Ten Summoner's Tales is the fourth solo studio album by English musician Sting. Released in 1993, it explores themes of love and morality in a more upbeat mood compared to his previous release, the introspective The Soul Cages, released in 1991 and written about the death of his father.[9] The album contains two US hits; "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" reached No.17 on the Billboard Hot 100 while "Fields of Gold" got to No.23.[10]
Sting said that he intended for the songs on Ten Summoner's Tales to be more upbeat than the material found on his previous studio album, The Soul Cages, which released to the death of his father. Sting stated that his goal for Ten Summoner's Tales was to write songs that were less personal and would instead "amuse my band and family."[11][12]
The cover of the album was photographed at Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, featuring Hrímnir, an Icelandic horse Sting owned for a period. He bought the horse from his friend Ársæll Jónsson. The title is a combined pun of his family name, Sumner, and the summoner in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.[13]
A 64-channel Solid State Logicconsole was used for the recording of Ten Summoner's Tales. Solid State Logic had designed a portable studio for Sting with a desk that could fold into 16 flight cases. Sting also used C800 G tube microphone developed by Sony, which Hugh Padgham, the co-producer of Ten Summoner's Tales, was "the only mike I have found that can get Sting's vocals sounding how I wanted them so sound."[15]
Composition
Sting opted to center the material on Ten Summoner's Tales around various characters rather than his own life, but later arrived at the conclusion that these songs had more parallels to his own life than he expected.[12] He told Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times that "When I started this one, I said, 'OK, I’m going to write songs about other people'. But having given myself that freedom and latitude, I ended by accident revealing more of myself than I had figured."[9] He referred to Ten Summoner's Tales as "a pop record in the truest sense."[14]
The album's opening song, "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You", was written by Sting after concluding that he could easily identify what he had lost faith in, but struggled to determine if the inverse was true. In the song, Sting deliberately kept the answer to the title tag ambiguous, elaborating in interviews that the song could relate to faith in a romantic partner, a supernatural deity, or himself.[9][16]
Sting based "Shape of My Heart" on a card player whose goal is to understand the "mystical logic in luck" of the game rather than to win.[12] He wanted this song to explore how the card player's tendency to conceal their emotions parlayed into their difficulties in expressing their love in a relationship. Sting felt that this character served as a metaphor for his own reservations about communicating his emotions. He also felt that the song related to his decreased desire to pursue perpetual relevance in the music industry, explaining that "staying in the public eye is a game", and that he preferred to maintain his craft "without necessarily having to kill myself to do it."[9] "Fields of Gold" was inspired by the scenery of gold barley fields outside of his 16th century home, saying that he would "watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold." He said that "Fields of Gold" was about "feeling very joyous in the moment" and the "sadness" of recognizing that this joy is temporary.[12]
Sting had an affinity for Augustine of Hippo due to his belief that he was more willing to acknowledge his imperfections, which led to the creation of "Saint on Augustine in Hell".[12] The second track on the album, "Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)", was named as a homage to the films Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. According to the interview disc, the idea came to Sting when he wanted to write a song in the 7/4 time signature.[17] The song "Seven Days" was written in the 5/4 time signature, with Sting referring to it as "a strange single" about a person who is coerced into a romantic relationship by a rival.[18]
Around the release of Ten Summoner's Tales, between 70,000 and 100,000 copies of Ten Summoner's Tales were stolen while a from a Polygram pressing plant in Hanover, Germany, was en route to a warehouse in Italy. Polydor Records took out advertisements in daily newspapers alerting prospective purchasers of the album of the theft.[32][33]
A&M Records released Ten Summoner's Tales on LP, CD, cassette, DCC, and on video. The company also set the release date for Ten Summoner's Tales on 1 March 1993 in Europe, intentionally timing it one week ahead of its release in the United States. To promote the album in Europe, A&M Records purchased television slots on Eurosport along with rock music magazines.[34] Other promotional efforts included television, radio, and print interviews, with Sting also appearing on Saturday Night Live in February. Sting also embarked on a world tour primarily consisting of stadium dates opening for The Grateful Dead.[14]
"If I Ever Lose My Faith" was released as the album's first single in all territories.[14][34] The single performed well Europe, where it unseated Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" after spending nine weeks at the top of Music & Media's European Hit Radio chart.[34] In the United States, "Fields of Gold" was released as the album's second single.[14] Both of these singles reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.[35]
A long-form performance video of the entire album was filmed at Sting's home studio.[34] This film, which was directed by Doug Nichol and produced by Julie Fong, received a release on VHS and LaserDisc in conjunction with the release of Ten Summoner's Tales. In 1994, the video went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video and was directed[36] A promotional disc was made where Sting discusses some of the songs on the album.[17]
On 11 August 1994, a compact disc of Ten Summoner's Tales became the first item securely purchased over the Internet, for $12.48 plus shipping.[37]
Commercial performance
Unlike Sting's previous solo albums, Ten Summoner's Tales did not reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, being held off the top spot by Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way upon its release. Ten Summoner's Tales remained in the top 20 for more than six months in the UK.[38]
In the United States, Ten Summoner's Tales debuted at No. 2, which matched the peak positions of Sting's solo albums The Dream of the Blue Turtles and The Soul Cages.[39] By September 1993, Ten Summoner's Tales' had achieved worldwide sales of 3 million by September 1993.[38]
Remasters
Ten Summoner's Tales was remastered and re-released in 1998. The new CD issue included a bonus video track of "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". It also featured the song "Everybody Laughed But You", which was exclusive to the European release of the album. Explaining the decision to include "Everybody Laughed But You" on European pressings, the international marketing director for A&M said that it was would counter the viability of import records and provide radio programmers with another song for airplay.[34] The instrumental track for "Everybody Laughed But You" was also used with an alternate lyric and released as "January Stars" on the singles "Seven Days" and "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You".
In February 2023, Ten Summoner's Tales a digital-exclusive 30th anniversary deluxe edition was released, which included the original track listing and 15 bonus tracks.[40]
Critical reception
Writing for Music Week, Alan Jones called Ten Summoner's Tales a "typically diverse album of merit" that was "more easily accessible" than The Soul Cages.[24]Billboard said that Ten Summoner's Tales attained an enviable new plateau" for Sting, adding that it "entertains and amuses as thoroughly as it rocks".[41]Cashbox said that the material on Ten Summoner's Tales provided "yet another texture added to the complex tapestry woven by this musical master of poetic/pop storytelling." They felt that the album contained a contrast of "lighthearted trickery" and songs that brought "listeners in for a more impassioned journey".[42]
Reviewing the album for the Los Angeles Times, Chris Willman described Ten Summoner's Tales as Sting's "least conceptually or musically ambitious" and "least personal" album up to that point, adding that this "in no way strikes against the album’s inherent pleasures, which are great".[23] Greg Kot of the The Chicago Tribune felt that Ten Summoner's Tales was "light, lively and, most of all, fun" and called it an improvement over Sting's previous album, The Soul Cages.[21] In his review for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis said that Ten Summoner's Tales seemed deliberately crafted to be "an intentional crowd pleaser". He highlighted Sting's "typically arresting voice" and the musicianship of his backing band, particularly noting the "forays of jazz complexity" and the presence of odd time signatures.[26]
Andrew Collins was more critical of Ten Summoner's Tales in his review for Select magazine, saying parts of the album sounded "uncomfy, embarrassing and stiff". He described the album as "late-nite easy listening" and believed that some of Sting's lyrics compromised the lyrics, specifically citing the "overwrought metaphor" on "Heavy Cloud No Rain" and the "musty deck-of-cards symbolism on the otherwise pretty 'Shape of My Heart'".[28]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Sting, except where noted.
"Everybody Laughed But You" does not appear on most vinyl pressings or on the original US and Canadian versions of the album.
Pressings of the album that do not include "Everybody Laughed But You" (and so only have 11 tracks) omit "Prologue" from the title of "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You".
12Ten Summoner's Tales Interview Disc (Interview). Sting. United States: A&M Records. 1993.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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