Sting, LP "The Soul Cages", orig press 1986, NM, THE POLICE

$

37

This is an original pressing of "The Soul Cages" by Sting.  It was released in 1991 by A&M Records, USA # 75021 6405 1.  I purchased this album brand new when it was first released in January 1991.  I played this album one time and filed it away for safe-keeping.  It is in "near mint" condition.  The album cover is also near mint.  It still has the opened shrink wrap covering it nicely.  It will be shipped via "Media Mail" to conserve expenses.

The Soul Cages is the third full length studio album released by Sting. Released in 1991, it became his second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. The album was dedicated to Sting's recently deceased father who died in 1989. The Soul Cages is a concept album in which the songs are a reflection of his relationship with his father and how he felt after his death. It spawned four singles: "All This Time", "Mad About You", "Why Should I Cry For You" and "The Soul Cages". The title track won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1992.

Overview and concept

The Soul Cages is a concept album focused on the death of Sting's father. At the time, Sting had developed a writer's block shortly after his father's death; the episode lasted several years, until Sting was able to overcome his affliction by dealing with the death of his father through music. The first song written for The Soul Cages was "Why Should I Cry for You", and Sting has stated the rest of the album flowed quite easily after that first hurdle was overcome. Most of the songs have motifs related to sailing or the seas (Sting's father, according to Sting's autobiography, Broken Music, had always regretted not becoming a sailor.) There are also references to Newcastle, the part of England where Sting grew up.

Album opener "Island of Souls" tells the story of Billy, the first son in a family line of riveters. As he watches the ships his father helped create set sail, Billy dreams of taking his father along with him to escape by sea; his dreams become more prevalent as his father is injured and given three weeks to live. "All This Time" chronicles Billy's desire to bury his father at sea. The middle section of the record focuses mainly on the town Billy lives in and its people, before the highly introspective "Why Should I Cry For You". Musically, a mournful Northumbrian Pipe motif at the end of "Island of Souls" returns to open "The Wild Wild Sea", where Billy loses his way in a tempest only to find himself steered to safety by the spirit of his father. In another fantastical narrative on the album's eponymous track, Billy's father is being held captive by a demonic fisherman, with whom Billy wagers his life in a drinking game in a bid to set his father's soul free. Finally, the album ends with the moody, slightly-enigmatic "When The Angels Fall", which serves as a final thesis on the Catholicism which so heavily influenced Sting's upbringing; particularly regarding his father's spiritual beliefs. Musically, the song acts as a full stop for both the album's content and Sting's own personal torment, with the song's fluctuating tonality finally resolving to a firm and secure G major, marking a return to “home” (in this case, the home key of the earlier, conceptually significant, track "All This Time”) and providing an overwhelming sense of acceptance, redemption and subtle-nostalgia; beautifully realised in the album's closing “lullaby” motif. The character of Billy is referred to in the third person for the first three songs and in the first person for the last three songs.

In an interview with Charlie Rose aired on 10 December 2010, Sting mentions that he is working on a "mood piece", a musical project and book in collaboration with Pulitzer winner Brian Yorkey. The work will be based on an album he released many years ago concerning the loss of his father, growing up in Newcastle and witnessing the passing of the shipbuilding industry there. He admitted being scared of the prospect of pulling it all together but expressed confidence in it working out. This project has since been confirmed as the upcoming musical 'The Last Ship': set in Newcastle during the 1980s and featuring new material composed by Sting. Although the project is in its early stages of development, playwright and collaborator Brian Yorkey confirmed Sting has already written a number of new songs for the project. (wiki)

Songs:

All songs were written by Sting.

1. "Island of Souls" – 6:41
2. "All This Time" – 4:54
3. "Mad About You" – 3:53
4. "Jeremiah Blues (Part 1)" – 4:54
5. "Why Should I Cry for You" – 4:46
6. "Saint Agnes and the Burning Train" – 2:43
7. "The Wild Wild Sea" – 6:41
8. "The Soul Cages" – 5:52
9. "When the Angels Fall" – 7:48

Personnel:

• Sting – vocals, bass guitar, Synclavier, mandolin
• Manu Katché – drums
• Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
• Dominic Miller – guitars
• Branford Marsalis – saxophone
• Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian smallpipe
• Paola Paparelle – oboe
• David Sancious – keyboards
• Vinx – percussion
• Bill Summers – percussion
• Tony Vacca – percussion
• Skip Burney – percussion
• Ray Cooper – percussion
• Munyungo Jackson – percussion
• Hugh Padgham – producer, engineer