It's likely the first time in history a "450th anniversary edition" of an album will ever be released! Universal is repackaging Sting's esoteric 2006 outing Songs from the Labyrinth to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of the 16th century English composer to which Sting paid tribute on the album.

Even for a fellow as intensely...Sting-like as the man born Gordon Sumner, you could be forgiven for seeing Songs from the Labyrinth as a tough sell. Working solely with Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov, Sting sang the melancholy works of Dowland (1563-1626), who earned contemporary accolades for his approach to the lute and was paid quite handsomely during an eight-year stint in the employ of King Christian IV of Denmark. (To further set the scene for Dowland's life and work, spoken excerpts, also recorded by Sting, from a letter penned by Dowland are woven throughout the album.)

It was no Synchronicity, of course, but Songs from the Labyrinth was a strong seller for a classical album (released not on Sting's longtime home of A&M Records but the Universal-owned Deutsche Grammophon). It charted at Nos. 24 and 25 on the U.K. and U.S. charts, respectively, and Sting and Karamazov followed up with a tour that saw them tackle these tunes along with some select others - namely, bluesman Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail" and Sting's own "Message in a Bottle" and "Fields of Gold." And for those who'd feared Sting would leave pop music forever, he followed Songs from the Labyrinth with an amazing year-and-a-half back in stadiums with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland as The Police. (Sting's return to solo pop songcraft didn't happen until the release of The Last Ship late last month, a collection of songs written for a forthcoming Broadway musical due next year.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QkqXvLLDRo]

The "Dowland Anniversary Edition" of the record includes a great deal of bonus content from a separate release, 2007's The Journey and The Labyrinth CD/DVD documentary. That release featured behind-the-scenes footage and live tracks recorded at St. Luke's Concerette in London. (All eight audio tracks from The Journey and The Labyrinth are repeated here, with an additional live recording of "Fields of Gold.")

The revised Labyrinth is available now, and yours to order after the jump.

Sting, Songs from the Labyrinth: Dowland Anniversary Edition (Deutsche Grammophon B0019048-00, 2013)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Disc 1: Original album (released as Deutsch Grammophon B0007220-02, 2006) and live bonus tracks

1. Walsingham
2. Can She Excuse My Wrongs
3. Ryght Honorable... (letter to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury)
4. Flow My Tears (Lachrimae)
5. Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow
6. ...Then in Time Passing On... (continuation of letter)
7. The Battle Galliard
8. The Lowest Trees Have Tops
9. ... And Accordinge as I Desired Ther Cam a Letter... (continuation of letter)
10. Fine Knacks for Ladies
11. ...From Thence I Went to Landgrave of Hessen... (continuation of letter)
12. Fantasy
13. Come, Heavy Sleep
14. Forlorn Hope Fancy
15. ...And from Thence I Had Great Desire to See Italy... (continuation of letter)
16. Come Again
17. Wilt Thou Unkind Thus Reave Me
18. ...After My Departures I Caled to Mynde... (continuation of letter)
19. Weep You No More, Sad Fountains
20. My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home
21. Clear or Cloudy
22. ...Men Say That the Kinge of Spain... (continuation of letter)
23. In Darkness Let Me Dwell
24. Flow My Tears (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
25. The Lowest Trees Have Tops (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
26. Fantasy (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
27. Come Again (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
28. Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
29. In Darkness Let Me Dwell (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
30. Hellhound on My Trail (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)
31. Fields of Gold (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006) *
32. Message in a Bottle (Live @ St. Luke Old Street, London - October 2006)

Tracks 24-32 (except *) released on The Journey and The Labyrinth (Deutsche Grammophon B0008448-00, 2007)

Disc 2: The Journey and The Labyrinth DVD

- Main Feature

1. Come Again
2. Project Origin
3. Can She Excuse My Wrongs
4. The Lute and the Labyrinth
5. The Lowest Trees Have Tops
6. Flow My Tears
7. Dowland's Exile
8. Clear and Cloudy
9. Political Intrigue
10. Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow
11. Weep You No More, Sad Fountains
12. Le Rossignol
13. Religion
14. Sting and the Lute
15. Come, Heavy Sleep
16. In Darkness Let Me Dwell
17. Choir Rehearsal
18. Fine Knacks for Ladies
19. Can She Excuse My Wrongs

- Live @ St. Luke's Church, London - October 2006

1. Walsingham
2. Extract from a Letter to Robert Cecil
3. Flow My Tears
4. Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow
5. Clear or Cloudy
6. Fields of Gold

- Rehearsal footage

1. Can She Excuse My Wrongs
2. Message in a Bottle
3. Hellhound on My Trail
4. Forlorn Hope Fancy (Edin Karamazov solo)