Fields Of Gold: The Best Of Sting 1984-1994 - Sting (CD 1994)

If you're going to have just one album by this master musician, let it be this one. Covering the music that he's done from 1984 to 1994, it's a compilation along the lines of a 'Best of' album, but with a little bit more, with a new version of an old hit, and two new songs. From the end of the Police, and his leaping out to start a solo career, Sting is one of those artists who has the bravery to force himself to change; not only does he seem to have an uncanny ability to be just a step ahead of the current craze, and then when that has passed on, he's able to still hang onto his own style...

As the poster boy for VH1 stardom, Sting has a long history of working the adult contemporary market with regular album releases, whether it be new solo material, live recordings, soundtrack appearances or, in the absence of these items, a collection of previously released hits. There have been a few Police collections foisted upon us, featuring one or two new tracks on each to entice us Stingfans to purchase them, and Sting s first (and to date, his only) solo retrospective, 1994 s Fields of Gold is a similar recording. Featuring twelve previously released songs and two completely new tunes,.

From New Wave to New Age to New life When I went to buy Sting's compilation, "Fields of Gold--The Best of Sting," I was hoping it included a seldom-heard single from 1988 which I had hardly heard over the past decade. Fortunately, this song, "Englishman in New York," was on the tape, so I snagged it. The following is a summary of the highlights of this compilation: "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free"--This 1985 song, his first hit after leaving The Police, was a refutation of that band's 1983 hit, "Every Breath You Take." "Breath" was a song of control and surveillance, while "If You Love...

Musical "Best of" compilations must be tough to put together. Often, you get only the totally overexposed cuts that you can't bear to hear one more time individually, let alone back to back, in succession. Fortunately for me, Sting's "Fields of Gold, 1984-1994" is not one such production. I just ordered this CD as a surprise gift for a friend tonight (who will read this and there goes the surprise), and realized how much I love this CD. I play it frequently, and repetitively. Three of my very favorite songs on the CD were previously unreleased. I had never read the liner notes before tonight..