Sting, formerly known as Gordon Sumner, born in 1951, and originally a teacher, achieved worldwide success with The Police, during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. With classics, such as “Message in a Bottle” and “Roxanne”, the band achieved a huge following.

After releasing eleven albums, Sting decided to go it alone and left the band, following arguments with the other members, although they never officially broke up, and have even re-formed on occasions, such as at Sting’s wedding to Trudie Styler, where they played some of their massive hits. Sting reinvented himself after leaving the band and going solo, and turned overnight from an angry young punk, to a suave sophisticated man, who claimed he not only was he musically talented, but also that he was very good in the bedroom.

The wonderfully talented Mr. Sumner, not only sings, but he is a very proficient musician, and is able to play, the mandolin, guitar, piano, bass guitar, saxophone, flute and oboe, and that is not all.

Putting the differences with the other Police members behind them, Sting invited Andy Summers to guest star on his 1987 album release “Nothing Like the sun” and both members have joined Sting on stage at various times through his solo career.

October 2003 saw the release of Sting’s latest album “Sacred Love”, which can be purchased from CD Wow for £8.99, or from play.com for £7.99.

The opening track “Inside” begins with an echoing noise, and sounds slightly Oriental, before the introduction of an acoustic guitar, and Sting’s vocals. A slow song, which has the riff from “All the Young Dudes” sandwiched into the middle, explores Sting’s ideals of what goes on within the human mind. A typical complex Sting song, but a strong opening track nevertheless.

“Send your Love” begins with Sting’s vocals distorted, before the introduction of the music. This track has a fast beat, and would make a great dance track. This is a prime example of Sting’s ability to reinvent himself, to make his music come into line with the what is popular in the charts today. A great song, and one of my favourites on the album.

“Throw a pebble in and watch the ocean, see the ripples vanish in the distance
It's just the same with all the emotions, it's just the same in every instance”

“Whenever I say your name” has a slightly futuristic feel to the beginning of the song, and creates the impression that the music is being played through water. Sting’s vocals are accompanied by those of Mary J Blige, who lends a soulful aspect to the track, which rises and falls as if in a church. The combination of the two vocals really works, and shows once again that Sting can achieve whatever he puts his hand to. The message given out in this song is that anything is possible if thinking of a loved one. This song has now been released from the album as a single, and Sting performed it on Parkinson over the weekend.

“Dead Man’s Rope” starts off with a guitar with a Country and Western feel. Sting’s vocals in this track are at their best, dark, mood and soulful, and the mood changes during the song, with the use of the drums to create depth to the track, until there is almost the impression that the listener has been transported to a magical place. Sting excels at this type of song, and I can’t help feeling that his tales of walking away from emptiness and sorrow, could refer to his first marriage.

“The shadows fall around my bed
When the hand of an angel, the hand of an angel is reaching down above my head”

“Never Coming Home” is another track that has a futuristic feel at the beginning, before the bassy beat kicks in and the first few words are spoken with an echo. The story is told of a relationship break down, firstly from the woman’s point of view, as she leaves her man, and then Sting takes on the man’s part to continue the song. The sound of a train adds to the feeling of her desperately trying to get away to a new life and the frantic piano ending, leaves me wondering what her new life holds for her.

“It really is a mess this place it takes some time to shave my face
I'm not really thinking straight she never lets me sleep this late”

For a split second on the opening bars of “Stolen Car” you could be forgiven for thinking that the song “Feed the World” is about to begin. Bongos give a deep African feel to the song, in which Sting takes on the personality of a car thief, and his feelings towards the people he has stolen the vehicle from. Sting at his moody best.

“I imagine his wife, she don't look nothing like a fool
She picks the kids up from some private school”

“Forget about the Future” is a slow song, in which Sting’s voice is quite soft throughout. The track has a jazzy beat and is interrupted at various points by the sound of a woman’s voice talking through a telephone. Some of the lyrics in the song have double entendres “She says wait a minute baby, you're moving way too fast, we'd better check the weather chart, before we raise this mast”. As well as a jazz overtone, there is also a 20’s feel to some parts of this track.

“This War” begins quite heavily, with the guitar and drum, taking us back to the psychedelic era of the Sixties. The song not only focuses on fighting, but brings a relationship into the issues with comparisons to war. The slide guitar adds a dark side to the mood, and one can only think that Moody Blues or Procul Harum influenced the music for the song.

“The Book of my Life” begins hauntingly and the sitar is used to build the tension before Sting’s almost sorrowful vocals make their appearance, and tell of the sorrow experienced throughout his life, together with broken promises, and questions the ending, which is a mystery.

The title track to the album, “Sacred Love” features quite late on the track listing, and begins again with an Eastern feel, due to the use of the sitar. However, the introduction of the drums and guitar then bring us smack back to the Sting we know and love, as he effortlessly slips into Mr Love God mode, and tells his woman to take off her working clothes and to dress up, yet despite this, manages to bring religion into the song. The track is full of lust and seduction, and Sting oozes his sex appeal throughout. Great track.

The penultimate track is a remix version of “Send your Love” and is faster than the original version, with the drums almost providing a disco beat to the track, although the club beat still manages to surface, together with a bit of futuristic music.

The final track is the song that will stir up the most emotion, Sting’s rendition of “Shape of my Heart”, which The Sugababes did no justice to earlier in the year. The song can bring tears to my eyes every time I hear Sting’s rendition, as he puts so emotion into it, and with the accompaniment of just a guitar, and mandolin, is another haunting track.

“And if I told you that I loved you, you'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces, the mask I wear is one”

Sting has created yet another masterpiece. Not only can he metamorphose into so many characters, and convey so many emotions, his genius at the different moods on his songs ensure that that his albums are never boring.

“Sacred Love” has essences of jazz, club, disco, and Sting seems to realise that too many ballads are not necessarily a good thing, so the majority of the album has a more upbeat feel. As well as exploring emotions, Sting also takes a stand with his stance on the wars in the world, but of course the overriding emotion on the album is love, which Sting describes effortlessly.

With the release of this album, Sting has ensured that he will appeal not only to his diehard fans, but also to a younger generation, and has guaranteed his place in the music archives.