Foreign Cheb Mami Makes This Song

What grab me about this song with Cheb Mami's smooth Alegerian voice. I was waching a music channel on television and wasn't really paying attention to the song or to Sting very much until Cheb started singing his foreign verses to the fast pace violins that accompanied him. It was very beautiful - reminded me of Indian or Middle Eastern New Age music. The rest of the song, after I decided to hear the whole song, is equally intense in the instrumental parts. I love the violens and arrangement of the music. They violins and drums sounded great together, almost hypnotic with Cheb Mami's voice, but Stings voice is really kind of blured, or mubbled. You can't really decipher his words, except for the chorus, and a nice chorus it is.

There are two versions of this song on the CD single. One is the regular radio version, and the other is the faster pace, melodic, somewhat of a dance version.

What I didn't like about the CD was the other song that was decidedly put to accompany it - Brand New Day. This song didn't match in intensity and style, and unfornately, Desert Rose overshadows Brand New Day. The background singers stand out in the second song, their strong voices give it more of a R&B or jazzy feel and spices it up, but this is a song that never grew on me.

The only song by Sting I like

I have to confess, I am not a fan of Sting's music (with or without The Police). The one song I really do like by Sting is the Arabic influenced "Desert Rose", a duet with Cheb Mami who is a big artist in the Arab world. I loved the blending of western and world music. I bought this single primarily for "Desert Rose". I honestly did not care for the remixes for "Brand New Day", let alone the song itself. I do wish that I bought the import version which included the Victor Calderone remix of "Desert Rose". The Melodic Club Mix radio edit of "Desert Rose" was not bad but like I said, I wished I had the Victor Calderone remix instead. Still I must say that the Melodic Club Mix radio edit didn't alter the melodies like a lot of remixes have been done in the past. The song still has that beautiful melody that I fell in love with. Too bad Sting's other songs following "Desert Rose" lacked the punch that "Desert Rose" had.

Victor Calderone's Mix Is Absolutely Flawless!.

This is probably Sting's best dance tune-- throughout his entire career. There are 5 tracks included on this (Import) Maxi-single with 3 versions of ''Desert Rose''' and two versions of ''Brand New Day'' including the ''Murlyn Mix''.

''Brand New Day'' is a great song too-- but it's definitely ''Desert Rose'' you're looking out for, I guess.

Seeing that the collaborations with foreign vocalist Cheb Mami and with producer Victor Calderone make it one hell of a great song, dance or not...It's flawless. As well as the video was definitely one of the hottest videos that made a great intro for the year 2000 along with J Lo's ''Waiting For Tonight''.

This song definitely showcases a strong Arabic sort of North African/Eastern influence. The Album version is great but it is definitely Victor Calderone's ''Melodic Club Mix'' that got the song running N'1 on the BillboardDance Charts. It begins with a dramatic and wispy drum influenced entrance for the song, as it gradually work it's way through, while the beats become more prominent as Cheb Mami's perfect chanting kicks in, the song then takes it's time to work it's way to Sting's first verse, his voice also sounds very deep on this track. Soon after the vocals take a back seat, the violin strings make a great contribution to the song as it turns into a effect that builds up to Sting's determined and stirring vocals again. EXCELLENT MIX!!.

This is one of Victor Calderone's most flawless mixes ever-- along with the excellent drum mix he did for Madonna's ''Ray Of Light''.

I recommend Madonna's ''Ray Of Light (CD Single)'' in addition to this, if you liked Calderone's mix of ''Desert Rose'', then I'm absolutely positive that you'll like the mix he did for Madonna with ''Ray Of Light'' as it is something similar to this but strip away the eastern formula and add a tribal formula instead.

Enjoy!