Worst things ever to happen to music

Underdog music magazine Blender recently listed the Worst 50 Things Ever to Happen to Music. The list is rather tongue-in-cheek but relatively funny. For example, #49 is "That dude who yells Freebird at every rock show." That is so true! Though, as proven by the fact that there are four seperate entries related to Van Halen, this list isn't all that serious.

However, #38 is absolutely correct. One word, Sting. What the heck happened to Sting? My buddy Rickie B says that Sting essentially "jumped the shark" with the success of the single Fragile from his second solo album Nothing Like The Sun. This is probably dead right. Sting and his music have been getting softer and softer as he eases into old age (by rock and roll standards).

His work with the Police fused intelligent lyrics with a sound that ventured between ska, new wave and rock. Once The Police broke up after the massive success of 1983's Synchronicity, Sting immediately made a left turn creating a jazz-pop fusion band that included Branford Marsalis and Kenny Kirkland.

Their first album The Dream Of the Blue Turtles and the subsequent live release Bring On The Night was the soundtrack of my later high school years. But subsequent releases Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages, Ten Summoner's Tales, Mercury Falling, Brand New Day and Sacred Love. Each of these albums have one or two songs that harken back to either his jazz or rock sensibilities but the bulk of the songs are just one notch above muzak. Truly, the career of Sting is one sad footnote.

Top 5 Sting albums
1. Bring On The Night
2. Zenyetta Mondetta (The Police)
3. The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
4. Synchronicity (The Police)
5. Outlandos d'Amour (The Police)