Sting The Bridge released

The Bridge Sting

Released: November 19, 2021 Peak: 101 US, 27 UK, 90 CN, 64 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Rushing Water [3:17] (11/16/21, --) If It’s Love [3:12] (9/1/21, --) The Book of Numbers [3:18] Loving You [4:24] Harmony Road [3:18] For Her Love [3:45] The Hills on the Border [4:16] Captain Bateman [4:14] The Bells of St. Thomas [4:08] The Bridge [2:33] Total Running Time: 36:25

Rating: 3.402 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

About the Album: Sting recorded this album during the pandemic “with a coterie of trusted musicians beaming into his studio remotely.” AZ He explained, “I’ve been travelling the world for years…so the idea of being in one place for a few months, in the same bed, was strange to me. So, I had to get used to it.” He said, “I have a studio, so I would still go to work every day…My entire life was now in the studio.” AZ “He used musicians with whom he’d collaborated before – Dominic Miller, Branford Marsalis, Melissa Musique, Gene Noble, Josh Freese, Manu Katché, Jo Lawry, Fred Renaudin, Peter Tickell, Julian Sutton, Laila Biali, Gavin Brown, Shaggy, Donal Hodgson, Tony Lake and Martin Kierszenbaum with whom he co-produced the album.” AZ Regarding the album title, The Bridge, Sting noticed that the songs “were all about characters in transition, between one world and another, between relationships, life and death, and that was the connecting tissue.” BB He noted that “the meaning of ‘bridge’ contains multitudes. It links things, ideas, cultures, banks of a river. It’s a place you steer a ship from. It’s also a route into the past, and so it was that Sting found himself considering his own foundations – the music and the places that reside within his very DNA.” AZ This is “an album that intriguingly stretches backwards, showcasing the many different stages and genres through which Sting has journeyed in an unparalleled career.” AZ This is “a record that is at once modern and upbeat but rooted in Sting’s lifelong musical and lyrical passions.” AZ “Rushing Water starts things with funky, ’80s-flavored textures that lead into the buoyant, brassy…If It’s Love, BB “an unabashed pop song lent wings by a whistled refrain, joyful handclaps, and uplifting brass and strings.” AZ “Harmony Road, The Bells of St. Thomas, For Her Love and the title track, meanwhile, explore gentler and more elegiac moods, while “Captain Bateman” adapts a 12th century English folk song from a book Sting keeps on his piano at home.” BB “Further demonstrating his interest in, and mastery of, myriad genres is Loving You. What Sting describes as the song’s ‘stark musical setting’ of electronic beats and ambient synth washes comes courtesy of Maya Jane Coles, the Anglo-Japanese techno DJ, producer, remixer and engineer. ‘I added a little bass while Melissa Musique and Gene Noble lent their wonderful vocals, and the story of jealousy and hurt unfolded like a poisoned flower waiting for the sweet waters of reconciliation to rain down.’” AZ Notes: The deluxe edition included “Waters of Tyne,” “Captain Bateman’s Basement,” and a over of Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sting AZ Amazon BB Billboard (11/17/2021). “Sting Talks New Album ‘The Bridge’…” by Gary Graff WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/19/2021; last updated 11/30/2021.

Squeeze released Frank

Frank Squeeze

Released: August 24, 1989 Peak: 113 US, 58 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Frank (no author – studio chatter) [0:15] If It’s Love [4:02] (9/89, 7 MR) Peyton Place [4:08] Rose, I Said [3:36] Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken [4:37] This Could Be the Last Time [3:49] She Doesn’t Have to Shave [3:27] Love Circles [5:34] (1/15/90, --) Melody Motel [3:51] Can of Worms [4:47] Dr. Jazz (Holland) [4:04] Is It Too Late [3:12] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 45:22 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland (keyboards) Keith Wilkinson (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.089 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: “An unpretentious, classily produced album that’s packed with quality tunes” – John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews

About the Album: ”Though Babylon and On was hailed as a return to form, the unfairly overlooked follow-up, Frank, comes much closer to the sound of classic Squeeze.” AMG ”The band suddenly showed signs of life with an unpretentious, classily produced album that's packed with quality tunes and comes off as a true group effort.” JA “Wilkinson's ferociously melodic, Tilbrook's guitar parts are a tour de force, and, like everyone, Holland sounds like he's having the party of his life.” JA “Practically everything works, with crisp but complex arrangements, significant stylistic variety, and a genuine sense of humor…Several tunes are among their best ever.” JA “Mysteriously, the…singles completely bombed.” JA Then again, this should come as no surprise to anyone following their career. Squeeze can churn out pop masterpieces in their sleep and the charts will never give them a second glance. Both “If It's Love and the mesmerizingly harmonized Love Circles (hey, that's Difford in the lead) sound like Paul McCartney at his best.” JA "Peyton Place has great dynamics and a riveting chorus” JA while “the twisting rockers Rose I Said and (This Could Be) The Last Time are excellent examples of the group's debt to Elvis Costello and the early Beatles.” JA Dr. Jazz, Holland’s “boogie-woogie jazz tribute is endearingly odd.” JA He’s also “memorable on another of Difford's spotlights – the smooth, 40's small-combo jazz number Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken,” JA the peak of the album. The most “Squeeze-like” song on the album is the “irresistible” AMG She Doesn’t Have to Shave. Complete with witty lyrics that make you chuckle and an understated pop hook, the song catches on after a few listens and never lets you go again after that. That song and Can of Worms fit the fairly standard “blue-eyed soul love songs,” JA but, as is often the case with Squeeze, they charm more than they detract. There are also the “good-natured musical sendups (country-western on Melody Motel; manic rockabilly on It's Too Late) [that] are so well-performed they're gems.” JA ”None of this pushes the band's limits, but such a minor shortcoming won't spoil your enjoyment in the slightest.” JA With Frank, Squeeze has churned out yet another inexplicably overlooked delight.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.