CD Odyssey Disc 926: Various Artists

I’m right in the middle of a very busy week where I have nine social engagements over five days. They are all fun activities but a bit more hubbub than even I’m used to.

Knowing in advance this would happen I invoked the rarely-used rule that allows me to choose the album I review, so long as it is newly purchased. I picked this one because it is a double album set with over two hours of music and I knew that I would have the time to listen to it and grok it in its fullness. Now that I have, so here it is!

Disc 926 is….Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? This is a painting by 19^th century American artist Howard Pyle, titled “Marooned”. This painting resides in the Delaware Art Gallery. Cool paintings like this make me want to go to Delaware, but I admit there isn’t much else to draw me there, so I’ll probably skip it. Sorry, Howard.

How I Came To Know It: My coworker Chris sent me the song “Cape Cod Girls” by Baby Gramps. I loved it and when I found out it was on an album full of traditional sea chanteys I was very intrigued (I love a good sea chantey). The artist list alone compelled me to seek this out, but it took forever for someone to sell their copy so I could buy it used at the local record store for a good price. Recently, it happened!

How It Stacks Up:  There is second volume in the series called “Son of Rogue’s Gallery” released in 2013 but I don’t have it (yet) so I can’t stack it up.

Ratings: Since this isn’t really a best of, I’m going to rate it and give it 4 stars.

My last tattoo was of a kraken grabbing an anchor (photos below) so while I’m not a sailor it is fair to say I have an affinity for the sea. “Rogue’s Gallery” fed that affinity and then some, filling me with the rich history of the Age of Sail and the sea chanteys that tell the stories of the men that crewed its ships.

The album is appropriately named, with a treasure trove of artists contributing songs. These include big rock stars Sting, Lou Reed and Bono; folk and alternative stars Nick Cave, Lucinda Williams, and Richard Thompson; and a host of other folk artists obscure enough that I didn’t recognize their names. The whole of it is a labour of love by Producer Hal Willner.

The album covers a lot of ground, with over two and a half hours of content and 43 songs. Despite the length, I never got tired of it. Some of the chanteys are delivered very traditionally; others have a rock or alternative edge to them. I wouldn’t have wanted too many of the latter, and the album obliged me, having one appear only once every five or six songs.

I don’t usually research my albums, preferring to take the songs on their own terms, but with something so historically significant I couldn’t help but bury my head in the liner notes (which are excellent) and a few Google searches. Apparently many of these songs would have been sung by sailors while doing their various jobs on the ship. Different rhythms or tempos were used for different jobs. “Rogue’s Gallery” features tack & sheet chanteys, halyard chanteys, pumping chanteys, capstan chanteys, bowline chanteys and even a “stamp and go” chantey. Apparently this latter chantey was on large ships where a group of men would take a line and stamp down the deck, presumably to raise a large sail.

Along the way I learned new sailing slang (yes, I already knew some). I found out that the “Dead Horse” is the 30 days of labour before you are getting paid (since sailors got a 30 day advance when signing on). On the thirtieth day, the crew would celebrate by raising a horse banner and…wait for it…sing a song! “Bully in the alley” means you are too drunk to get back to the ship on your own power. We’ve all been there.

Musically, this record is a revelation. Every song has either a catchy rolling tune, a great story to tell or a bunch of ribald and racy lyrics; some songs have all three.

There are too many favourites to write about them all (see full list below) but I’ll note a few nonetheless.

The album starts with “Cape Cod Girls” by Baby Gramps which is a rollicking track with a gorgeous arrangement of guitar and what I think is a Jew’s harp. The rough and ready sailor’s voice of Baby Gramps is the perfect mood-setter for the record.

“Baltimore Whores” and “Good Ship Venus” are two of the dirtiest songs you will ever hear. They are so dirty I won’t even quote the lyrics to you, but I encourage you to Youtube them both.

“Bonnie Portmore” by Lucinda Williams is also gorgeous. When I first heard Loreena McKennitt sing this song in 1991 I didn’t think anyone could render a more heartbreaking version. Lucinda Williams plays it very differently, but the hurt and loss of a mighty tree felled to make the hull of a ship comes through just as strong. Great songs are great through many ages and many renditions. This one’s been depressing us since the 18^th century.

“Shenandoah” is a beautiful instrumental that will set your heart at ease and remove wrinkles from your brow (results may vary). It is beautifully played by Richard Greene and the scatologically named trio “Jack Shit”. Okay, then…

The only song that really irked me was a strange electronica version of “What Do We do With a Drunken Sailor” by David Thomas. It is great to be creative but when the experimentation is so great that the song ceases to be enjoyable you lose me. This version would be at home on the soundtrack to a Rob Zombie horror flick, but felt out of place on this record.

The first disc is better by a good margin, but the second disc has its moments including a beautiful vocal from Jolie Holland on “The Grey Funnel Line” and the aforementioned “Good Ship Venus”.

This record isn’t for everyone but if you like folk music then this will give you a lot of joy, and put some salt in your blood while doing so.

Best tracks (artist): Disc 1 - (12 songs): Cape Cod Girls (Baby Gramps), Mingulay Boat Song (Richard Thompson), My Son John (John C.Reilly), Fire Down Below (Nick Cave), Dead Horse (Robin Holcomb), Turkish Revelry (Loudon Wainwright III), Haul Away Joe (Mark Anthony Thompson), Blood Red Roses (Sting), Baltimore Whores (Gavin Friday), Rolling Sea (Eliza Carthy), Bonnie Portmore (Lucinda Williams), Shenandoah (Richard Greene and Jack Shit),

Disc 2 – (6 songs): Boney was a Warrior (Jack Shit), Good Ship Venus (Loudon Wainwright III), One Spring Morning (Akron/Family), Hanging Johnny (Stan Ridgway), The Grey Funnel Line (Jolie Holland), A Drop of Nelson’s Blood (Jarvis Cocker)

And as promised, here are a couple of tattoo photos to add a little more flavour to this nautically themed blog entry! I don't know how to put them all beside one another so this will have to do. 

CD Odyssey Disc 328: Sting

And so we come to the final Sting album in the CD Odyssey. If more appear later, it is because Sheila bought them.

Disc 328 is...The Dream Of The Blue Turtles

Artist: Sting

Year of Release: 1985

What’s Up With The Cover?: Your classic 'head and shoulders shot' as they say in the biz. Sting's expression is supposed to be calm and arty, but he looks a little hurt. He's probably still mad at Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila was into Sting before we met, and she had this and two other Sting albums.

How It Stacks Up: We have three Sting albums, and I like one of them, but this isn't it. Of the three, I'd put this one second best, not nearly as good as "Ten Summoners Tales" but a pinch above "Nothing Like The Sun". As is traditional in the CD Odyssey, when I review the last of an artist with at least three albums, I give a quick recap and final ranking - so here they are in order of precedence:

1. Ten Summoners Tales: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 243)
2. The Dream of the Blue Turtles: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Nothing Like The Sun: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 125)

Rating: 2 stars

"Dream of the Blue Turtles" is Sting's first solo album after the Police broke up. I've come to really love the Police and I'm looking forward to reviewing one of the many albums of theirs that we have. Until that time I will have to work through Sting.

I'll start with the positives, lest you think that I've got a hate on for Sting, when it is really no more than a mild dislike. "Dream of the Blue Turtles" has some fine tracks. The record starts strong, with the hit single "If You Love Someone Set Them Free." This is a very pop radio kind of song, but it would be wrong to hold that against it - it is from a pop record, after all.

It is catchy and energetic, and while the topic may be a bit overworked, Sting has written respectably lyrics, and delivers them with emotional honesty. I don't love this song, but I like it a lot more now than when I first heard it in 1985. Back then I hated it automatically for violating my narrow world focus as a Heavy Metal Meathead.

This song is followed up by "Love Is The Seventh Wave", which is a little too cutesy with the steel drums and not-so-clever fade out references to the Police song "Every Breath You Take". Despite this it is passable as a pop song. Both these first two songs (and most that will follow) overdo the 'jazz odyssey' quality, with gratuitous saxophone etc, but I won't get too much into this since I covered it at length in my review for "Nothing Like The Sun." Besides, it is not nearly as bad on "Dream of the Blue Turtles" - at least for the most part (more on that later).

The songs that I very much enjoyed have toned down these gimmicks. In particular, "Fortress Around Your Heart" is a beautifully written and performed song, from the lyrics, to the musicianship to a catchy but respectful hook in the chorus. It is a song about failed relationships and regret and of all the songs on the album, it is Sting at his most honest with himself.

Sting's ego is immense, and as a result he can come off as preachy in songs like "We Work The Black Seam" where he expresses his strongly held environmental and political views, or in "Children's Crusade," a song where he thinks he is being clever linking imagery of the Children's Crusade with World War One and heroin addiction. Instead it comes off more like a combination of a children's song and a poem written by some pale and wan kid for a Grade nine poetry assignment.

At other times, this same activism comes out much more 'seamlessly' (get it? get it?). On this note, I enjoyed "Russians", a song about the Cold War that would have had a great deal of resonance in 1985 when it was released. Sting takes no sides, calling out both Russian and American leadership as he appeals to a basic idea that he hopes 'the Russians love their children too.' I found this approach much more emotionally impactful than a similar song on the Police's Synchronicity, "Murder By Numbers" which strikes a more accusatory tone.

As a guilty pleasure, I enjoyed "Moon Over Bourbon Street," a song that must be inspired by Anne Rice's book "Interview With The Vampire". It isn't a great song musically, but the lyrics are strong and they do a good job of capturing the tone of the novel. I'm not a big fan of Rice, but those who know me know that I tend to give bonus points for songs (or movies, or stories) featuring vampires. So bonus points to you, Sting.

This album was a mixed bag hovering somewhere between two and three stars throughout, but it eventually found itself pushed down to two. His decision to include studio production sounds (someone shouting 'what key is this in?" before "Shadows In The Rain") are only made worse by the jazzercise odyssey that immediately followed (calling it a jazz odyssey would be to insult jazz).

But not even that could compare with the cruel trick that is the title track, "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles," which at a gruelling 1:15 playing length, is easily one and a half minutes too long. Suck all the considerable talent out of Thelonious Monk, and then have a computer randomly put what results together into a hodgepodge of sound, and you might approximate this abomination.

Halfway through, I strongly suspected it was Sting playing a joke on his listeners. But even the King of Pain couldn't be so cruel, could he? Then, my suspicions were confirmed, as the song ends in a torrent of giggling. He's not laughing with us, gentle readers, he is laughing at us.

Well, Sting, despite an album that shows considerable talent, I found your joke decidedly unfunny. Now I shall have the last laugh, since it is my blog, and punish you with a two star review. I bet that will make you cry yourself to sleep...in your huge mansion, curled up with your hot wife on a bed covered in money. Take that!

Best tracks: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, Russians, Fortress Around Your Heart

CD Odyssey Disc 243: Sting

A few discs ago I reviewed an album called "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". Now, a song featuring a seventh son of a seventh son. Of course that and the fact that they are both British is where the similiarities end.

Disc 243 is...Ten Summoner's Tales
Artist: Sting

Year of Release: 1993

What’s Up With The Cover?: Sting sits thoughtful at the edge of some medieval well. Sting is supposed to be a handsome guy, but this picture makes him look positively homely. Also, he doesn't look too healthy - check out that unhealthy yellow pallour.

How I Came To Know It: This album was a pretty big record in the day, so I'd have had to be deaf and blind to miss it. Even if I had, Sheila owned it when we met, so she introduced me more formally.

How It Stacks Up: As I noted when I reviewed "Nothing Like The Sun" back at Disc 125, we have three Sting albums, and I only really like one of them. Thankfully, this is it!

Rating: Just barely makes it to 4 (see below)

As I noted earlier, "Ten Summoner's Tales" was a very big deal in 1993, and many of the songs on here have seen more than their fair share of radio play. Fortunately, I rarely listen to the radio, so this hasn't 'jaundiced' me to them as yet. (Yes, another yellow filter joke).

For the most part, this is a good album - it has almost none of the excessive jazz noodling that made "Nothing Like The Sun" so unbearable. These songs really benefit from not having Branford Marsalis get all 'look at me' throughout them.

Instead, Sting's guest musicians play artfully, but generally within the confines of the song's melody. Whether it is a well placed violin, or the sound of Northumbrian Pipes in the distance (I checked on this one), the right amount of instrumentation has been added, without becoming too busy. I guess what I'm saying is, I like the production.

The songs themselves are also good for the most part. The up-tempo "Love Is Stronger Than Justice" is a clever retelling of the Seven Samurai legend, where at the end of the battle we learn that there is only one maiden of marriagable age to pay off seven brothers who defended the townsfolk from bandits. The seventh and youngest son murders the others to have her, justifying his actions by stating that "love is stronger than justice/Love is thicker than blood."

"Fields of Gold" is a much slower, thoughtful song, evoking an image of a lover looking back to a golden time when he was with his beloved. This song strongly reminds me of the Robert Browning poem, "Love Among the Ruins". In that poem, Browning compares the two lovers' connection as more meaningful than old ruins dotting the pastoral countryside where the couple meet.

In Sting's "Fields of Gold" he looks back to an image of his lover running through fields of barley in the sunshine. It doesn't relate directly, but both have lovers meeting in fields (one of barley, one of grass) and both hold the idea that the memory of love will endure. Even if the similarities end there, I can't help being reminded of the poem every time I hear the song.

The album is also tastefully restrained to eleven songs (although a minor quibble; the title is Ten Summoner's Tales - not eleven). Maybe Sting was simply trying to channel Spinal Tap. Memo to Sting: If you want to channel Spinal Tap, you need more rock guitar; pop music doesn't go to 11.

There are songs that are stinkers, like the annoyingly self-indulgent "Saint Augustine in Hell" which has a mid-song oration that makes a point of putting music critics in Hell. It is meant to be funny, but it struck me as self-satisfied and defensive. The same goes for the eleventh track, "Epilogue (Nothin' 'Bout Me)", which is Sting's indictment that no one really knows him, regardless of what they think they know. Um...then write about it, Sting, but don't write about how you won't write about it - that's just self-referential silliness.

For these reasons, I was going to hold this record to three stars, but any record that encourages me to go back and read Browning's "Love Among the Ruins" deserves a pass, so I went with four. Give it a read yourself right here and remind yourself once again, that love is best.

Best tracks: Love Is Stronger Than Justice, Fields of Gold, She's Too Good For Me, Shape of My Heart

CD Odyssey Disc 125: Sting

After a holiday break, the CD Odyssey returns - and the randomness of the selections is as unforgiving as ever. The resumption disc is one of Sheila's.

Disc 125 is......Nothing Like The Sun
Artist: Sting

Year of Release: 1987

What’s Up With The Cover?: Black and White shot of Sting trying to be sexy and intense. I don't think I'm the target audience of this cover.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to both Sting and the Police. I assume she knew the former from the latter.

How It Stacks Up: We have three Sting albums, two of which I don't particularly care for - this is one of those ones.

Rating: 2 stars.

I've admitted in previous posts that I was wrong about the Police in my youth, when I didn't give them a chance. Sting's solo career that followed I never gave much thought until I was introduced to him by Sheila in the mid-nineties.

I gave this album an honest shot, but I have to admit, I mostly don't get it. It is a bit all over the place. It has a little bit of the Police's reggae/pop groove, on top of which is ladled an unhealthy dollop of world beat sounds and jazzy saxophone.

I almost never like world beat sounds (Capercaillie's later albums successfully fuse the sound with gaelic folk music, but I'll leave that for when I roll it). I find on "...Nothing Like the Sun" it just gets in the way.

However, the real crime of this album is the ridiculous use of saxophone. Somehow Sting has created a chimera of Kenny G eighties saxophone, and a sort of muzak jazz noodling. It is an unholy fusion.

It is too bad, too - because some of the songs have a pretty strong melody, and Sting can certainly sing. Songs like "Englishman in New York" and "They Dance Alone" both have the makings of a nice tune, and are well sung, but Sting pretentiously dumps so much of this jazz fusion stuff into them that you lose the song among all the gadgetry.

The worst example of this is the remake of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing". It starts off inoccuously enough, with a sort of pop version of the song - not great, but there. Then the guitar gets replaced by some bizarre sax solo. I'm not sure if at the end of this song Sting has the saxophone burned on stage, but I would suggest an improvement would be to burn the sax before starting.

When Sting keeps it simple, you can see his talent. The one song that stood out for me in this regard was "Fragile" which is a sort of Flamenco/Spanish guitar which reminded me strongly of Mark Knopfler's work. In fact, I decided to look it up and found Knopfler in the liner notes, but apparently he appears on "They Dance Alone". Anyway, this sound, coupled with Sting's ethereal voice really works - especially since it isn't layered in with a bunch of goofy pop/jazz.

Sting has a lot of talent, but he is better when Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are keeping his ego in check. Released from adult supervision, there ends up being way too much jazz odyssey.

Best tracks: Fragile