Although Sting is hardly a man living in the past, the fact that he constantly reinvents his older Police material keeps the legendary band front and center in the public consciousness. Over 35 years after first going solo with 1985's The Dream Of The Blue Turtles album, Sting still has very specific thoughts about why he decided to break out on his own.
During a new chat with Mojo, he spoke about the prospects in 1984 of heading into the studio to record the followup to the previous year's blockbuster Synchronicity set: “My frustration was I would have written an album’s worth of material but also had to entertain these other songs that were not as good. Explaining to someone why their song isn’t working is a bit like saying their girlfriend’s ugly. It’s a very personal thing. That pain was something I didn’t want to go through any more.”
He went on to say, “I don’t think any grown man can be in a band, actually. A band is a teenage gang. Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you’re knocking 70? It doesn’t allow you to evolve. You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the (Rolling) Stones and AC/DC, it’s hard to see growth in their music. For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way around.”