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STING
(4 stars)
SACRED LOVE
Sting continues his growth and maturity as an artist with his newest release, Sacred Love. Inspired in part by the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the lyrics, instruments and orchestrations also can be seen as part of a continium from Brand New Day.
Much of Gordon Sumner's work as a songwriter evokes classic themes of love as a near-violent experience in "Inside," as a hope for the future in "Send Your Love," as romance in his pairing with a gospel-hued Mary J. Blige on "Whenever I Say Your Name," and finally as benediction in the title track. In between are the songs we've grown to expect from Sting, infused with sounds from India, Turkey and Spain.
Sting, who had a friend die in the World Trade Center collapse, directly addresses that other classic theme, war, in another pair of tracks. "Forget About The Future" is a paean of sorts to Santayana's famous line extolling the virtues of knowing one's history.
It's followed by "This War," the sort of song likely to raise eyebrows at Clear Channel's Dixie Chicks division, though Sting has gone on record stating it has nothing to do with George W. Bush.
Excluding any BMW commercials popping up, none of the tracks are likely to be in high FM rotation, which is a shame because it will rob a lot of people of the chance to discover one of the more talented artists of a generation. Fortunately, a re-mix of "Send Your Love" is guaranteed to at least be a hit at clubs and raves.
Martin Stein
VARIOUS ARTISTS
(3 stars)
LIVE FROM BONNAROO 2003
Compilations and live albums are always hit-or-miss, so a live compilation is already a dicey prospect, even before you stick it in the CD player. This double-CD document of the 2003 Bonnaroo Festival in Seattle falls squarely in the middle, offering few stand-out tracks but serving as a decent introduction to the jam-centric sound supported by Bonnaroo.
Despite lengthy jams from bands like The Dead, The Allman Brothers and Medeski Martin & Wood, the album feels less like a live recording than a mix tape that a Bonnaroo fan would play in the car on the way to the festival.
That said, there are some fine performances, especially from funky instrumentalists Galactic, indie alt-country group My Morning Jacket, and Emmylou Harris. Anyone who's curious what the whole jam scene and its periphery are about could do worse than checking out this record.
Josh Bell
JOE STRUMMER AND THE MESCALEROS
(3 stars)
STREETCORE
Neither as catchy as their first album, Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, nor as essential as their second, Global a Go-Go, the Mescaleros' third disc isn't the five-star send-off you'd have wanted for the late Joe Stummer. That probably couldn't be helped: Streetcore was completed by bandmates from tracks recorded before Strummer died.
No surprise, then, that the full-bodied rock/world-beat gumbo of the previous discs sounds thinner here, sketchier. A languid cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" isn't the cathartic musical moment it probably sounded like it would be.
Likewise, "Long Shadow," written for Johnny Cash and recorded by Rick Rubin in the unadorned style he used for Cash, is more promise than payoff, despite some fine lyrical turns.
Still, there are some lovely moments here: the rousing and insistently singable "Get Down Moses"; the guitar lines that curl like barbed wire around the chorus of "Arms Aloft;" and the final song, "Silver and Gold," which sounds like a number the mates sing down at the pub to toast the idea of living a full life. Sounds good in Strummer's voice.
Scott Dickensheets