I think that what makes Sting a great artist is that he never fails to bring in the new stuff, time is passing by and the man can't keep making albums like ''The Dream Of The Blue Turtles'' which already sounds a bit outdated today.

The biggest hit was probably ''Desert Rose'' along with ''Brand New Day''. Of course, I see that many reviewers were disappointed to realize that the track ''Desert Rose'' is here in it's original version, the song (when remixed by producer Victor Calderone) became a huge dance floor hit and spent 9 amazing weeks at the top of the sales charts. So for that version, I recommend the CD Single, which has Calderone's ''Melodic Club Mix'', the version that was used in the awesome video.

More or less, Sting's brooding and serious work has been put aside for a change, it's not a personal album from the man. It takes a turn for the upbeat side, managing to bring in Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap.

My favorite tracks are: Desert Rose, Brand New Day, After The Rain Has Fallen, Ghost Story.

Overall, it's a great album (Dare I say one of his most popular)---- It may not break grounds like his previous, but you cannot say that this is bland, Cos that's definitely something it's not. Enjoy!

Not A Brand New Sting, but Refreshed...
Sting. The name divides music fans. Sometimes it seems he gets no respect. You're either in the pro or con camp. Lots of folks despise his stuff (particularly what they feel is his pretentiousness). I think we should celebrate all that and more. Here's a songwriter and performer that continually tries to produce interesting and challenging work. Is it all successful? No.

Brand New Day is. From the very first moment of the opening track to to the last strains of Brand New Day, it's clear that as a musician he isn't afraid to try and reinvent himself. The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Xtc, Prince all have done the very same thing. Maybe critics would like him better if we referred to him by his real name--Mr. Sumner.

A Thousand Years with its vaguely middle eastern melody and hip hop beat takes Mr. Sumner on a musical adventure to new places. Desert Rose melds techno with the the craftsmanship that we've come to expect from Mr. Sumner. The haunting Ghost Story recalls the gentle acoustic tracks atmosphere of Sting's second album. The singing and melody are both richer emotionally than anything Sting has attempted before. The album has some minor flaws. There are a couple of tracks that are merely filler (such as Fill Her Up), but for every weak track there is a track that boldly tries something new.

Regardless of what you think of Sting, err, Mr. Sumner as an artist, you have to give him this--he doesn't sit still. He's always trying something unusual and new and mixing it up just enough to keep long time fans and, perhaps, make new ones at the same time.

Some Great Songs but poor audio mixing
Sting has some good songs on this album. My complaint has to do with how the audio was mixed. When singing solo, Sting's vocal volume is bright and nicely mixed with the background, however when the background vocals or instruments kick in the overall volume drops as well as does the presence of his voice. It is very annoying to hear this as songs transition from verse to chorus. Also the 5.1 mix does not utilize the center channel appropriately. I would call this a 4.1 mix with a very diminished center channel. I have not seen this complaint in other reviews but I know that my $1,200 Denon DVD player, Sony ES Amp and Polk speakers cannot be the source of this problem.

Sting's greatest CD in a long time!
This will forever remind me of driving in the streets of Phoenix Arizona late at night when "A Thousand Years" came out of my car speakers. This album completely took me by storm especially after his previous outing "Mercury Falling" really dissapointed me. The title of this CD is just perfect because it is the best emphasis of a brand new sound that gave Sting a massive jumpstart and the result is not only the best album of 1999 but also one of my favorite albums of his ever. Musically, this CD is much darker than anything that he had done before and Sting dives into a more New Agey electronic trance sound but at the same time maintaining his trademark style and the results are absolutely amazing!

And deservedly so, this also put Sting back onto the pop charts with his biggest hit single in many years at this point in his career "Desert Rose" which is just stunningly beautiful. The other one is my favorite song of his ever which is the title track to this album.

However another favorite song however is track 8 "Fill Her Up". I could almost label this as like a mini-progressive pop epic because it's almost like three songs in one. It starts off being a really funny humorous country song but it morphs into radically different style and becomes a Gospel-oriented epic before finally morphing down into a jazz-oriented song. This is another favorite song of mines and one of Sting's best songs in many years.

This CD is almost like Sting's rejuvination in many ways. It helped re-invent Sting's sound and also gave him much needed chart success and for such an awful year for music with all of the teen pop junk that polluted the airwaves at that point in time, this album was a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended.

Who is Sting?
All of the other reviewers have hit the nail on the head. You dont really neccessarily have to acquire a taste for this type of music. I am one of Sting's young music listeners. I also grew up with this stuff...a good example would be " Ten Summoner's Tales " mmmm...brings back good memories. Any way, This album has my A+...and as an audiophile...thats hard to get in my books. If you ever run into somebody that has never heard of Sting's music, tell them its just like Billy Joel....only more up to date.
There is a difference between being an inspired musician and an informed musician. Sting is the latter. As always, he surrounds himself with ultratalented artists: this time around Stevie Wonder, Branford Marsalis, James Taylor, guitarist Dominic Miller, and the prince of rai Cheb Mami, fill the roster. Brand New Day exhibits about as many musical styles as there are tracks, all encased in dense, meticulous production. The album begins promisingly. "A Thousand Years" pulses atop a lush, two-note foundation. "A Desert Rose" folds trilling Algerian pop into trip-hop. Melodic, late-night jazz ballads dominate the middle portion of the collection. But Sting's preoccupation with odd-numbered time signatures prevents the songs from grooving, while the choruses are yawns. "Fill Her Up" (no, not "Fill 'Er Up"), a country tune, represents Sting at his most self-indulgent. Listening to one of the wealthiest musicians in pop singing "Got no money to invest / Got no prospect / Or education / I was lucky to get the job at this gas station" requires a heroic suspension of disbelief. The song morphs into this gospel number where Sting and a supporting chorus chant "You gotta fill 'er up with Jesus! / You gotta fill her up with life!" Who knew unleaded could be so rousing? --Beth Massa