Sting - MERCURY FALLING (1996)
Tom Benton | North Springfield, VT USA | 07/26/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Sting followed up the superb TEN SUMMONER'S TALES with MERCURY FALLING, on which the former Police frontman experiments with blues, country, folk, and a little bit of gospel. The album's biggest problem is a lack of energy. Part of the charm of Sting's earlier releases was the power of his songs and the passion in his vocals. Most of the songs on MERCURY FALLING are devoid of much energy, resulting in an unexciting, often pretentious album. It does have its highlights, namely the bluesy "All Four Seasons" and the uptempo "Twenty Five To Midnight", the latter of which was inexplicably omitted from the US and Canadian releases of the album; also, the emotional "You Still Touch Me" and the gospel-influenced "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot". It's far from a bad album, but in the end it feels like Sting doesn't have his heart in it, resulting in an enjoyable, but unextraodinary recording."