Sting has recently released a box setcelebrating his entire career as a solo artist.
Sting: 25 Years, contains three CDs, totalling 45 tracks, from his 1985 debut album, The Dream Of The Blue Turtles, to his latest release, Live in Berlin. A fourth disc is a previously unreleased live concert DVD and the whole thing is packaged in a well designed hardcover book.
Unfortunately, those looking for a satisfying mix of rarities and hits, will be disappointed, since it fails miserably on the former. However, it certainly does deliver the hits. In fact, this set is effectively a three disc greatest hits collection.
Everything has been remastered with Sting’s full participation, but new to this box are remixed versions of many of the early tracks, including five from The Dream Of The Blue Turtles and We’ll Be Together from Nothing Like The Sun. The Blue Turtles tracks are noticeably different with a much dryer mix, particularly on the drums.
Sting has obviously been dissatisfied with the mixes on the first album for a while now. There was a ‘Hugh Padgham Remix’ of Fortress Around Your Heart on the UK CD single of When We Dance back in 1994, for instance.
Scott Hull is primarily responsible for the remixing and remastering, and there is an interesting interview with him about this project at The Masterdisk Record website.
At £75 this certainly does not rank too highly on the value-for-money stakes. A bonus disc of rarities and b-sides could have turned this from a ‘maybe’ purchase into a ‘must-have’.
Those looking for cheaper alternatives might consider the 2-disc Best of 25 Years which looks like a solid offering (see below), even if it does commit the unforgivable sin of including a few audio tracks that aren’t on the big box (previously unreleased live versions of Message In A Bottle, Demolition Man and Heavy Cloud No Rain).
In fact the US even get a 1-CD version, which somehow manages to take you from If You Love Somebody Set Them Free to Fields Of Gold in six tracks! Even this miser’s edition has the three live tracks not on the £75 box (groan)