Early in his solo career, Sting defined himself as a man of taste, choosing to work with jazz musicians instead of rockers. Inevitably, this meant he walked the thin line between sophisticated pop and adult contemporary, but he did it with grace from 1985's Dream of the Blue Turtles to 1993's Ten Summoner's Tales. Unfortunately, Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting doesn't illustrate what a deft trick he pulled off with that quartet of albums. Naturally, Fields of Gold concentrates on his hit singles, just like any other greatest-hits collection, but Sting's material sounds surprisingly tame in this context. Sure, there is a number of great songs here -- enough to state his case as a fine songwriter or to satisfy his casual fans. Still, these songs are safe choices and all share a similarly tranquil quality, which means the collection itself becomes a little monotonous. Nevertheless, Fields of Gold performs the necessary service of rounding up all of the big hits -- "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "All This Time," "Fortress Around Your Heart," "They Dance Alone," "If Ever Lose My Faith in You," "Fragile," and an alternate version of "We'll Be Together" -- and offering them on one disc, which is reason enough to make it worthwhile, even with its flaws.Early in his solo career, Sting defined himself as a man of taste, choosing to work with jazz musicians instead of rockers. Inevitably, this meant he walked the thin line between sophisticated pop and adult contemporary, but he did it with grace from 1985's Dream of the Blue Turtles to 1993's Ten Summoner's Tales. Unfortunately, Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting doesn't illustrate what a deft trick he pulled off with that quartet of albums. Naturally, Fields of Gold concentrates on his hit singles, just like any other greatest-hits collection, but Sting's material sounds surprisingly tame in this context. Sure, there is a number of great songs here -- enough to state his case as a fine songwriter or to satisfy his casual fans. Still, these songs are safe choices and all share a similarly tranquil quality, which means the collection itself becomes a little monotonous. Nevertheless, Fields of Gold performs the necessary service of rounding up all of the big hits -- "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "All This Time," "Fortress Around Your Heart," "They Dance Alone," "If Ever Lose My Faith in You," "Fragile," and an alternate version of "We'll Be Together" -- and offering them on one disc, which is reason enough to make it worthwhile, even with its flaws.false2024-01-28 08:28:47Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994819941994-01-011994-01-0167PopPop RockRockSinger-SongwriterSoft RockPop;Pop Rock;Rock;Singer-Songwriter;Soft Rock1116002177174048049ac-a192-4236-a6d9-63e291bba6a07944ed53-2a58-4035-9b93-140a71e41c3433cdbfa4-86da-33fa-b7d4-67f3efcaf558/media/data/media5/Music/Sting/Fields of Gold - The Best of Sting 1984–1994 (1994)/folder.jpgStingAlbumArtist/config/metadata/People/S/Sting/folder.jpgStingArtist/config/metadata/People/S/Sting/folder.jpgStingStingGordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the frontman, songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.As a solo musician and a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards: he won Song of the Year for "Every Breath You Take", three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, he received a BMI Award for "Every Breath You Take" becoming the most-played song in radio history. In 2002, Sting received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording. In 2003, Sting received a CBE from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014 and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017. In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow.
With the Police, Sting became one of the world's best-selling music artists. Solo and with the Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records and also learned to simultaneously sing and play by listening to records at 78 rpm. In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock, and 80th of Q's 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century. He has collaborated with other musicians on songs such as "Money for Nothing" with Dire Straits, "Rise & Fall" with Craig David, "All for Love" with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, "You Will Be My Ain True Love" with Alison Krauss, and introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences through the hit song "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami. In 2018, he released the album 44/876, a collaboration with Jamaican musician Shaggy, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2019.