The Golden Wire is the third solo album by Police guitarist Andy Summers, recorded in November and December 1988 and released in 1989.

Andy Summers is a wonderful and demanding stylist, composer and guitar virtuoso. Summers remained very productive after the Police disbanded in the mid-1980s, making a series of distinctive solo albums, and successful films such as Down And Out In Beverly Hills. His solo musical development has been sporadic over time, giving, for example, a simple stroke, with The Golden Wire likely to dispel any appreciation for Andy Summers’ musical and compositional abilities.

By turns frenetic, propulsive and captivating, Golden Wire is a series of guitar sounds with rock, jazz, blues and world classic rhythms that translate into 11 excellent tracks. The album’s musicians are quite interesting, including keyboardist and co-producer David Hentschel, bassists Doug Lunn and Yellowjacket Jimmy Haslip, Paul McCandless on brass, drummer Kurt Wortman and Anglo-Indian singer Najma Akhtar on a transcendental part in the song. The sound they achieve under Summers’ guidance is excellent, but The Golden Wire’s ultimate strengths lie in the playing and song structures. From the impeccable sonic vocabulary of “A Piece Of Time” to the amazing guitar of “Vigango”, there’s a definite sense of tension and release in each story-like track. The entire rhythm section offers enough sensual drama and melodic atmosphere to give both Bryan Ferry and Enya some modern samples, while the art of constructing multicultural rock recordings reaches new heights when Summers’ instrument embraces Najma Akhtar’s ecstatically sexy voice on “Piya Tose”. This is the music that is born from Golden Wire with its influences and subtle nuances.

On the one hand, titles like “The Island Of Silk” and “Rain Forest In Manhattan”, give an indication of the almost dreamlike feel that Summers moves in, on the other hand, it is his very successful, and unique, fluid guitar tone combined with instruments such as the wooden flute, percussion, oboe and Chinese tambourine, which give both a relaxed and adventurous feel to the album.

For Andy Summers, The Golden Wire is a guitar equivalent of Peter Gabriel’s So, a personal and artistic discovery that becomes an instant treasure.

From this excellent album we I select the track “A Piece Of Time”.
 
Tracklist

1. A Piece Of Time 6:35
2. The Golden Wire 5:22
3. Earthly Pleasures 6:29
4. Imagine You 2:37
5. Vigango 6:10
6. Blues For Snake 4:57
7. The Island Of Silk 5:09
8. Journey Through Blue Regions 2:10
9. Piya Tose 4:36
10. Rain Forest In Manhattan 5:53
11. A Thousand Stones 4:18