Customer Reviews

Songs from the Labyrinth

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read other people's reviews on other websites. Here's their comments:

"Who is going to listen to this on a regular basis?"

"Don't bother--you can have my copy."

"[An] Abomination" It hurts your ears."

That was their opinion. This is mine: I'm allegedly a trained musician. I'm an oboist - about the hardest instrument you could wish to learn to play. I bought "Songs from The Labyrinth" a week ago. I have listened, and re-listened, to Sting's interpretation, at least 10 times. I can't get enough of it. I'm listening to it over and over. He's made Dowland accessible to me, like no one else, however good they are, ever managed to do. Sure, his voice is rough and ready. That makes his interpretation even better.

Kudos to Sting for having the guts to do something like this. I hope he does another. I hope he does it soon.

Well, it did take some time for me to finally appreciate this very interesting recording of John Dowland's songs...

Sting's voice does sound very alien to the music in the beginning: too "raw", as it has been described elsewhere. I forgot about the record for months, until I came back to it after my wife became hooked on it and started to run the CD in a loop on our sound system...

Now I am hooked too!

This IS beautiful music, and we have to thank Sting for pushing us outside of our comfort zone, into new and challenging territory.

I saw Sting and Mr. Karamazov on television last night. At first my reaction was skeptical. However, after hearing a few songs I was impressed. My significant other has sung a few of the songs of John Dowland so they were somewhat familiar. Sting's presentation charmed me in a manner which I have not been so charmed by him since "Fields of Gold". 2007 will be remembered as the year that the Police regrouped and toured and Sting brought a great English composer's music to the masses.

My review is simple... I gave this away. I am a huge Sting fan and I really didn't think he could make something that didn't interest me... well he did. This is a VERY odd album that would be good for the hardcore musician that appreciates the obvious difficulty of this music but I doubt anyone else.

Note that I tried and tried to like it but I just couldn't do it. Oddly my opinion of Sting has only risen as a result... only a true genius could create something like this and get away with it :-)

BTW, this is listed under "Rock"... it is a serious mislabeling. I would say it fits into something like alternative or historical if there is such a thing.

I was surprised at how much this veered from the usual Sting offerings. I'll keep playing it in the hopes that it grows on me but I highly doubt it. Maybe if I were some old, stuffy University professor?

Gail Carey