The Soul Cages

For other uses, see Soul Cages (disambiguation).

The Soul Cages is the third full-length studio album by English musician Sting. Released on 21 January 1991,^[13] it became Sting's second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom.^[14]

The Soul Cages
Studio album by Sting
Released	21 January 1991
Recorded	April – November 1990
Studio	Studio Guillaume Tell (Paris, France); Villa Salviati (Migliarino, Italy).
Genre	Pop rock[1]
Length	48:11
Label	A&M PolyGram（Hong Kong）
Producer	Hugh Padgham
Sting chronology
Nada como el sol (1988) The Soul Cages (1991) Ten Summoner's Tales (1993)
Singles from The Soul Cages
"All This Time" Released: 31 December 1990[2] "Mad About You" Released: 18 February 1991[3] "The Soul Cages" Released: 22 April 1991[4] "Why Should I Cry for You" Released: 21 May 1991

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Chicago Tribune	[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	C[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
NME	4/10[10]
Orlando Sentinel	[11]
The Windsor Star	B[12]

It spawned four singles: "All This Time", "Mad About You", "The Soul Cages", and "Why Should I Cry for You?". Both "All This Time" and "Why Should I Cry for You?" were included on Sting's 1994 compilation album Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994; "Mad About You" was also included on the international version of the compilation. The title track won the first Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1992.^[15]

On 15 January 2021, an expanded version of The Soul Cages was released to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Along with the original nine tracks, this new edition includes 13 bonus tracks that consist of remixes, extended mixes, and a pair of songs sung in Spanish and Italian incarnations.^[16]

Concept

The Soul Cages is a concept album focused on the death of Sting's father.^[17] Sting had developed a writer's block shortly after his father's death in 1987; the episode lasted several years, until he was able to overcome his affliction by dealing with the death of his father through music.^[18] The single, "Why Should I Cry for You", was written for The Soul Cages, and Sting has said that the rest of the album flowed quite easily after that first hurdle was overcome. Most of the songs have motifs related to sailing or the seas; Sting wrote in his autobiography, Broken Music, that his father had always regretted not becoming a sailor. There are also references to Newcastle, the part of England where Sting grew up.^[17]

"I lived next to a shipyard when I was young and it was a very powerful image of this huge ship towering above the house. Tapping into that was a godsend – I began with that and the album just flowed." – Sting^[18]

Given his experience of writer’s block, Sting did not have any finished songs or arrangements upon entering the studio, unlike previous albums. After two weeks of rehearsing his existing song ideas with his line-up of musicians – Dominic Miller on guitar, Kenny Kirkland on keyboards and Manu Katché on drums – together they moulded these ideas into proper songs in the studio, either through arranging them or recording jams that could be edited into a song.^[19] They spent six weeks doing the basic tracks at Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris, before hiring the Le Voyageur II mobile studio for overdubs and vocals in Villa Salviati outside Pisa, Italy.^[19]

In an interview with Charlie Rose aired on 10 December 2010, Sting mentioned that he was working on a "mood piece", a musical project and book in collaboration with Pulitzer winner Brian Yorkey. The work would be based on an album he released many years ago concerning the loss of his father, growing up in Newcastle and witnessing the passing of the shipbuilding industry there. He admitted being scared of the prospect of pulling it all together but expressed confidence in it working out. This project has since been confirmed as the musical The Last Ship.^[20]

Packaging

At the time this album appeared, the music industry was starting to shift away from using CD longboxes. Sting, a committed environmentalist, wanted to eliminate the amount of cardboard waste caused by the longbox.^[21] The original packaging was a fourfold cardboard case that could be modified to look like a longbox, and folded back into a jewel box sized CD package for home storage. In Germany, the CD was sold in jewel cases as well as longboxes. The cover painting was a commissioned work by the Scottish artist Steven Campbell.

Until the release of Symphonicities in July 2010, The Soul Cages was the only studio album by Sting not to feature a photograph of himself on the front cover, although he does appear on the back cover of both albums.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Island of Souls" – 6:41
2. "All This Time" – 4:54
3. "Mad About You" – 3:53
4. "Jeremiah Blues (Part 1)" – 4:54
5. "Why Should I Cry for You" – 4:46

Side two

1. "Saint Agnes and the Burning Train" – 2:43
2. "The Wild Wild Sea" – 6:41
3. "The Soul Cages" – 5:51
4. "When the Angels Fall" – 7:48

Personnel

Musicians

• Sting – vocals, Synclavier, mandolin, bass, arrangements
• Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
• David Sancious – keyboards
• Dominic Miller – guitars
• Manu Katché – drums
• Skip Burney – percussion
• Ray Cooper – percussion
• Munyungo Jackson – percussion
• Vinx De'Jon Parrette – percussion
• Bill Summers – percussion
• Tony Vacca – percussion
• Branford Marsalis – saxophones
• Paola Paparelle – oboe
• Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian smallpipes

Production

• Produced by Sting and Hugh Padgham; QSound production assisted by Brian Cowieson and Scott Willing
• Recorded and mixed by Hugh Padgham; Assisted by Simon Osbourne, Yves Jaget, Bruce Keene, Al Stone, Brian Scheuble and Efren Herrera
• Technical assistant to Sting – Danny Quatrochi
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig
• Mixed at The Town House (London, England) and A&M Studios (Hollywood, California)
• Mastered at Masterdisk (New York City, New York)
• Design – Richard Frankel and Len Peltier
• Front cover painting and inside illustrations by Steven Campbell
• Photographs of Sting by Guzman
• All songs published by Magnetic Publishing, Ltd/Blue Turtle Music

Singles

• "All This Time" (1990) – No. 5 US Hot 100, No. 1 US Mainstream Rock, No. 1 US Modern Rock, No. 9 US Adult Contemporary, No. 22 UK Singles Chart
• "Mad About You" (1991) – No. 56 UK Singles Chart^[14]
• "Why Should I Cry For You" (1991) – No. 32 US Mainstream Rock
• "The Soul Cages" (1991) – No. 7 US Mainstream Rock, No. 9 US Modern Rock, No. 57 UK Singles Chart

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Soul Cages Chart (1991) Peak position Australian ARIA Albums Chart[22] 3 Ö3 Austria Top 40 Longplay[23] 3 Canadian RPM100[24] 1 Dutch Album Top 100[25] 1 French SNEP Albums Chart[26] 7 German Media Control Albums Chart[27] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[28] 17 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[29] 4 New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart[30] 4 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[31] 2 Spanish PROMUSICAE Albums Chart[32] 4 Swedish Sverigetopplistan Albums Chart[33] 4 Swiss Hitparade Albums Top 100[34] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[14] 1 US Radio & Records AOR Albums Chart[35] 2 US Billboard 200[36] 2

Year-end charts 1991 year-end chart performance for The Soul Cages Chart (1991) Position Austrian Albums Chart[37] 26 Canadian Albums Chart[38] 10 Dutch Albums Chart[39] 30 French Albums Chart[40] 36 Japanese Albums Chart[41] 85 Swiss Albums Chart[42] 19 UK Albums Chart[43] 82 US Billboard 200[44] 46

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for The Soul Cages

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[45]	Gold	35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[46]	Gold	25,000*
Belgium (BRMA)[47]	Gold	40,000[47]
Canada (Music Canada)[48]	Platinum	100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[49]	Gold	26,040[49]
France (SNEP)[50]	Platinum	300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[51]	Platinum	500,000^
Italy	—	500,000[52]
Japan (RIAJ)[53]	Gold	185,820[54]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55]	Platinum	100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[56]	Platinum	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[57]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[58]	Platinum	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.