Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles. 1985 England

Sting, Gordon Sumner by any other name, was something of a ubiquitous presence during my high school years. Truth of the matter is I was quite fond of The Police back then. One of the better of the mainstream New Wave bands of the day (we didn't have all these other terms/genres like today - everything with this type of sound was called New Wave).

The Dream of the Blue Turtles was released in the summer of 1985. Yea, that's about the nadir year for mainstream music right there. I remember the album when it was released (I was halfway through college), and thought the title very interesting. For myself, probably as a reaction to all the crap the radio was offering, I was really starting to deep dive into genres like Euro prog rock, Berlin School electronic, Krautrock, while maintaining a healthy love for thrash and other kinds of inventive metal. I never heard the album all the way through back then, why would I bother? But since it's here, let's give it a whirl shall we?

The only song that registered in the memory banks was 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free'. I thought it kinda blew back then. 34 years later... it still blows. The title track, all 1+ minute of it, is an intriguing out-of-place jazz piano piece. Otherwise, wow, this album is really boring. There are no hooks, or any of the magic songwriting Sting brought to The Police. The album is so sterilized you could lick it for days without worry. You just want to go to a garage somewhere and roll in motor oil for awhile. The whole thing screams the Live Aid era. I could go a lifetime not remembering those days.