Aging Artists - Losing the edge or maturing?

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Athrabeth and I were discussing the Police in another thread and something came up that I felt was worth exploring.

Sting does have a distinctive sound that is easily discerned in Police recordings. I faithfully followed his solo career for a number of years, but after a while, he just got too darn mellow. I liked it when he was edgier.

I actually prefer a lot of Stings newer stuff to his early solo material. Granted, there were hits like "Englishman in New York" but there were also some fairly sentimental pieces like "Russians". I love his treatment of Hendrix' "Little Wing" and I think the albums "Brand New Day" and "Ten Summoners Tales" are his finest work to date. "Mercury Falling" was also excellent. I'm particularly impressed with his eclectic tastes and his blending of arabaic music into his own jazz-rock arena in songs like "Desert Rose".

For a truly powerful experience, get a copy of "All this Time" on DVD. Sting was under pressure to produce a live album, but he felt the stadium approach didn't suit the intimacy of his current work, so he invited some top session musicians to his villa in France and rehearsed a concert to be performed to an invited audience of fans and friends at his home, using a portable sound system.

The DVD documents the rehearsal process right through the arrival of the musicials up to and including the performance, which was scheduled for the evening of September 11, 2001. As the news came in that morning from the US, the musicians were all gathered round the TV in Stings kitchen. They made the decision to go ahead with the concert, not out of lack of respect, but in a spirit of solidarity. Sting opened the concert in a very sombre mood, with a new arrangement of "Fragile". There was no change in the lyrics, but they had a new power.



If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrows rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetimes argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are


Here's a youtube vid of the moment.

Fragile

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I've changed the title since I find I have more to say on the subject.

I got a DVD at Christmas of Meatloaf Live in Sydney with a full orchestra backing. It's a fun concert, but there's no question that he's lost his edge. Instead of maturing as a singer, he seems to be struggling to maintain the energy he had 30 years ago. Its just not possible. Perhaps the most disappointing moment was when he tackled the hugely challenging "For Crying Out Loud". It's a phenomenally difficult sing and he absolutely aced it, right up until the last moment, when instead of finishing gently and securely he tried to ramp up the final stanza. Quite simply bad showmanship in every possible way. He had the audience in the palm of his hand and then threw them away on cheap theatrics. Stupid.

I saw him at the lowest ebb of his career, when he was playing community halls around Ireland, but he was still a fantastic performer. Now, he's a headline act again, but without the energy to sustain it. I'm afraid he'll be remembered not as the powerhouse he was at his peak, but the shambolic showman he has become.