SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STING – MY SONGS

Sting
My Songs
Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records

Sting hardly needs an introduction, but if one is necessary, listening to My Songs would serve this purpose as to where the singer-songwriter and former frontman of The Police is at this point of his career.  For anyone even remotely familiar with Sting’s work, My Songs will make the listener think, “Yeah, these are his songs, alright.”

Sting seems to be out to prove he has control of his career and the ability to secure any point of relevancy in the year of our Sting, 2019. The reworked version of “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” exhibits this thought pattern. The original version served as an introduction to Sting’s solo career after the breakup of The Police, he wanted you to know he was HERE, and if you loved the “old” Sting, set him FREE! The reworked version seems to say “If you loved anything about Sting’s sound, set it free, too. The idea of a club-friendly Sting sounded odd back in 1985, and the thought is difficult to digest now.

The idea of Sting’s reworkings being difficult to digest continues throughout the record. The versions of beloved cuts by The Police are slightly better; “Walking On The Moon” makes an attempt, albeit a slight one, to acknowledge the influence of Stewart Copeland’s drumming. “Every Breath You Take”, however, is a parody of its original cheeseball nature; your friend’s wedding band did a better job!

Overall, if you love your back catalogue, please set it free!

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