well, here is comes! i got SACRED LOVE late yesterday afternoon and just finished listening to it for the 3rd time. I LIKE IT. to all you that have branded me a pro-police, anti-soloist - this despite my repeated claims to the contrary - read the previous sentence again. i think the album is good, 3 stars out of 5. my thoughts include: * best song = "dead's man's rope" * as usual, his vocals are superb * as a whole, album's vibe reminds me a lot of NOTHING LIKE THE SUN - the song style, the vocal delivery, the SOUND of some songs. i was also reminded of MERCURY FALLING a bit, as well as BRING ON THE NIGHT (the piano at the end of "never coming home" sounds A LOT like kenny's solo in "bring on the night"/"when the world is coming down..." medley. but, what does he REALLY think? * compared to BRAND NEW DAY, SACRED LOVE is REGATTA DE BLANC and THE SOUL CAGES, combined! on SL, the songs are, for the most part, good (not horrible like the majority of tunes are BND are) * like BND, SL is greatly lacking in musicianship. sure, there are flashes of it but you have to wait for them, many times they literally sneak up on you (and the wait is not worth it). and when you have dominic miller and vinnie colaiuta, among others, playing on your record, you shouldn't't have to sit around and wait for their respective contribution to a song. the sound of the record is very electronic - not electonica, but electronic (keyboards, programming). not that this is a bad thing - if that is the direction sting is going in now, i'm all for it, PROVIDED THE MATERIAL IS THERE. and it is here, at least it is here for this typr of record/sound. also on this point, if this is the direction he is going in, there is no need to tell interviewers that he practices being a musician everyday. if THAT is the case, let's here it! why employ the great christian mcbride to play double bass when you do not use him properly or, even better, when you can do it yourself! * lyrics for a couple songs are a bit long in the tooth, as if he is trying to outmatch his pal don henley in their race to keep up with bob dylan in the use prophetic, "subterranean homesick blues" style lyrics. these are not needed and serve to dampen what would have been an otherwise strong song. * time to ditch the middle astern sound * love the fact a "send you love" remix is included on the album - raise you glass to the universal music group! by the way, could not another ORIGINAL song been put in its place? but then, why would anyone but a cd-single?! again, a 3/5 - good album for him, but he has released better and can release better - at least i hope he can. rich __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com