Mercury Falling

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Mercury Falling
Studio album by Sting
Released 8 March 1996[1]
Recorded 1995
Genre Rock, adult contemporary, country
Length 48:08
Label A&M
540483
Producer Hugh Padgham, Sting
Sting chronology

Ten Summoner's Tales
(1993)		 Mercury Falling
(1996)		 Brand New Day
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Chicago Tribune [3]
Entertainment Weekly (A-)[4]
Houston Chronicle [5]
Los Angeles Times [6]
Robert Christgau [7]
Rolling Stone [8]

Mercury Falling is the fifth studio album released by Sting. Released in 1996, the album was marked by its tight studio production and use of brass reminiscent of recordings made at FAME Studios in the 1960s. It marked Sting's transition from heavier jazz-inspired rock to the adult contemporary genre. There was one uplifting ballad, the second single, "You Still Touch Me".

The track "Twenty Five to Midnight" was excluded from the American and Canadian releases. It was included in the CD-Maxi Single of "You Still Touch Me", as the 4th track.

The album begins and ends with the words "mercury falling".

"Valparaiso" was used during the closing credits of the 1996 film White Squall.

In 1997 the album earned Sting two Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot".

Track listing

All songs written, arranged and composed by Sting except "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets" written, arranged and composed by Sting and Dominic Miller.

  1. "The Hounds of Winter" – 5:27
  2. "I Hung My Head" – 4:40
  3. "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" – 6:41
  4. "I Was Brought to My Senses" – 5:48
  5. "You Still Touch Me" – 3:46
  6. "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" – 3:56
  7. "All Four Seasons" – 4:28
  8. "Twenty Five to Midnight" – 4:09 (excluded from original Canada/US releases)
  9. "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets" – 5:17
  10. "Valparaiso" – 5:27
  11. "Lithium Sunset" – 2:38

Personnel

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year Recipient Award Result
1997
[9] 		Mercury Falling Best Pop Vocal Album style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated
"Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" Best Male Pop Vocal Performance style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[10] Gold 25,000x
Canada (Music Canada)[11] Platinum 100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[12] Gold 24,617[12]
Germany (BVMI)[13] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[14] Gold 193,600[15]
Netherlands (NVPI)[16] Gold 50,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[17] Gold 50,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[19] Gold 25,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Platinum 1,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[22] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Album Chart[23] 14
Austrian Albums Chart[24] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[25] 7
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[26] 4
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[27] 8
Danish Albums Chart[28] 7
Dutch Albums Chart[29] 3
European Albums Chart[30] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[31] 1
French SNEP Albums Chart[32] 3
German Media Control Albums Chart[33] 2
Italian Albums Chart[34] 1
Japanese Albums Chart[35] 4
New Zealand Albums Chart[36] 7
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[37] 4
Portuguese Albums Chart[28] 9
Spanish Albums Chart[30] 6
Swedish Albums Chart[38] 2
Swiss Albums Chart[39] 1
UK Albums Chart[40] 4
US Billboard 200[41] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1996) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[42] 24
Canadian Albums Chart[43] 43
Dutch Albums Chart[44] 37
French Albums Chart[45] 66
Italian Albums Chart[34] 14
Japanese Albums Chart[15] 118
Swiss Albums Chart[46] 43
UK Albums Chart[47] 50
US Billboard 200[48] 80

References

  1. ↑ "Sting – Mercury Falling (Album)". swedishcharts. Retrieved 14 December 2012. 
  2. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r232868
  3. ↑ Kot, Greg (14 March 1996). "Dour Delivery". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  4. ↑ Scherman, Tony (15 March 1996). "Mercury Falling Review". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  5. ↑ Westbrook, Bruce (10 March 1996). "Feeling Sting without the pain". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  6. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (10 March 1996). "Sting Rises to New Level of Accessibility". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  7. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  8. ↑ By Elysa Gardner (2 February 1998). "Mercury Falling | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 March 2012. 
  9. ↑ Kot, Greg (8 January 1997). "Pumpkins A Smash With 7 Grammy Nominations". Chicago Tribune (Tribune Company). Retrieved 26 April 2011. 
  10. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 29 January 2012.  Enter Sting in the field Interpret. Enter Mercury Falling in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  11. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling". Music Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2012. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 The first web page presents the sales figures, the second presents the certification limits:
  13. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sting; 'Mercury Falling')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 January 2012. 
  14. ↑ "RIAJ > The Record > June 1996 > Certified Awards (April 1996)". Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 August 2013. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9. 
  16. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 29 October 2011. 
  17. ↑ "Polish album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling" (in Polish). Polish Producers of Audio and Video (ZPAV). Retrieved 29 January 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados > 1995–1999". Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392. 
  19. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Sting; 'Mercury Falling')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2012. 
  20. ↑ "British album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2012.  Enter Mercury Falling in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  21. ↑ "American album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 January 2012.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  22. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 
  23. ↑ "australian-charts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  24. ↑ "austriancharts.at Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  25. ↑ "ultratop.be Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  26. ↑ "ultratop.be Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  27. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2012
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Nielsen Business Media, Inc (22 April 1995). Billboard – 13 April – 1995. Retrieved 4 April 2012. 
  29. ↑ 's+Tales&cat=a "dutchcharts.nl Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Nielsen Business Media, Inc (6 April 1996). Billboard – 6 April – 1996. Retrieved 4 April 2012. 
  31. ↑ "finnishcharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2012. 
  32. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  33. ↑ "Album Search: Sting – Mercury Falling" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1996" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  35. ↑ スティング-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Mercury Falling by Sting". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  36. ↑ "charts.org.nz Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  37. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  38. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  39. ↑ "Sting – Mercury Falling – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  40. ↑ "Chart Stats – Sting – Mercury Falling" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  41. ↑ "allmusic ((( Mercury Falling > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  42. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  43. ↑ "The RPM Top 100 Albums of 1996". RPM. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  44. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1996" (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2014. 
  45. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1996 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  46. ↑ "Hitparade.ch – Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  47. ↑ "UNITED KINGDOM (CIN) BEST ALBUMS OF 1996". Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  48. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1996". billboard.biz. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 

External links

Preceded by
Greatest Hits (1985–1995) by Michael Bolton		 Italian FIMI Chart number-one album
7 – 20 March 1996 		Succeeded by
Greatest Hits by Take That
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(What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis		 Swiss Music Chart number-one album
17 March 1996 		Succeeded by
Falling into You by Celine Dion
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(What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis		 European Top 100 number-one album
30 March – 6 April 1996 		Succeeded by
Falling into You by Celine Dion
Sting
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