And then again, the extra production actually works fine on some of the tracks. There's no way the band could have inserted all that creepiness and near-gothic majesty into a song like 'Invisible Sun' three years ago. It may deal with the problems of Northern Ireland, of course, but you wouldn't really know that without a special education problem - basically, it's just a violent social rant from Stingie. Wait... violent? It's as stern and becalmed as anything, and that gives the song an extra edge. That unnerving countdown of one... two... three... four... five... six... at the beginning, the robotic dum-dum-dum of the main synthline, Andy's solid repetitive riff, the menacing whoah-whoah harmonies, and above all, Sting's vocal manner the likes of which he'd never assumed before: immobile and dark, without the usual whiny or screechy overtones, like he's the Lord Jesus or something. Yeah yeah I know what you're thinking about, but believe me, it really works - even in the somewhat 'brighter' chorus section, which contrasts with the dark verses in a way that doesn't please everyone (I think I see the obvious seam, too), but which you eventually get used to.
'Invisible Sun' is, IMHO, the best song on here, but in no way does it overshadow the rest - as is the usual trick, EVERY song on here has at least something going on for it.
[George Starostin]
And then again, the extra production actually works fine on some of the tracks. There's no way the band could have inserted all that creepiness and near-gothic majesty into a song like 'Invisible Sun' three years ago. It may deal with the problems of Northern Ireland, of course, but you wouldn't really know that without a special education problem - basically, it's just a violent social rant from Stingie. Wait... violent? It's as stern and becalmed as anything, and that gives the song an extra edge. That unnerving countdown of one... two... three... four... five... six... at the beginning, the robotic dum-dum-dum of the main synthline, Andy's solid repetitive riff, the menacing whoah-whoah harmonies, and above all, Sting's vocal manner the likes of which he'd never assumed before: immobile and dark, without the usual whiny or screechy overtones, like he's the Lord Jesus or something. Yeah yeah I know what you're thinking about, but believe me, it really works - even in the somewhat 'brighter' chorus section, which contrasts with the dark verses in a way that doesn't please everyone (I think I see the obvious seam, too), but which you eventually get used to. 'Invisible Sun' is, IMHO, the best song on here, but in no way does it overshadow the rest - as is the usual trick, EVERY song on here has at least something going on for it. [George Starostin]