Sting has been obsessed with different philosophies and things at different times. Politics, Jung, reincarnation… to name a few. On his last album (Sacred Love, at stores now), however, he has pretty much dumped them all, except one – ever so present in his songs – love. It’s no secret many people are lonely. This album is about and for them, for those who feel different and alone in this world. When you open the DVD package, the first thing you see is a sword. It’s made of light, handle underwater and the blade above, reaching to the sky. That’s all philosophy of Sting’s last album – people keep too much of their love inside, it is time we let it out. People should be sharing love, and if they will it’ll make them stronger. Maybe, it will also make the world a better place.


And in the world where love mostly means good sex (of which there is not enough either), this is a weird, almost medieval message. Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here they are – a bunch of medieval knights, playing in the dark with candles burning around them. Champions of love, love not only sexual but first and foremost as the force that brings out the best of a person, love as the fire of the world, love as something that gives rather than takes is what Sting and his band of talented musicians preach with their music. It is about sex, but not for the sake of sex only. Sex is the beautiful affirmation of something that is burning deep inside of every one of us. If that’s how you feel, and if that’s what you would like to meditate upon for an hour or two, this DVD is for you.





The technical stuff


No, no sex techniques described here, just the regular DVD stuff. Let’s see… we’ve got Dolby Stereo 5.1 and it’s amazing, I recommend you to play this real’ loud. Mmm, I can only guess how this will sound with a surround system. We have a 1.50hr long movie, composed of an acoustic concert plus studio outtakes and interviews in which Sting and other band members tell about the songs and the music. We have an optional commentary (not really necessary or important, this one’s for the fans), and a bonus track Every Breath You Take performed in Sting’s house. Let me again stress the superb sound quality during the performance – you hear every little detail, and, since the songs are played acoustically there’s quite a few little details here, let me tell you. As for the visual feast – semidarkness in the small amphitheater distantly reminding a temple of doom where the concert takes place makes up for a wonderfully intimate atmosphere, and compliments the band’s heartfelt, deep, sexual and philosophic songs. Switch off the light, turn the volume higher, and enjoy a wonderful experience of a dialog about love between Sting and you.





The concert


This information will probably interest Sting fans, I’d recommend all other to skip to the end of this review. Although… stick around, why don’t ya.


SEND YOUR LOVE definitely benefits from stripping the studio production down to naked chords and guitar strings. It is extended and boasts a wonderful guitar solo by Dominic Miller, and a piano section by Jason Rebello. INSIDE isn’t complete, since the band is having fun in the end of the song, creating a little theatrical struggle of sexes. DEAD MAN’S ROPE is being dedicated to Sting’s late friend Kim Turner and is simply amazing when performed acoustically. NEVER COMING HOME totally outshines the already moving album version – first with that gentle intro, but wait till you hear the jazz feast in the closing 3 or 4 minutes – Jason Rebello on the piano and Sting on the bass deliver something absolutely thrilling in the end of a song, the first half of which seems to be dominated by trance (!) as the main musical ingredient.


Says Sting:
“…Jason, who was really recruited by Kenny Kirkland, the late Kenny Kirkland (Sting’s pianist in the 80s and most of the 90s). Kenny once brought this kid up to me and said: “This is the only cat in England I listen to.” He passed away a couple of years later, and I was thinking, how the hell I am gonna replace Kenny Kirkland? You know, that jazz entity, I gotta fill it somehow. So I thought – that kid I met, I wonder where he is? I did some research, got his number, and somebody told me “oh, he’s given up music and become a Buddhist monk,” which is true. So I called him, and I said “Look…”




LIKE A BEAUTIFUL SMILE boasts a lyric by Shakespeare, and the music is celestial (this song is available on certain European and Japanese versions of Sacred Love only). FORGET ABOUT THE FUTURE is the necessary humorous Sting song, twice as long as the album version, since after the closing lines the band segues it with another song… to the same melody, called THIS SINKING FEELING - another example of how genius a lyricist Sting is. THIS WAR benefits hugely compared to the album version, when performed quietly, and sounds somewhat reminiscent of the way they reinvented Fragile for All This Time.


STOLEN CAR is where the band cannot recapture the lush arrangement of the original, so they aren’t even trying, playing it differently… I like the album version more. But again a song segues into another, called ALL WOULD ENVY (Sting wrote this one for Chris Botti’s album Night Sessions) – and it’s beautiful, telling another story of a failed relationship, and again from a different angle. Chris Botti shines on the trumpet in these two.


Says Sting:
”Sex these days is often being described as something obscene, something dirty. This is wrong! It is… something beautiful, God’s greatest creation, really, an ability to create, to give joy.”




SACRED LOVE sounds great, but I miss that sexy beat of the original. Otherwise no knocks, really. THE BOOK OF MY LIFE doesn’t have Anushka on sitar (whose play made the song a true highlight on the album), so the lead guitar Dominic Miller gets to shine instead and reinvents the song, which here sounds very much like Mad About You from Soul Cages. Leaves me wondering if that’s how they are going to play it live.


Says Sting:
“I tend to be creative in a private sphere. When I write, I need to be alone. He (Dominic) came in one morning with this lovely guitar riff, and I said “Wait, that could be a song, let me go outside.” I went outside and… rechecked some of the chords and restructured it, and… Dominic’s convinced that I found the lyrics under a stone in the garden… (laughs) I did actually.”




Sting and Jason Rebello (piano) then perform two old bits, each a complete and mindblowing reinvention – first WALKING ON THE MOON, total jazz these days, and then ROXANNE, where Sting joins in on guitar, but still it’s jazz, slow and beautiful. I don’t know what other Police fans will say about this, but I am one, and I loved it.


Mary J. Blige joins Sting on WHENEVER I SAY YOUR NAME, and note what a gentleman Mr. Sumner is when he talks about her. Her performance deserves that praise, I tell you.


Finally, you are welcome to go to the Special Features menu (where you can also switch on the commentary) and play one more track – the traditional closer EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE, also performed acoustically and somewhat stretched. They do this song justice, folks!





Final thoughts


Inside is one of the best music DVDs out there. It’s an amazing experience, you owe it to yourself to try this. Both musically and lyrically it’s Sting and his band at their best, no matter what different critics may say, this is a band at their creative summit. And I’ll tell you, I’ve got faith they will stay there for the next 10 years or so. After all, Sting has proved this phase of his career is as creative and blissful as the previous two. Here’s to the third decade, Mr. Sumner!


I’m especially delighted to see that after a relative silence in the 90s (you can get different bootlegs of course, but nothing official, available at stores), Sting has decided to get closer to his fans. Brand New Day from the Universal Amphitheater (2000), All This Time (2001), and now Inside the songs of Sacred Love. They have also promised to release a Sacred Love tour official bootleg, which I think we should be expecting round about next summer. All I can say is


…I can’t wait. Please, come to my town?






PS: my DVD CD is in PAL format, which I was very delighted to see, since my 1998 TV plays all NTSC DVDs as black and white only. I don’t know if there’s an NTSC version for the US, but I would imagine so. Anyway, check at the store before buying.

Thanks for reading.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4