This was a tough one; the man who goes by the name Sting. Not because he's controversial, but not enough (i.e. bland). I have several of his solo albums, yet I had to revisit them with an objective viewpoint, to determine if they really hold value for me, or if they're resigned to being light-jazz background music.
Conclusion #1: They're pretentious, especially the first one.
Conclusion #2: There's some really good music there, albeit overplayed at one time. Just accept the additional instrumentation and move on.
So here is what Sting put out in the 80's for solo music: starting with the 1985 album titled (oh god) The Dream of the Blue Turtles, it contains the good but way overplayed If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (a pretentious title). But these tunes are fun and nice
Sting - Love is the Seventh Wave
Sting - Fortress Around Your Heart (live)
His follow-up album was 1987's ...Nothing Like the Sun, with They Dance Alone, a cover of Little Wing, and these
Sting – We’ll Be Together (live)
Sting – Be Still My Beating Heart (live)
This may be considered pretentious, but I think it's a really fun little tune
Sting – Englishman in New York