Nothing Like the Sun (album)

The album was influenced by two events in Sting's life: first, the death in late 1986 of his mother, which contributed to the sombre tone of several songs; and second, his participation in the Conspiracy of Hope Tour on behalf of Amnesty International, which brought Sting to parts of Latin America that had been ravaged by civil wars, and introduced him to victims of government oppression. "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" was inspired by his witnessing of public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, tortured and murdered by the military dictatorship of the time, who danced the Cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) by themselves, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their clothes. "Be Still My Beating Heart" and "The Lazarus Heart" approach the subjects of life, love and death. Elsewhere on the album, "Englishman in New York", in honour of Quentin Crisp, continues the jazz-influenced music more commonly found on Sting's previous album, as does "Sister Moon". For this album, the New England Digital Synclavier system was Sting's primary tool for writing, composing and arranging. He spent three months in New York gathering material for the next album, organising the ideas he had accumulated over the past year into finished songs on the Synclavier before entering the studio. The songs were more arranged than before, with the musicians simply layering their parts on top of Sting's Synclavier. Manu Katché, who played drums on the album, said that the band spent five days rehearsing the material in New York City before moving to AIR Studios in Montserrat. These sessions lasted ten days, with around 15 songs recorded during this period time; each song required roughly seven and eight takes to complete. Sting recorded the album with two 32-track digital tape recorders, allowing them to create multiple slave reels with different elements for a song. However, he found it difficult having too many options to choose from, and not hearing all the recorded parts until the mixing stage. ==Album title==

The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet No. 130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". He added that his inspiration for this was a close encounter with a drunk, in which Sting quoted the sonnet in response to the drunk's importunate query, "How beautiful is the moon?" ==Release==

The album's first single and biggest hit, "We'll Be Together" sported a prominent dance beat and funk overtones; it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 1987 and even crossed over to the R&B charts. The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese, and in the case of "Fragile", both languages. The Brazilian CD and Vinyl edition of Nothing Like the Sun also contained "Fragile" in Portuguese ("Frágil") as the tenth track (between "Rock Steady" and "Sister Moon"). Three years after its release on both the album and in single form, "Englishman in New York" was remixed in mid-1990 by Dutch producer Ben Liebrand. Providing a stronger dance beat, as well as an extended introduction, the song was a hit in clubs and reached number 15 in the UK singles chart. The maxi-single also included a dance remix of "If You Love Somebody (Set Them Free)" as a B-side. Nothing Like the Sun was one of the first fully digital audio recordings (DDD) to achieve multi-platinum status. In celebration of its 35th anniversary, an expanded edition of the album was released on October 13, 2022. This digital-only release features the original 12 songs on the album, plus 14 bonus tracks that consist of B-sides, remixes, alternate versions, and instrumentals. ==Critical reception==

Nothing Like the Sun was praised by many critics. Billboard called Nothing Like the Sun "an exceptionally rich two-record set that shows Mr. Sumner expanding musically, emotionally, and politically." Cashbox felt that the album was "expansive, weighty, [and] ambitious throughout". In a review for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis wrote: "...Nothing Like the Sun represents impressive growth for Sting. His voice is rich, grainy and more mature; his ideas are gaining in complexity; and musically he is stretching without straining. His mistress's eyes may be nothing like the sun, but on this fine new album Sting's intrepid talent shines on brightly." ==Commercial performance==

In the United States, the album debuted at number 54 on the US Billboard 200 chart on the week of 31 October 1987 and eventually peaked at number nine in its third week of release. The album spent a total of 52 weeks on the chart. On 24 October 1991, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over two million copies in the United States. In the UK, the album debuted and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart. In the second week the album dropped to number three. It spent a total of 42 weeks on the chart. The album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. ==Track listing==

B-sides • "Ghost in the Strand" ("Englishman in New York" 7"/ Maxi Single) • "Ellas Danzan Solas" (Spanish version of "They Dance Alone", "They Dance Alone" Maxi Single) • "If You There" ("They Dance Alone" 7") • "Conversation with a Dog" ("We'll Be Together" 7"/ Maxi Single) • "Someone to Watch over Me" (George Gershwin's cover, "Englishman in New York" 3-inch CD single) • "Up from the Skies" (Jimi Hendrix cover with Gil Evans and His Orchestra, "Englishman in New York" 3-inch CD single) ==Singles==

• 1987 – "We'll Be Together" No. 7 US • 1988 – "Be Still My Beating Heart" No. 15 US • 1988 – "Englishman in New York" No. 84 US, No. 51 UK • 1988 – "Fragile" No. 70 UK • 1988 – "They Dance Alone" No. 94 UK • 1990 – "Englishman in New York" (Remix) No. 15 UK == Personnel ==

• Sting – vocals, arrangements, bass guitar (1–9, 12), Spanish guitar (4), acoustic guitar (6) double bass (10) • Kenny Kirkland – keyboards • Gil Evans – keyboards (11) • Gil Evans and His Orchestra – orchestra (11) • Ken Helman – acoustic piano (12) • Andy Summers – guitars (1, 2) • Eric Clapton – guitar (5, 7) • Fareed Haque – guitar (5) • Mark Knopfler – guitar (5) • Hiram Bullock – guitars (11) • Mark Egan – bass guitar (11) • Manu Katché – drums (1–10) • Kenwood Dennard – drums (11) • Andy Newmark – additional drums • Mino Cinelu – percussion, vocoder • Branford Marsalis – saxophones • Renée Geyer – backing vocals • Dolette McDonald – backing vocals • Janice Pendarvis – backing vocals • Pamela Quinlan – backing vocals • Rubén Blades – Spanish vocals (5) • Annie Lennox – backing vocals (7) • Vesta Williams – backing vocals (7) == Production ==

• Producers – Sting (all tracks); Neil Dorfsman (Tracks 1–6 & 8–12); Bryan Loren (Track 7). • Production Assistants on Tracks 1–6 & 8–12 – Ken Blair and Dave O'Donnell • Mixing – Neil Dorfsman and Hugh Padgham (Tracks 1–6 & 8–12); Paul McKenna (Track 7). • Mix Assistants – Mark McKenna and Bob Vogt (Tracks 1–6 & 8–12); John Hegedes (Track 7). • Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk (New York, NY). • Art Direction and Design – Richard Frankel • Photography – Brian Aris ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts ==Certifications and sales==