Keane’s Hopes and Fears hit #1 in UK

Hopes and Fears Keane

Released: May 10, 2004 Charted: May 16, 2004 Peak: 45 US, 15 UK, 42 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 2.87 UK, 12.2 world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative rock/Britpop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Somewhere Only We Know (1/16/04, 50 US, 32 RR, 37 AC, 11 A40, 2 AA, 32 MR, 3 UK) This Is the Last Time (11/22/04, 16 UK) Bend and Break (7/25/05, 20 AA) We Might As Well Be Strangers Everybody’s Changing (5/4/04, 33 A40, 6 AA, 4 UK) Your Eyes Open She Has No Time Can’t Stop Now Sunshine Untitled 1 Bedshaped (8/16/04, 10 UK) Total Running Time: 50:37

Rating: 3.827 out of 5.00 (average of 33 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The English music press can never let anyone be. They’re always quick to hail the next big thing and, in this case, the next big Coldplay is Kean.” AMG The band “haven’t positioned themselves to be kings of anything, let alone the next Coldplay…Sure, Coldplay’s biggest hit to date, ‘Clocks,’ included only pianos, and they released the Safety EP on Fierce Panda, which is also Keane’s label, but those are the only things Keane have in common with Coldplay.” AMG “Perhaps it’s the overall majestic presentation of the band’s debut album, Hopes and Fears, that does it. That and the fact that the Sussex trio doesn’t rely on a formula of lilting melodies and feverish guitars to carry the weight of the album.” AMG “Alongside their beautiful, emotive dalliance of instrumentation is one thing that’ll separate Keane from all the rest, and that’s drive. The band's heartfelt ambition on Hopes and Fears is right there. It’s impossible not to reach for it, really. Lead vocalist Tom Chaplin's rich vocals are as vibrant as any choir, and songs such as This Is the Last Time, Bend and Break, and Can't Stop Now reflect Keane’s more savory, dramatic moments. Confidence bursts throughout, and for a band that has been around seven years and has never released a studio full-length album until now, achieving nearly epic-like status is quite impressive.” AMG “Keane obviously have the songs and they have a strong voice leading the front; however, Tim Rice-Oxley (piano/keyboards/bass) and Richard Hughes (drums) allow Hopes and Fears to come alive with glamour and without the sheen of slick studio production. Even slow build-up tracks like Bedshaped and We Might as Well Be Strangers are just as passionate, if not more so, than some of the bigger numbers on the album.” AMG “Some might find Keane’s debut a bit stagy, or too theatrical at first, but that’s okay. Listening to Somewhere Only We Know alone a few times is more than enough to convince you that Keane stand next to Coldplay, challenging them, and it’s a respectable match at that.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Keane AMG All Music Guide review by MacKenzie Wilson WK Wikipedia First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 5/3/2022.

Sting Brand New Day released

Brand New Day Sting

Released: September 28, 1999 Peak: 9 US, 5 UK, 12 CN, 21 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.3 UK, 8.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. A Thousand Years (Sting, Kipper) [5:58] Desert Rose (with Cheb Mami) [4:45] (1/29/00, 17 US, 19 RR, 22 AC, 3 A40, 1 AA, 15 UK, 67 AU) Big Lie Small World (with David Hartley) [5:05] After the Rain Has Fallen [5:03] (4/1/00, 19 A40, 2 AA, 31 UK) Perfect Love…Gone Wrong (with Sté Strausz) [5:24] Tomorrow We’ll See (with David Hartley) [4:47] Prelude to the End of the Game [0:20] Fill Her Up (with James Taylor) [5:39] Ghost Story [5:29] Brand New Day (with Stevie Wonder on harmonica) [6:19] (9/25/99, 8 A40, 2 AA, 13 UK) Songs written by Sting unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 48:49

Rating: 3.902 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “By the late '90s, Sting had reached a point where he didn’t have to prove his worth every time out; he had so ingrained himself in pop culture, he really had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. He had that attitude on Mercury Falling, but it was too somber and serious, everything that its successor, Brand New Day, is not.” AMG Mercury Falling seemed to signal the end of Sting’s top-40 days and transition to a more adult audience. This album certainly appeals to the latter Brand New Day and Desert Rose both topping the adult alternative chart and After the Rain Has Fallen reaching #2. However, Sting also showed his top-40 days weren’t over yet when “Desert Rose” reached the top 20. Part of the restoration of Sting as a pop artist is that Brand New Day is “light, even effervescent.” AMG “The sparkling, meticulous production and the very tone of the music – ranging from light funk to mellow ballads to the Lyle Lovett tribute Fill Her Up – are of a piece with Sting's late-‘80s work. That’s the main thing separating it from Ten Summoner’s Tales, his other straight pop album – well, that, and the levity. There are no overarching themes, no political messages on Brand New Day – only love songs, story songs, and, for lack of a better term, inspirational exhortations.” AMG “This is all a good thing, since by keeping things light he’s managed to craft an appealing, engaging record. It may not ask as much from its audience as Sting’s other ‘90s efforts, but it’s immediately enjoyable, which isn’t the case for its cousins. Brand New Day doesn’t boast any new classics, and it does sound a little dated, but it’s well-crafted, melodic, and has a good sense of humor – exactly the kind of record Sting should be making as he embarks on the third decade of his career.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sting AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/27/2021.

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 Notes: “Everybody Laughed But You” was included on the album outside of the U.S/Canadian release.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sting AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/26/2021.