by baht habit on Tue Oct 13, 2009 3:41 pm
Sting - If On A Winter's Night
Do we think that, with Manafon, Sylvian has posed a challenge to his audience? For the most part, a fan of Sylvian's work could be described as musically openminded and willingly prepared for whatever results from Sylvian's penchant for high art and musical experimention. Now imagine the typical Sting fan....
And what makes it even more special is that Sting had previously made such a pitiful career move and reunited with his old classic rock band back in 2007. A bunch of fairweather fans flocked to see the concerts because, in their opinion, Sting is only good when he rocks with the Fuzz. And now after all the hoopla has died down from the reunion with the Cops, Sting decides to lay on his audience this sophisticated slice of folk music focused on the theme of Winter.
Obviously, it goes down way easier on the ear than the wonderful challenge that is Manafon. But I can't help but equate the two releases for relatively being the daring risks that they both are - a challenge to their respective audience. The musicianship on this release is top notch, as always, and the inspired choice of material is expertly arranged.
No, it won't replace Manafon in my cd player on a full time basis...though maybe I shall have to wait until the change of season to fully know that for sure.