Sting: "Today's Rock Music Is Boring"

[DudeAsInCool]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Sting said contemporary rock music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th century English ballads.

The former teacher who shot to fame as lead singer, bassist and composer in the 1970s and 80s for The Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of today.

His album of Dowland lute music "Songs from the Labyrinth" has topped classical charts on both sides of the Atlantic and entered the UK album chart at No. 24.

"Rock music has come to a standstill -- it's not going forward any more, it only bores me," Die Zeit quoted Sting as saying.

Read more

Not as boring as Sting's new music...

[slum_goddess]

"Rock music has come to a standstill -- it's not going forward any more, it only bores me," Die Zeit quoted Sting as saying.

i hate to say it but i agree w/him. then again, what the fuck does he mean by 'rock music?' define your terms, sting.

[KiwiCoromandel]

Sting says contemporary rock music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th century English ballads.

By comparison, Pete Townshend can't stand old rock stars and wouldn't even pay to see his own concert.

The former lead singer of The Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of today.

His album of Dowland lute music Songs from the Labyrinth has topped classical charts on both sides of the Atlantic and entered the UK album chart at No. 24.

"Rock music has come to a standstill -- it's not going forward any more, it only bores me," Die Zeit quoted him as saying.

Sting also revealed his true reasons for getting into music in the first place.

"Forty years ago it was my dream to break out of Newcastle and never be poor again," he told the magazine.

"I'm very privileged. I'm a successful musician, live in a beautiful house, and have a wonderful family."

Meanwhile, loquacious songwriter and lead guitarist of The Who told Rolling Stone magazine, he doesn't want to watch "old guys in their self-congratulatory mode."

The Who just wrapped the first leg of their North American tour, and will resume the trek in Los Angeles on Nov. 4. They will release their first studio album in 24 years, Endless Wire, on Oct. 31.

"I don't want to go out and see Bob Dylan. I don't want to go out and see the Stones. I wouldn't pay money to go see the Who, not even with new songs," Townshend, 61, added in the interview.

Speaking of self-congratulation, the admitted "ageist" declared that he was at the top of his artistic game. He recalled that he felt like a "triumphant liberating giant come to release a million captive children" when the Who played a recent show in Spain.

"I may never get any better," he said. "But I can try."

source:Reuters

image:AP Photo/Matt Rourke:TRIUMPHANT...self -admitted "ageist" PETE TOWNSHEND performs at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia ....

[DudeAsInCool]

I'd see the new Who before I'd listen to Sting's new craft. It's a shame, because I liked Sting's early stuff