The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album released by Sting. It includes ten tracks and was released in 1985, only a year after The Police had unofficially broken up. This album showcases Sting's abilities as a musician in the jazz and classical genres. There are also hints of Sting wanting fans to view him as more than just a member of The Police, as evidenced by the intentional and sudden contrast of musical style from his former band. The album includes some of the strongest political songs from Sting, including "Russians" (about Cold War nuclear anxiety), "Children's Crusade" (comparing the devastation of the younger generation in World War I to devastation brought about by heroin addiction in modern-day London), and "We Work the Black Seam" (about the recent U.K. Miners' Strike). It also includes Sting's first hit after The Police, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"; a jazzed-up reworking of The Police song, "Shadows in the Rain"; and a song inspired by Anne Rice's book Interview With A Vampire, "Moon over Bourbon Street". The movie Bring on the Night documents some of the recording work that produced this album, as well as the subsequent tour. "Russians" uses a theme (Suite from Lieutenant Kije, Op. 60) by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Sting subsequently served as narrator for Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy, one of the many versions of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. In the official VHS release of the Synchronicity Tour, at the very beginning just before the performance, Sting can be heard playing ad-lib tunes on his bass, and the Cat Tune from Peter and the Wolf can be clearly recognised.
