Sting
Symphonicities

THE REVIEW

We are off to a bad start: the title seems to have been thought up by Leone di Lernia...; if we didn't have serious doubts about the fact that good old Leone knows something about the original "poliziesco," we would really be convinced that the idea for the title, halfway between the big band and, precisely, the Policemen, could only be his work.

Let's hear it, this damn record that is talked about so much, probably ad usum tour, since the Pungiglione is already underway, and it will even pass through Italy.

And we are off to a bad start with the music as well. "Next To You" is a track that has as much in common with the symphony orchestra as chalk and cheese. A "post-punk" piece that, when rearranged symphonically, masquerades as a good idea but is just a useless fuss.

The rest unfolds all around there...in a full blast symphonic show (or pseudo-symphonic), absolutely useless but, of course, impeccably packaged.

But Sting should have made an oper(ett)a like this - if he really had to make it - first of all in mid-December, then accompanying it with statements - if he really had to make them... - that were humble, kind, pleasantly cheeky... not getting irritated at the first question related to the Police, effectively insulting both former bandmates and the audience (the millions of people who wouldn't go to see him alone anymore, not even for free), rambling about comparisons with divorced wives, with lack of soul and motivation.

What a pity: and it's a pity that this little violin-backed record joins the long list of his very minor works, which feed off the past even when they don't want to let it be noticed. Those baroque and perfectly crafted efforts that leave you indifferent when they don't annoy you.

In short: the list of all his works from the last fifteen years (at least), with one shining, unique, and splendid exception: the Police tour of 2007.

The arrogance is truly a very, very serious sin. Perhaps the worst.