Finally I hear someone that thinks exactly the same as I do!.. I Totally agree with you Mikkel.

In my total personal point of view, Kipper seems to me to be a very cool and easy going person. But to be honest,  the only Sting CD that I donīt like from head to toe is BND, maybe is a coincidence that Kipper was in that album, or is just a Sting personal fascination to experiment with new technologies, donīt know.  And well,  for me is ok to be innovative, to be more creative, to experiment with new sounds..but for me that magic of the acoustic instantly creation has been starting to get lost. I really hope that is only my perception and not the sad reality.

Also another thing that I agreee with Mikkel, is that for me the TST tour had an inspiring and explosive environment with only 4 musicians. Sadly, I didnīt have the opportunity to see them in that tour... But to be honest, I can almost say that I got more excited watching my old tape of the Helsinki Concert of the TST tour, watching Vinnie kicking ass in every song (also including some live mistakes that make him even more human and more passionate and ALIVE) pushing to the best in every aspect, also observing and getting goose bumps with David S. doing that amazing standing up solo in Bring on the night/when the world.... and all the improvisation,  that I didnīt see in any concert in the BND tour that I went to...  ( I didnīt go to any dates in the MF tour because he didnīt come to Mexico).

Well anyway, maybe Kipper is the one to "blame" (I donīt liket to use this word) for this new "technology revolution" in Stingīs music, maybe it is Sting himself, I donīt know. But the only thing that I know is that for my personal point of view, the explosion that was in the "FAB 4" mix in the TST CD and Tour,  is the most inspiring influence that Sting and his musicians have done with me. 

Sting has amazing musicians with him right now!! I canīt deny that! AMAZING! but I think that  sometimes when you unite TOO many good musicians the result is not always that amazing  (like having 5 Michael Jordans in one basketball team or 11 Ronaldos in one soccer team) 

I think that the chemistry that existed in the Sting-Miller-Sancious-Colaiuta blend, has been the most integrated, strong and inspiring that has existed in Stingīs bands.  Some may agree, some not, well, this is just my point of view.

And Mikkel, where can I sign up for that vinne come back campaign??  :-)    My TOTAL RESPECT to Manu and to Kipper in the drum section both have great talent!!! Specially Manuīs work with cymbals (hats and splashes) but I think that Vinnie spices a lot much more Stingīs music (studio and Live) in my personal point of view! But lets donīt judge until we see what does the SL Tour have to offer us!! :-)

Take Care!

Javier :-)



At 06:58 AM 9/11/2003 +0200, Mikkel Z. Herold wrote:
Yes, lots of thoughts on Kipper...:
 
I for one am absolutely delighted that he will NOT be touring with Sting this time around. Although he seems like a great guy, I just don't like what he has done to Sting's music, especially not on stage.
 
For me, the absolute peak of Sting's career is still the TST tour - those four guys together kicked some serious butt! Besides the obvious fact that they were and are all incredible musicians, what made this line-up so great was their attitude - anything was possible. Listen to live recordings from this tour, and you will often hear small, improvised changes to the songs that made them grow and move constantly. It kept the guys on their toes all the time, and I just didn't feel that on the BND tour - it seemed much more like a preset performance being delivered.
 
And I think Kipper is partly to blame for this, although in the end, Sting is the one who makes the decisions. But it is harder to improvise in the spur of the moment when the music relies so heavily on drum loops and sequencing. Also, If the rumours are true, it was Sting's fascination with Kipper's drum programming that drove Vinnie away from the BND recording sessions - and THAT is not easy to forgive ;-) !!
 
Why Sting is so crazy about Kipper, I will never know. I'm fearing that he is developing a "Phil Collins-syndrome" where he starts relying too heavily on all the new possibilities of the modern technology and forgets to just play music! Sure, you can do amazing things with Kipper's equipment, and he definitely knows how to handle it, but you shouldn't use it just because you can - it should be musically warranted (which I have no doubt Sting will say that it is!).
 
That said, I have higher hopes for the upcoming tour. I have a feeling that Sting, too, missed the TST days on the last tour and that he is trying to bring some of the magic back on stage this time. He is back to his "record as a blueprint" idea, and that is something he almost never mentioned during BND.
 
So, now all we need is to get Vinnie and Sancious back, and things will start to brighten up ;-). Can't wait to hear Vinnie with Sting again on the BBC Radio 1 show.
 
Mikkel

--
"And my sanity scans the horizon"
Sting - The Wild Wild Sea

http://www.mzh.dk

---- Original Message ----
From: TaoofKim@aol.com
To: police@mailman.xmission.com
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 4:59 AM
Subject: [Police] No thoughts on Kipper...

> So, not one person had any thoughts on Kipper. Very interesting.
> Do you think he is the person encouraging Sting to rely more on drum
> machines? Personally, that is one thing about his new sound that I
> could do without. 
>                                   KIM
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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