- Outlandos D'Amour (1978)
- Reggatta De Blanc (1979)
- Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
- Ghost in the Machine (1981)
- Synchronicity (1983)
- Live! (1995)
OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR 1978 (A&M)
- Standouts: All except 'Be My Girl - Sally'
Hmm, where do I start? I'm sure you're familiar with The Police, but for those unfortunate enough not to be, this was the power trio Sting was in before he started making adult contemporary and world music solo albums. Sting was the vocalist/bassist, Andy Summers was the guitarist and Steward Copeland on drums. I've been hearing Police tunes all my life; my dad has always liked them and even though I enjoyed some of their hits when I was younger, I didn't really begin to properly appreciate and enjoy them like I do today until I was in my 20's.
This debut frankly displays a band with A LOT of bloody talent and a sound that was completely unique and diverse without being too artsy or experimental for radio play. Some people throw Outlandos D'Amour in with the post-punk explosion that was going on in the late 70's, but I wouldn't go that far. Sure, it's as punkish as they ever got, but there's only a slight punk vibe to be had thanks to way the songs are performed as well as the hard-edged production. Somehow the band managed to seamlessly blend rock, punk, pop and reggae/ska techniques into their songs to create something truly special. On paper it sounds like a mess, but the reality is that they spawned multiple hits because they could create great hooks despite all the differences in musical styles. I mean, you must know 'Roxanne', right?! This is a great song no matter what I think, though I must say out of all their biggest songs, it's probably one of my least favourites. Not quite sure why, as it basically blends the reggae, rock and punk fusion I was on about before perfectly. The same can be said for other hits, 'So Lonely' and 'Can't Stand Losing You' ('So Lonely' is probably my favourite track on the whole record).
I will say that when compared to the following two Police albums, this one does genre-shift between songs just a little more dramatically; basically they hadn't quite found a particular sound and stuck with it just yet. This doesn't bring the album down one bit, as the remaining songs are basically all winners. Opener 'Next to You' and 'Peanuts' are the punkiest things they ever wrote, especially riffs-wise. 'Hole in my Life' is sleazy as hell (in a good way) and 'Truth Hits Everybody' is a great rocker. The only song I find to be kinda dodgy is 'Be My Girl - Sally', and that's mostly because of Andy Summers' random spoken word section in the middle. Other than that however, this is classic material. Sting's vocal delivery is much more in-your-face for the most part, but already he sounds like Sting (or at least Sting in Police mode if you get me), and overall the whole album is probably one of my favourite debuts to come out of the 70's.
Adam's rating: 9.1/10
REGGATTA DE BLANC 1979 (A&M)
- Standouts: Everything.
This album's title translates as 'white reggae'. I wouldn't go that far, even if the reggae vibes are still there. Really this is The Police in their comfort zone. I think it's the record where they really, truly found who they were and what they wanted to sound like. Outlandos D'Amour was a fantastic debut, but this tops it for me. Gone are the punk vibes, and it's mostly because of Andy Summers' guitars, more so than Sting's vocals. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing Andy's guitar work on the debut, because there wasn't anything wrong with it, but it's at this point on that nobody else sounds like him. The guitar isn't quite as prominent in the mix; it suddenly becomes this remarkable echoey, atmospheric undertone, like it's minding it's own business. Concentrate hard on these songs however, and you'll find Summers' playing to be truly mesmerizing. It's only really on the astounding 'Message in a Bottle' and rocker 'It's Alright for You' that the guitars are really the driving force of the songs. Of course, on the fucking masterpiece that is 'Message in a Bottle' (I can tell you one thing, number one singles don't ever get much better than this) this is completely necessary.
'Walking on the Moon' was the other smash-hit, but deservedly so. The song has an appropriately 'floaty' feel to it; Sting's voice is very modest and nowhere near as obnoxious as his ego, and his bass lines are extremely simple but oh-so memorable. The guitars are layered with reggae riffs and big echoing chords, and Copeland's drums are very jazzy. It really doesn't sound like a formula for a radio hit on paper, but The Police were masters of their class. 'Course, if it was released as a new single today, it probably wouldn't hit number one as it doesn't feature any god-awful autotuned vocals, shitty dance beats and guest, wannabe rappers, but people's tastes were different in the 70's. 'Bring On the Night' was another single that features some great picked guitar work with both jazz and reggae vibes once again from the bass and drums. And to be honest, I can't really think of anything bad to say about this album. 'Deathwish' displays more amazing musicianship, 'On Any Other Day' is kind of goofy but it's fun and 'The Bed's Too Big Without You' is the most reggae thing they ever wrote. Maybe 'Contact' should've lasted longer than 2.39, but it's still a great song with an awesome chorus. Yeah, I'll go ahead and say this is their best.
Adam's rating: 9.3/10
ZENYATTA MONDATTA 1980 (A&M)
- Standouts: 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', 'Driven to Tears', 'When the World is Running Down', 'Canary in a Coalmine', 'Voices Inside My Head', 'Behind My Camel', 'Man in a Suitcase', 'Shadows in the Rain'
Given that this record was supposedly rushed due to time restraints (the band toured literally hours after it's completion!), you'd expect the quality of the music to decline, no? Well it ain't true, as it happens. In fact, some people often debate over which is better - this or Reggatta De Blanc. For me, it's an easy choice (the predecessor, duh), but really there's not much to moan about here. Two more big hits were spawned, the opening track 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' (gah that's irritating to type). The former takes a surprisingly long time to get going, but it's The Police in their prime. Many would argue the latter is one of their better songs too, but I never really cared much for it. It's definitely one of their poppiest numbers and does what it sets out to do perfectly fine...it's just kind of 'meh' in my books (plus, what does 'de do do do, de da da da' even mean?!). My personal favourite on here is 'When the World is Running Down'; in hindsight, it's actually repetitive, being built around the same overall beat and guitar pattern, but the way Sting sings it is absolutely infectious. 'Canary in a Coalmine', I think, could've easily been a hit but it wasn't released as a single. Andy Summers seem to dabble with funk guitar techniques on it, and it works brilliantly. 'Bombs Away' features some nice hooks in the verses as well as a cool guitar solo, but Sting's vocal delivery in the chorus is kinda irritating to be honest. The remainder of the album seems to border on instrumental at times, or at least it feels like it. It's mostly enjoyable from start to finish but somehow the instrumentation just isn't quite as interesting as what you heard on Reggatta De Blanc. I still enjoy this album a lot overall though, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Adam's rating: 8.7/10
GHOST IN THE MACHINE 1981 (A&M)
- Standouts: The whole album!
If I had written about Ghost in the Machine a few years ago I doubt my opinion would be anything like what it is today. I mean, I've always liked The Police even if I didn't actually start collecting their records until more recently. Why am I saying this? Because it was at this point that more experimentation started seeping into their music, i.e. synths, keys and horns as well as some more usage of funk. Synths are often a bad move with bands that are mostly 'organic' in their approach to songwriting, and given that it was still the 80's, a lot synth-focused music from that era has aged badly over time. Strangely though, I honestly think Ghost in the Machine is one of the band's greatest works. The synth usage never really completely overrules the songs (except on 'Darkness'), and in general there's nothing on here that really makes you think 'am I even listening to the same band that wrote 'Walking on the Moon'?'. The Police were all about experimentation and fusing different genres to create a sound that nobody else could imitate anyway. The new ingredients just feel like a natural progression. True, Andy Summers is less prominent for the majority of these songs, but goddamn there's something so special about this record! It honestly has aged really well given the direction they were going in...whatever that direction was.
'Spirits in the Material World', at core, kind of sounds like something that could've fit on either of the last two albums, but the production here gives it an almost art rock vibe and I really like it. 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' was a massive hit for them. Apparently Sting wrote the song long before The Police were even a band, and even though the band's breakup was due to him controlling the band (particularly from this point on), he was a genius to throw this song in, even if the rest of the band weren't really into it. It is basically the perfect pop song, built around an absolutely tip-top (heh, don't think I've ever used that term to describe something) piano melody and slow rising synths along with a brilliantly up-beat chorus. If that's not good enough, 'Invisible Sun' is even stronger! The verses are very somber and infinitely depressing, and remind me of Joy Division. Sting's vocal delivery too, is much more restrained and almost spoken-word, but fuckin' hell it works. My favourite song on here for sure. 'Hungry for You' is built around a great bass line and grooves with the sax. 'Demolition Man', again, is built around a killer bass hook and sounds almost improvisational musically at times. The song was originally written by Sting for Grace Jones, never knew that until I bought this CD. Later in 1993 Sting himself would re-record the song. The funk-fused 'Too Much Information' sounds a lot like the band jamming, and is really enjoyable. I guess the song here that would fit best on Reggatta De Blanc or Zenyatta Mondatta would be the guitar-focused 'Omegaman' (which, not surprisingly was written by Andy Summers) and 'Secret Journey'.
Really though, I don't think this album strays too far from the sounds of anything that came before. I suppose 'Invisible Sun' is the most surprising song on here, and ironically, it's my favourite. Apparently some fans were turned off by Ghost in the Machine upon release, and while I can understand why, I still think this album is a excellent from start to finish.
Adam's rating: 9.3/10
SYNCHRONICITY 1983 (A&M)
- Standouts: 'Every Breath You Take', 'Miss Gradenko', 'Synchronicity II', 'Tea in the Sahara'
I think most people will agree that The Police never made a 'bad' album; heck, Synchronicity was both their all-time biggest seller and swansong, but it's also the most musically diverse and strange record in the discography. I suppose you can already guess it's my least favourite already. Ironic really, because Ghost in the Machine was their most experimental effort prior to this, but not in a 'this band has changed for the worse' kind of mentality - I'd say it's their best behind Reggatta De Blanc. The trouble with Synchronicity is that it was around this point that Sting was really starting to run the band with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland acting as his reluctant followers. Ultimately it's what lead to the band's demise. It's because of this then, that adult contemporary and even world music sounds are starting to find their way into the song - though not enough to the point where you can directly label them as those genres, thankfully. 'Every Breath You Take' may just be their most recognized song of all time, and is a masterpiece in it's own right, and 'Synchronicity II' is classic Police. The former is often thrown in among people's favourite love songs, which makes no sense whatsoever seeing as the song is about stalking for Christ's sake. 'Murder By Numbers' and 'O My God' could have come from a previous album I guess, but the same can't be said for the heavy experimentation of songs like 'Walking in Your Footsteps', 'Mother' and 'Wrapped Around Your Finger'; 'Walking in Your Footsteps' sounds like some sort of oriental-inspired pop song with weird percussion, 'Mother' is just weird full-stop (and features Andy Summers freaking out over a telephone ringing) and 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' kind of sounds like, uh, Toto? Maybe?
'Miss Gradenko' is a little different from the norm, but is a nice finger-picked guitar number that I enjoy. Also, 'Tea in the Sahara' is really chilled and relatively unPolice-like aside from the vocals, but again, I like it. Overall though, this is the one album I rarely bother listening to if I want to hear some Police. I just find it a little too different from the rest of the band's discography to be 100% enjoyable - they were always experimental, but this one's different, and I don't find it surprising at all that the band split even if it did sell in HUGE numbers. It really does sound like the beginning of Sting's solo career to me, but maybe I just need to hear it some more. Having said that, Synchronicity is generally regarded as another classic by many fans and critics alike, so what do I know?
Adam's rating: 7.5/10
LIVE! 1995 (A&M)
This live record compiles two shows on two discs. The first is from around '79/80, when the band had made just two albums and is packed full of energy. The second was recorded during the Synchronicity tour, so it has songs from every album, but I don't enjoy it as much. Not that I don't enjoy it of course, disc one just feels more involved with the listener somehow, and the songs are generally played faster than usual. One good point that applies to both halves is the sound quality. They both sound different (the audiences were presumably much larger for the second disc) but still sound great regardless. True, disc one has some weird volume issues at time, but at least it doesn't sound bootleg or horribly distorted. Live! is worth picking up for all Police fans.
Adam's rating: 8/10
THE ALBUMS - RANKED (STUDIO ONLY)
- Reggatta De Blanc (best starter album)
- Ghost in the Machine
- Outlandos D'Amour
- Zenyatta Mondatta
- Synchronicity
