Mercury Falling

Mercury Falling
Studio album by Sting
Released	8 March 1996[1]
Recorded	1995
Genre	Rock, country
Length	48:08
Label	A&M 540483
Producer	Sting, Hugh Padgham
Sting chronology
Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994 (1994) Mercury Falling (1996) Brand New Day (1999)
Singles from Mercury Falling
"Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" Released: February 1, 1996 "You Still Touch Me" Released: April 1, 1996 "I Was Brought to My Senses" Released: September 1, 1996 "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" Released: October 8, 1996

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 by Sting, released in 1996. The album begins and ends with the words "mercury falling".

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".

Background

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.^[9]

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

Track listing

All songs written by Sting except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
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" (Excluded from original Canada/US releases)	4:09
9.	"La Belle Dame Sans Regrets" (Sting, Dominic Miller)	5:17
10.	"Valparaiso"	5:27
11.	"Lithium Sunset"	2:38

Personnel

• Sting – vocals, bass
• Dominic Miller – guitars
• Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
• Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
• Branford Marsalis – saxophone
• Andrew Love – saxophone
• Gerry Richardson – Hammond organ on "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot"
• Tony Walters – vocals
• Lance Ellington – vocals
• Shirley Lewis – vocals
• East London Gospel Choir – vocals
• Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian pipes, fiddle
• B.J. Cole – pedal steel
• Wayne Jackson – trumpet

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1997 [10]	Mercury Falling	Best Pop Vocal Album	Nominated
	"Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot"	Best Male Pop Vocal Performance	Nominated

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[11]	Gold	25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[12]	Platinum	100,000
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[13]	Gold	24,617[13]
Germany (BVMI)[14]	Gold	250,000
Japan (RIAJ)[15]	Gold	193,600[16]
Netherlands (NVPI)[17]	Gold	50,000
Poland (ZPAV)[18]	Gold	50,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[19]	Gold	50,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[20]	Gold	25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Platinum	300,000
United States (RIAA)[22]	Platinum	1,000,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[23]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1996) Peak position Australian ARIA Album Chart[24] 14 Austrian Albums Chart[25] 1 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[26] 7 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[27] 4 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[28] 8 Danish Albums Chart[29] 7 Dutch Albums Chart[30] 3 European Albums Chart[31] 1 Finnish Albums Chart[32] 1 French SNEP Albums Chart[33] 3 German Media Control Albums Chart[34] 2 Italian Albums Chart[35] 1 Japanese Albums Chart[36] 4 New Zealand Albums Chart[37] 7 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[38] 4 Portuguese Albums Chart[29] 9 Spanish Albums Chart[31] 6 Swedish Albums Chart[39] 2 Swiss Albums Chart[40] 1 UK Albums Chart[41] 4 US Billboard 200[42] 5

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position Austrian Albums Chart[43] 24 Canadian Albums Chart[44] 43 Dutch Albums Chart[45] 37 French Albums Chart[46] 66 Italian Albums Chart[35] 14 Japanese Albums Chart[16] 118 Swiss Albums Chart[47] 43 UK Albums Chart[48] 50 US Billboard 200[49] 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. Elysa Gardner (2 February 1998). "Mercury Falling | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
10. Kot, Greg (8 January 1997). "Pumpkins A Smash With 7 Grammy Nominations". Chicago Tribune (Tribune Company). Retrieved 26 April 2011.
11. "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
12. "Canadian album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling". Music Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
13. "Sting" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sting; 'Mercury Falling')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
15. "RIAJ > The Record > June 1996 > Certified Awards (April 1996)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 August 2013.
16. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
17. "Dutch album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
18. "Polish album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
19. "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados > 1995–1999". Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
20. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Sting; 'Mercury Falling')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
21. "British album certifications – Sting – Mercury Falling". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2012. Enter Mercury Falling in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
22. "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
23. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
24. "australian-charts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
25. "austriancharts.at Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 4 February 2012.
26. "ultratop.be Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
27. "ultratop.be Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
28. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2012
29. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (22 April 1995). Billboard – 13 April – 1995. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
30. "dutchcharts.nl Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (6 April 1996). Billboard – 6 April – 1996. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
32. "finnishcharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
33. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
34. "Album Search: Sting – Mercury Falling" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
35. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1996" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
36. 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" Check |url= value (help). oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
37. "charts.org.nz Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
38. "norwegiancharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
39. "swedishcharts.com Sting – Mercury Falling" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 February 2012.
40. "Sting – Mercury Falling – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
41. "Chart Stats – Sting – Mercury Falling". UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original (PHP) on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
42. "allmusic ((( Mercury Falling > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
43. "Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
44. "The RPM Top 100 Albums of 1996". RPM. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
45. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1996" (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2014.
46. "Les Albums (CD) de 1996 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
47. "Hitparade.ch – Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
48. "UNITED KINGDOM (CIN) BEST ALBUMS OF 1996". Retrieved 4 February 2012.
49. "Billboard.BIZ – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1996". billboard.biz. Retrieved 4 February 2012.

External links

• Stingoop.com Mercury Falling Release Details