, the album did little to satiate me after four years of little original material from a man who I consider my all-time favorite musician. This is a testament that Sting thrives best in his classic setting: a rockin' five piece band, where the music is concise and focused. Here's hoping he comes around.
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