No good sign. And then the first hectic because something excited by listening to the album. Okay, it's definitely not a pop rock album, no successor to Sacred Love of 2003. And again okay, can be found at the first hearing sounds that Sting has been often used from time to time, Pipes and sailor shanty, Celtic folk and small jazz serenades, but never so condensed.
So two ways to place the album right back to side or just hear a few times. Option 1 I can understand, because I would myself the last time often a bit disappointed, but who makes the missed something. After all, the whole framework for Musical History (decline of a once thriving port city, of course, autobiographical) times left out, The Last Ship offers but then many remarkable songs and remarkable texts.
This starts with the already pre-released single PRACTICAL arrangment, which comes very relaxed, slightly jazzy Serenade just gently accompanied by piano, bass, guitar and a trumpet that slowly draws its tracks. For borne song fits the text, in which a man tries to make palatable a nut that you can live without the great romance together pragmatically. And it continues with two very beautiful duets, firstly with the beautiful ballad SO TO SPEAK with soft strings and with the (to me) unknown Becky Unthank, secondly, the duet with (the rather then already very famous ;-) Jimmy Nail called WHAT HAVE WE GOT where Sting with Celtic bonds and a lower order octaves voice and the northern English dialect are the Lord of the Dance of the working class. Lyrically Sting is in some places very nitty-gritty, especially the songs where he're dealing with aging very intense and touching (I LOVED HER BUT SHE LOVES SOMEONE ELSE TO SPEAK and SO). And then of course there are still the Ballad of the Great Eastern, the very reminiscent of the pipes at the beginning of Hounds of Winter and then developed into a majestic orchestral ballad.
Option 2 from the top is worth it to get even for the fans at the word a musical play dead reflex.
