Tuesday, March 9, 1993

Sting Ten Summoner’s Tales released

Ten Summoner’s Tales

Sting

Released: March 9, 1993

Peak: 2 US, 2 UK, 3 CN, 9 AU

Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.6 UK, 9.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: rock

Tracks:

Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

If I Ever Lose My Faith in You [4:30] (2/13/93, 17 US, 5 CB, 5 RR, 8 AC, 5 AR, 4 MR, 14 UK, 1 CN, 41 AU)
Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven) [5:12]
Fields of Gold [3:42] (5/15/93, 23 US, 16 CB, 11 RR, 2 AC, 24 AR, 12 MR, 16 UK, 2 CN, 85 AU)
Heavy Cloud No Rain [3:39]
She’s Too Good for Me [2:30]
Seven Days [4:40] (4/24/93, 25 UK)
Saint Augustine in Hell [5:05]
It’s Probably Me * (Sting, Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen) [4:57] (6/13/92, 47 AC, 20 AR, 30 UK, 23 AU)
Shape of My Heart (Sting, Dominic Miller) [4:38] (9/4/93, 57 UK)
Something the Boy Said [5:13]
Epilogue (Nothing ‘Bout Me) [3:39] (9/24/93, 57 US, 43 CB, 24 RR, 17 AC, 32 UK)

Songs written by Sting unless noted otherwise.

* Originally recorded by Sting and Eric Clapton for the Lethal Weapon III soundtrack. Sting re-recorded the song for Ten Summoner’s Tales. Chart information is for the original version.

Total Running Time: 52:31

Rating:

4.431 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

Quotable: “More consistently satisfying than anything else in his catalog” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“After two albums of muted, mature jazz-inflected pop, the last being an explicit album about death, Sting created his first unapologetically pop album since the Police with Ten Summoner's Tales. The title, a rather awkward pun on his given last name, is significant, since it emphasizes that this album is a collection of songs, without any musical conceits or lyrical concepts tying it together. And, frankly, that's a bit of a relief after the oppressively somber The Soul Cages and the hushed, though lovely, Nothing Like the Sun.” ^AMG

“Sting even loosens up enough to crack jokes, both clever (the winking litany of celebrity pains of Epilogue [Nothing 'Bout Me]) and condescending (the sneeringly catchy cowboy tale Love Is Stronger Than Justice [The Munificent Seven]), and the result is his best solo record.” ^AMG

“In places, it’s easily as pretentious as his earlier work, but that’s undercut by writing that hasn’t been this sharp and melodic since the Police, plus his most varied set of songs since Synchronicity. True, there isn’t a preponderance of flat-out classics – only the surging opener If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, the understated swing of It’s Probably Me, and the peaceful ballad Fields of Gold rank as classics – but, as an album, Ten Summoner’s Tales is more consistently satisfying than anything else in his catalog.” ^AMG