IRAQ, the United Nations and Tony Blair's government are in danger of collapse, but the debate that rang round the Waggon And Horses was: is Sting going through a middle-life crisis? The consensus was yes, Sting's cracking up.
Sacred Love is dark, brooding and monumentally pretentious. This is his tenth studio album, his first for more than four years and features guest appearances from Mary J Blige (Whenever I Say Your Name) and Anoushka Shankar (The Book Of My Life). Here the former Tyneside teacher seems to be struggling with growing older. Angst-ridden lyrics encompass soul, jazz and pop rock. None of them work.
He disappears up his own fundament with lines such as "annilhate me, infiltrate me, incinerate me, accelerate me, humiliate me" on Let's Forget About The Future - a bizarre comparison about an old couple reprising old rows and the topically disunited United Nations.
Yet Sting can still sing and the musical arrangements are superb. But his lyrics mirror the grumpy-looking bewhiskered old git on the album cover. Lighten up.
Updated: 16:33 Wednesday, October 01, 2003
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