Saw my lawyer, Mr Good News

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

10/03/96 : Mercury Falling - Sting

I love Ten Summoner's Tales (which is almost 30 years old now!) and hence always assumed I'd buy this - but then I seem to recall I heard it and that was the end of that assumption.  I've certainly never listened to it since, so let's see if it was quite as dull as I remember.

Hmmm - not QUITE as dull, but still very musical wallpaper-ish.  I quite liked "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" and I did at least recognise "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", but the rest of it just washed over me.  Compared to Ten Summoner's Tales, which is quite a subtle and tender album - this is, well, just not.  And, as you might have guessed, we never owned it - 12/43.

We're at #4 with a new entry this week at the start of a 27 week run, which was considerably more than it deserved and the rest of the top five were Oasis, Alanis, Mike And The Mechanics (a new entry about to start a 31 week run, which also seems very generous) and M People.  That's it for new entries in top ten (the next highest one is a cover of saxophone based covers at #35 - the mind boggles) but we have a re-entry at #6 with The Lighthouse Family about to start a 147 week run.

Wikipedia has very little on the album other than listing all the countries that went mad for it - it sold a million copies in Europe and the same in the US.  Interestingly, there's no critical reception - but I had a look on the internet and people are generally much kinder to it than I am.  Oh well - I'll try not to hold it against them.

"Customers also listened to" Sheryl Crow, Joe Jackson and Howard Jones.  Lordy, that's an odd mix and no mistake.  I like Sting (his recent run-out in Only Murders In The Building showed he doesn't take himself too seriously) and some of his musical output over the years has been top notch.  But, as I've mentioned before - this is, well, just not.

03/03/96 - Not one for me
17/03/96 - Oh.  It's them again.