Track Listing

1. . Inside
2. Send Your Love
3. Whenever I Say Your Name (with Mary J. Blige)
4. Dead Man's Rope
5. Never Coming Home
6. Like a Beautiful Smile
7. Let's Forget About the Future
8. This War
9. The Book of My Life
10. Sacred Love

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10123 in Music
• Published on: 2003-01-01
• Released on: 2003-09-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Sting explores his shiny, happy side on Sacred Love, adding playful touches of techno to his smooth, vaguely multi-cultural pop sound. Like 1999's Brand New Day, Love sounds effortless and content, with expert musicians backing up Sting's gauzy revelations about love and life. The former Police frontman shakes things up here and there; DJ/producers like BT and Victor Calderone breathe life into tracks like "Never Coming Home" and "Send Your Love," while Mary J. Blige puts her smoky vocals to work on "Whenever I Say Your Name." "This War" takes a not-so-subtle shot at George W. Bush, as Sting gives his left-leaning fan base a thrill with lyrics like "Your daddy was a businessman/ and it always made good sense/ You know the war can make you rich my friend/ In dollars, pounds, and cents." Of course, Sting long ago cashed in his rebel cachet for adult contemporary oblivion. But even though this music is designed for broad appeal, it does so with the natural, unforced ease of a seasoned showman. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Not bad, but lacking something.
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.

Sting has accomplished his goal!
And that is to challenge anyone who puts him in a box or who is closed minded to resist progress, change and new directions. Sting once said the minute you tell him he can't do something, that's when he'll do it! It is amazing he can still have this effect after 25 years in the business. I even asked myself before this release, there is nothing Sting can do to surprise me anymore. I was wrong, the man is a genius and he loves to challenge his audience.

Sacred Love incorporates some very progressive beats, rhythms, harmonies, packaged with an incredible vocal performance. To the fans who have yet to accept the album, it's only a matter of time before you are hooked. I would have never followed Sting's career for 23 years if he stayed constant, it would have been such a boring journey. I credit the man for broadening my horizons on music, from world rhythms to jazz to country. Music is music, a melody is a melody, no matter what frame it's painted in. This album has small splashes of hip hop/gospel influences which I am sure alienated some fans but the music is interwoven in such an excellent manner, the Sting signature/genius is clearly there.

Songs like 'Sacred Love', 'Never Coming Home', 'Stolen Car', the jazzy 'Forget About the Future', 'Whenever I Say Your Name', the powerful lyrics in 'This War', and my favorite, 'The Book of My Life' puts this album among the best the man has recorded. 'The Book of My Life' is definitely one of the best songs Sting has written, if not the best.

Thanks for the challenge and the journey. IMHO, definitely the best singer/songwriter/musician/arranger I have heard.

Bring on the Sacred Love tour!

Like all good things, it takes some time
Like many, I'm sure, I skipped through the tracks on this cd when I first got it, hoping to find 4-5 that I immediately liked. Initially, I remember being disappointed. However, after a few weeks, I only have one thing to say: WOW.

As for the criticism, we have to first remember that unlike most musicians today, Sting is still, first and foremost...an artist. As such, his art (or music) is going to be an expression. It's obvious from listening to this cd that Sting's been going through some deep stuff internally, and it has naturally manifested itself into his music.

I have to say I agree with the review by "Hounds" found elsewhere on this site. There's definitely one Tribute song here, if not more. This shouldn't be a surprise - you can see a gradual transformation of Sting over his past couple releases where, if you know what to look for, you can sense his growing interest in the spiritual/God/whatever you want to call it.

Ironically, I think this album will probably go down as one of Sting's "worst", though, from the standpoint of the general population of music fans. Mostly because the lyrics in many of the songs are meaningless to most, but extremely powerful to some. In many ways, I wonder if this is more of a 'Gospel' cd cleverly disguised as popular music. In "Whenever I Say Your Name" (my absolute favorite), "The Book of My Life" and "Send Your Love", Sting may simply be crying out to his Creator...meanwhile, the world perhaps hears a song that makes no sense whatsoever. To me, that's the beauty of this cd.