Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales LP

(Bu makalenin Türkçe versiyonu aiçin aşağıdaki İngilizce versiyonun altına ininiz.)

Ten Summoner's Tales is the fourth solo studio album by the rock musician Sting. The title is a combined pun of his given name, Gordon Sumner, and a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the summoner. Released in 1993, it explores themes of love and morality in a noticeably upbeat mood compared to his previous release, the introspective The Soul Cages.

Ten Summoner's Tales was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1993. In 1994, it was nominated for five Grammy awards, winning Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("If I Ever Lose My Faith in You") and Best Long Form Music Video. It did not win Album of the Year, Record of The Year or Song of the Year.

To draw you in the first song is the well-known pop song, "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You." It has an addictive groove and multiple layers of sounds and melodies. In that same vein is the other guaranteed hit, "Fields of Gold." Surely this song, in its somber mood and loving lyrics is more than just a pop song but a recalled memory of love. Something even the music video hit dead-on. This is my all time two Sting's songs, the other is also in this album "Shape Of My Heart".

Below/altta my favorite Sting song "Field Of Gold"..


If you were scared of Sting's poly-rhythms in his other albums, you'll be terrified of this album. And too bad, some of Sting's best work is with the following three songs. He uses 7/4 scale before going into cowboy bebop in "Love is Stronger than Justice (The Munificent Seven)." The storytelling here is a simple but amusing story of seven desperados as they rescue a town and fight each other for the girl. 5/2 scale is heard in "Seven Days." The musicianship is worth high praise as mandolin and violins texture this song in its weird rhythm, making the 5 beats sound normal after the first chorus. Saint Augustine in Hell is the last of poly-beats, taking a 7/4 beat again. This song is a bit awkward, but a humorous romp with its tale of one guy's descent to Hell.

Sting's sense of storytelling is exercised in songs like "Love is Stronger..." and "Heavy Cloud, No Rain" where a warning tone rings over the stories of praying in vain for rain and suffering the consequences. To accompany this, the music is playful and upbeat, adding some irony to the stories. Also in a strong sense of storytelling is "Something the Boy Said" which tells the tale of shipfairers (a favorite subject of Sting's) and their upcoming doom in the high seas. Again, the music carries its subject flawlessly and is beautiful in composition.

To give credit to the other writers on this album, Dominic Miller's "Shape of My Heart" and Clapton's and Michael Kamen's "It's Probably Me" are excellent compositions in their own right. "Shape of My Heart" is a strumming tune and rivals that of "Fragile" (from Sting's previous album, Nothing Like the Sun). It's lyrics, again, are of a story of a gambler while its music is serious and fits excellently with Sting's vocal. "It's Probably Me" is totally panoramic, capturing its listener in a sea of music, of sorts, as it takes you through its love-song context.

To end the album, "Epilogue (Nothing `Bout Me)" is another silly romp, probably talking back to the media that surrounds him. He continually denies ever spilling his guts, no matter how much you search. Again, it's silly but it's also nice epilogue and come on... that ending rips directly from "A Day in the Life" from the Beatles with its instruments winding up scales in the end. This album feels like a whole composition while the songs themselves are a greatest hits collection. Sting's mastery of musicianship and ironic, direct lyrics can not be denied as he safely takes tastes of all sorts and blends them into his romantic and freshly synthesized songs. This album is the pinnacle of Sting's work, not going too deep or too somber in message and being as high in his own standard as he'll ever get.

Track List/Parçalar:

All songs written by Sting except where noted.

"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" – 4:30
"Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)" – 5:11
"Fields of Gold" – 3:42
"Heavy Cloud No Rain" – 3:39
"She's Too Good for Me" – 2:30
"Seven Days" – 4:40
"Saint Augustine in Hell" – 5:05
"It's Probably Me" (Sting, Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen) – 4:57
"Everybody Laughed But You" – 3:53
"Shape of My Heart" (Sting, Dominic Miller) – 4:38
"Something the Boy Said" – 5:13
"Epilogue (Nothing 'Bout Me)" – 3:39

Musicians/Müzisyenler:

Sting: Vocals, bass, harmonica, saxophone
Dominic Miller: Guitars
Vinnie Colaiuta: Drums
David Sancious: Keyboards
Larry Adler: Chromatic harmonica
Brendan Power: Chromatic harmonica
John Barclay: Trumpet
Guy Barker: Trumpet
Sian Bell: Cello
James Boyd: Viola
Richard Edwards: Trombone
Simon Fischer: Violin
David Foxxe: Narration
Paul Franklin: Pedal steel guitar
Kathryn Greeley: Violin
Dave Heath: Flute
Kathryn Tickell: Northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle
Mark Nightingale: Trombone
David Sanborn: Saxophone

Below/altta It's Probaby Me...


Ten Summoner's Tales Sting'in dördüncü solo albümü ve albümün ismi sanatçının asıl ismi Gordon Sumner ve Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury deki bir karekterin isminin bileşiminden oluşmaktadır.Albüm 1993'ye yayımlanmıştır. Albümdeki parçalara sevgi ve ahlak üzerine kuruludur.

Albüm Mercury ödülüne 1993'te aday gösterildi. 1994'te , beş Grammy ödülüne aday gösterildi ve Best Enginneering Albüm, klasik olmayan albüm, en iyi Pop erkek vokal ("If I Ever Lose My Faith in You") ile en iyi uzun tip video dalında ödül aldı.

Albümün giriş parçası olan "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" en bilinen pop parçalarındandır ve sağlam bir alt yapıya sahiptir, aynı şeyi bir diğer hit "Fields of Gold" söylememiz gerek, bu parça kasvetli ruh hali ve sevgi dolu sözleriyle bir pop parçadan öte daha çok aşk anılarını anımsatna eşsiz bir çalışmadır. Aynı hissi parçanın videosunda da algılarsınız.. Bu parça "Shape Of My Heart" ile beraber benim en favori iki Sting parçamdan biridir.

Altta/Below Shape Of My Heart...


Sanatçı 7/4 ölçüsü kullanır "Love is Stronger than Justice (The Munificent Seven)" adlı parçada ve bizlere yedi çılgın kovboyu anlatır bir kasabayı kurtarıp sonra da bir kız için birbirlerine düşen. 5/2 ölçeği "Seven Days" adlı eserde duyulur ki bu parça taşıdığı müzisyenli ruhuyla övgüyü hak eder, garip ritimdeki mandolin ve kemanlar parçayı ilk nakarattan sonra beş vuruşlu normal seviyeye getirir."Saint Augustine in Hell" ise 7/4 ölçülü son parçadır ve garip mizahi bir şekilde bir adamın cehennem inişini ele alır.

"Love is Stronger..." ve "Heavy Cloud, No Rain" gibi parçalar Sting'in hikayeleme duyusunu işlettiği parçalardandır. Müzik dinlemeye değer ve ritimiktir. Aynı etki "Something the Boy Said" adlı parçada da görülür ki burada da bir gemici hikaye edilir.

Burada Dominic Miller'in "Shape Of My Heart" ve Eric Clapton ile Michael Kamen'in "It's Probably Me" adlı muhteşem besteleri içinde bir çift kelam etmeden geçmek olmaz sanırım. İlk eser bir kumarbazı hikaye ederken sözler ve müzik Sting'in vokaliyle harika uyuşur. Diğer parça ise dinleyiciyi avlayan panoramik bir aşk parçasıdır.

Albüm genel olrak tüm parçalarıyla bir nevi best of albümü tadında olan bir çalışma, sahip olduğu müzikalite çok yüksek ve sonuç olarak eşsiz bir Sting çalışması.

Altta/Below full album's video...