Having just lost his father as he was about to enter the studio for The Soul Cages, Sting, now completely orphaned, infuses the entire album (his third solo effort) with his grief and with a sense of irreparable loss. In the continuity of Nothing Like the Sun, the record — a concept album that tells the story of Billy, a young boy representing a working-class family — follows the path of mid-tempo songs and elegant, refined, terribly well-played, and at times terribly boring rock-jazz. Naturally, the singer is joined by his virtuoso companions, led by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, closely followed by drummer Manu Katché and percussionist Ray Cooper. Unfortunately, the former Police leader does not always avoid the pitfalls of self-indulgence and doleful navel-gazing. In fact, one would need a terrible empathy with the Briton to embrace his distress at every moment: after all, if the singer uses The Soul Cages as therapy, it should be remembered that the listener, for his part, is buying a manufactured product for pleasure. The Soul Cages would reach the top of the British charts (and second place in America), and the title track (7th in the United States, and which would earn Sting the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song of the Year), and “All This Time” (5th) would be the worthy singles.