The Police

Even if you're one of the millions who got sick of their constant exposure on FM radio, the Police are one seriously talented group - perhaps they're confined to the format of the 3-minute pop song, but they did it like no one else in the biz. Say what you will about Sting's solo career, but his songwriting talents were nearly unparalleled in the Police's era, and not only were his bass chops fantastic, but he also worked alongside Stewart Copeland, who is currently my favorite drummer, and for good reason. He's not flashy by way of playing a million miles a second or taking long and impressive solos, but rather jams within the structure of the song, particularly by riding the hi-hat and cymbals against the rhythm of the song, creating some really interesting and great-sounding drum patterns. Add to this the talents of Andy Summers, who is often kind of understated as a rhythm guitar player (he's not really showy, but hey...have YOU ever tried to play "Message in a Bottle" or "Every Breath You Take"? It's tough!), and you've got a hit making power trio who briefly ruled the world before Sting's ego broke them up.

When I was growing up, the Police were without a doubt my favorite band - I've still a soft spot for them, even if I've had their catalogue memorized 10 years ago. To me, they've got three big draws; one, of course, is Copeland's drumming, two, is that they had some of the best written and most endearing singles of their time, and three, and this is a big one, all of their albums are great. Seriously. They were one of the few bands in existence to have a nearly flawless discography, with only a few duds among them (the infamous "Mother" being the big one), and as the Message in a Box set showed, their B-sides were just about as good. The fact that they've had so many great singles inspires many to just buy a greatest hits collection and be done with it, but it just doesn't do them justice - all their albums are gems in their own right and worth getting, especially since the boxset is so cheap.

Outlandos D'Amour (1978) ****
After a pair of flop singles, Sting wrote the songs that kicked off a phenomenon - the tango "Roxanne", and the reggae-based "Can't Stand Losing You", both of which charted high. Although their reggae-based tracks became the most famous (including the third single, "So Lonely"), the band's early punk roots come through here more so than any other album, resulting in a trio of well-written and high energy rockers ("Next To You", "Peanuts", "Truth Hits Everybody"), with Sting's growling vocals coming as a shock to those who only know the man for his later adult contemporary work. It doesn't matter which style they choose - the songwriting is great, although there's one big misfire ("Be My Girl - Sally", which includes Summers reciting a poem about a blow-up doll). Everywhere else though, the hooks are good enough to make all the tracks memorable, and Copeland seems to be an expert at his hi-hat heavy technique right off the gate. Despite the band being a 3-piece, the album always sounds full and powerful, getting the band off on the right foot.

Reggatta de Blanc (1979) *****
They struck lightning. It's not really too much different than the last record, but they really got things right here - the slower songs are groovy and engaging, and the faster songs have enough going on that they don't get boring. Summers' guitar tones are crisp and interesting, and Copeland's drum technique is mesmerizing. If that wasn't enough, Sting's bass playing and vocal performances are high above par as well. In fact, the performances are good enough to make great tunes out of the songs without much of a structure ("Deathwish"), and even the punk tunes seem too sophisticated for the genre ("It's Alright For You"). The big hit was "Message in a Bottle", their first #1, featuring a near-immortal riff, although "Bring On the Night" features one nearly as good, and "Walking on the Moon" was deservedly a big hit as well. And even if some of Sting's material is too slow and heady for your tastes, it's interspersed with a few fun pop songs courtesy of Mr. Copeland, which are not only obnoxiously catchy, but well-written to boot ("Contact", "Does Everyone Stare"). All this and you get the title track, a two-part jam-based rocker with a memorable wordless vocal that's worth the price of admission alone. The reggae feel throughout the album was practically unheard of for a band of white guys, and Copeland's drumming is innovative and unparalleled - still, more than anything, this is just a damn fine rock album that ranks among the best of the era.

Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) ****
Another refinement, to the point where the punk influence is non-existent. It does feature more of Copeland's ace drumming, but the focus seems to be less on Summers and more on Sting's rhythmic bass lines which dominate the album. Most of the material is well written - there were two more chart topping singles ("Don't Stand So Close To Me", "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"), both of which are high points, and a couple of Sting's bass-driven, politically conscious songs ("Driven to Tears", "When the World is Running Down"). This of course takes the album into a more midtempo and stable direction, with the only fast paced tunes being the bouncy, reggae-influenced minor hit "Canary in a Coalmine" and "Bombs Away". They're good and catchy tunes, but there ought to be more to balance out the album's instrumentals and near-instrumentals, which are generally only notable for the fantastic drum work ("The Other Way of Stopping", "Voices Inside My Head") - the ones with vocals aren't really engaging and funky the way "Masoko Tanga" off the first album was, but rather slower and more meditative. This gives the album sort of a divided feel, although in the end none of it really drags (even though Summers' instrumental is ugly and unmelodic, at least it's kept short), thanks to the impressive chops of the band members. The only really unnecessary track is "Man in a Suitcase", sort of a rewrite of "Canary", but despite that you'll want to get this album on the strength of the first seven tracks alone.

Ghost in the Machine (1981) ****
Well, this used to be my favorite Police album, but it's grown off me a bit since then. It's the first Police album that seems to be very Sting-dominated, with the 3-piece sound starting to give way to synths and a sax section in the middle section of the album. Like all Police albums, the songs are generally well-written, and both Copeland and Summers contribute their best songs yet ("Rehumanize Yourself" and "Omegaman", both highlights). Unfortunately, you just don't get enough of that - Sting's taken a much more political and somber tone this time, and Copeland's drumming seems to be a lot more restricted. There were actually four singles taken off the album, but only one really made it - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is an absolutely giddy and uptempo number (am I the only one who can imagine Sparks covering this song?) that deserved its top 5 spot. The others were too slow and lyrically heavy to have made it too far - "Spirits in the Material World" was a modest success, but it's little more than an updated version of their reggae-based older material with synths instead of guitar, and this one has lines like "they subjugate the meek/but it's the rhetoric of failure" - I guess Sting could only resist showing off his background as an English teacher so long. That said, I guess how much you really enjoy this album depends on how much you like the upbeat, sax-dominated middle part - some of the tunes tend to be well-written and energetic but overlong ("Demolition Man" and "One World", which are otherwise first rate), and some are catchy but obnoxious ("Hungry For You", "Too Much Information"). However, Copeland's "Rehumanize Yourself" seems to nail everything just right, resulting in one the band's most hook-filled and addictive songs yet. Maybe it could have used a few tweaks, but like the other Police albums, it's just too well-written and catchy to overlook, and every track has something to offer - the bass work on tracks like "Demolition Man" and "Spirits" are phenomenal, and the album's closer, Copeland's brooding, piano-based "Darkness" is oddly affecting.

Synchronicity (1983) ****
One of the biggest records of the 80's - if you don't have a copy of this, then your parents probably do. It’s credited to The Police, but at this point, “Sting & the Police” was probably more appropriate. Copeland is still good, but awfully restrained, and Summers only really gets one good lead. At least he gets to fill the album with Fripp-like atmospherics (who he’d later end up working with, so it’s not just a coincidence). What is impressive though, is Sting's seemingly endless string of high-charting tunes he was spinning out at this time – everything on side 2 got some radio play, and most of it still does. Not only do we get "Every Breath You Take", the Police's biggest hit ever, but also a pair of incredibly written adult contemporary tunes - "King of Pain" is breathtaking and affecting through its melancholy lyrics and odd guitar tone, while "Wrapped Around Your Finger" spins a haunting keyboard line into one of the 80's most memorable tunes (although I think Sting's lyrics are generally pretty showy, I have to admit "caught between the Scylla and Charybidis" is pretty clever). But what of the rest? There's considerably less energy here, which make some of the tunes on Side 1 less interesting than they could have been ("Walking In Your Footsteps", "O My God"), and closer "Tea in the Sahara" is the most subdued Police song yet. Luckily, the two title tracks are great, with the first being a speedy, keyboard-driven pop tune that kicks the album off in style, and the second (another single) a heavy riff-rocker that gives the album some much needed edge. There's a pair of tracks that were written by the other band members, but they’re basically tokens, and while Copeland's "Miss Gredenko" is a cute and catchy pop tune that provides a nice contrast to Sting's slower and more resonant material, Summers' "Mother" is an Arab-esque mess in which he provides his own shrieking, off-key vocals in a tune that seems at odds with everything else the Police recorded. So I guess Sting didn't take the album that seriously. There's one more track on the CD, the jazzy and clever "Murder By Numbers", but it's not on the vinyl. Seems that one got Sting in a lot of trouble with a few prominent fundamentalist Christians. Altogether a pretty strong album, though it's more in line with Sting's solo work than the previous four albums.

Live! (rec. 1979-1983, rel. 1995) ***1/2
Having never released any live albums during their short run, Andy Summers decided to retroactively release a double one, with one disc being taken from the early '79 version of the band, and the other taken from the completely different post-Synchronicity '83 version. A clever idea - it's essentially two live albums in one, but neither seem to encapsulate everything good about the band, instead drawing from the two extremes of the group’s sound.. The first disc is the better one, showing off the young, energetic, and punky side of the band. I'm guessing that Reggatta de Blanc wasn't out yet, since they only perform less than half of it (including the title track in the middle of "Can't Stand Losing You", which rules), while doing every song from Outlandos save "Masoko Tanga" (which means yes, you have to hear the blow-up doll monologue again). The remainder is two of their early punk singles, "Fallout" and "Landlord", both of which are well-worth hearing. The band may be sloppy, but they play fast and seem to be having a lot of fun onstage.
Now, contrast that to Disc 2 material, where they don't really even sound like much of a band anymore - there's definitely a few extra personnel on stage, including a couple of backup singers, which I'm guessing was Sting's idea and Sting's idea alone. So Stew and Andy are pretty much kept in the background, turning the whole thing into the Synchronicity show - okay, it's a good album, but more than half of the tracks come from it, including tunes that don't really work in a pop band’s live show, like "O My God" or "Tea in the Sahara" (which actually does gain some beautiful harmonics). Unfortunately, the other half seems phoned in - the tracks from the other four albums seem to be straight off a "greatest hits" record, with the only non-FM hit being the "Reggatta de Blanc" jam that was thankfully kept in "Can't Stand Losing You". The sad thing is they just don't have the energy of the studio versions (although it's nice to hear "Spirits in the Material World” with guitars, it's pretty flaccid otherwise), and the backing vocals make things a lot worse. The good news, however, is that both "Synchronicity" tracks rule, tearing things up at the start, and I really like the rehaul of "Walking in Your Footsteps" (could do without the backing vocals though, barf). So yeah, this is a pretty divided set - no Police fan really needs this, but disc 1 is a good listen, and disc 2 is good solid proof for any of those who claim that Sting's ego ended up destroying the band. But despite all my complaints I have to give it a good rating – the band’s talented, the songs are almost all great, and it probably will satisfy anyone who wanted to hear a live album from the group - unless the thought of backup singers makes you puke. Luckily disc 1 is fine enough on its own.

Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993)
A 4-disc set containing every Police track ever released. This includes all four studio albums (Reggatta unfortunately, is split over two discs), some live tracks, alternate mixes, and, most importantly, 15 non-album tracks, including early singles, soundtrack work, and B-sides, appearing in the order they were released. Not that they needed to be, though - it's pretty easy to figure out which songs come from each period. This is definitely a good thing; I stick by my ratings of the studio albums, so it's great to see there was more material out there, and most of this stuff is worth hearing. There's a good helping of their early punk side, including one fantastic single that shouldn't be forgotten ("Fallout"), and a re-do of a Strontium 90 song, "Visions of the Night". The Zenyatta era gets some nice B-sides, including the bluesy "Low Life" which is as good as or better than all the album material. The Ghost era has one groovy sax-driven instrumental ("Flexible Strategies") and some soundtrack work - there's another instrumental with interesting synth backing and a memorable hook ("How Stupid Mr. Bates"). And there's one amazing Synchronicity era Sting tune that could have been a big hit and should have made the album ("I Burn For You", another one written for a soundtrack). So I'd consider three of these tracks essentials for the Police fan, although anyone who likes the band will want to hear them all - okay, "A Kind of Loving", backed by the screams of a woman presumably being tortured, is intolerable, and Andy's songs are kind of weird ("Friends", "Someone To Talk To"), but this is only priced at about 3x the cost of a normal album, and this contains five of those. It's hard to recommend a boxset that contains everything a band's done to those who don't have any of the actual albums, but the Police are so consistent I have no problems. Pick this one up.

Certifiable Live in Buenos Aires (2008) ***1/2
Only released in Best Buys (so far), this is a CD/DVD set of the Police's high-profile reunion tour. I saw this show in Milwaukee and I can say it's a perfectly fine translation with a slightly different setlist - "Synchronicity II" here instead of "Demolition Man", but otherwise just about what you'd expect - almost every song off their Greatest Hits albums ("Spirits In The Material World" is missing here) plus some of the more Sting-centric other stuff like "Driven to Tears". Oh, and most of the stage banter is in Spanish, but it's all Spanish 101 stuff anyway, and you have to at least give Sting credit for not suppressing his ego just because he doesn't really speak the language. The only surprise is a good helping of Outlandos material - over half the album is played. So how do the Police sound, 25 years after their last studio album? They don't rock out like they used to, slowing down the punk rock tunes a tad ("Next to You", "Truth Hits Everybody"), but they're so well-written anyway that it's not a big deal. Sting doesn't hit the really exciting high notes anymore - you can tell he's aged a bit, but his voice is still solid and expressive. Summers' technique is intact and Copeland is as good as he's always been. So yes - the reunion tour definitely is The Police and not just an imitation of their former selves as the first few shows (supposedly) were, and they seem comfortable enough onstage to improvise a bit. The thing about much of The Police's material outside is that it's so well-written and thoughtful from a pop standpoint that it doesn't sound strange or awkward coming from a bunch of guys in their mid-50's the same way a reunion of, say, The Jam would. These songs haven't aged a bit. I can say the setlist is basically inscrutable and it's free of the problems that weighed down the other double-live disk, but this isn't really necessary for anyone who isn't a huge fan to start. The good news is that there's a neat percussion ensemble on "Wrapped Around Your Finger", a good version of "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" without any keyboards, and a pretty funky rendition of "Walking In Your Footsteps" - why couldn't they have done the studio version this way? And it sounds great too - if you missed the tour, this is a fine substitute. But it's still more of a 'homage' than a 'performance', and let's face it - you'll know if you want this regardless of what any review could tell you, so all I can really say is that it's a little better than you probably expect.

Appendix

Here are a few albums that I have that are Police-related (not solo albums, I’ll make pages for those later)

Strontium 90 - Police Academy (rec. 1977, rel. 1997) ***
Strontium 90 was the name of the proto-Police, featuring the three original members plus former Gong member Mike Howlett, who put this album together. Some of the material is pretty nice - Howlett's "New World Blues" is features some nice riffing and great backing vocals by Sting, and "3 O'Clock Shot" is a catchy rocker whose music and lyrics would show up in different Police songs. A couple of other future-Police songs show up here - the album opens with future B-side "Visions of the Night" and includes a solo acoustic version of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", which would become a huge hit 6 years later. That's the stuff that should be interesting to Police fans, as the other material is kind of hit-or-miss - their take on funk ("Electron Romance") is interesting, but some of the other material comes off as being amateurish ("Towers Tumbled"), and doubling up two songs with live cuts only really acts as padding (not to mention the band sounds kind of sloppy and some of the members seem to get lost). Still quite a point of curiosity for the interested – all the Sting-penned material is good, but if you have the boxset, you’ve pretty much got it all in some form anyway.

Dance Floor Virus – The Ballroom (1995) **
I can’t find any information on this album, so I’m going to make some up – Dance Floor Virus is the side project of a couple of German producers/DJs and one guy who does a seriously good Sting impersonation. It’s too obscure a release to have any actual Sting involvement, but whoever sings this nails his voice like, 95% of the way, and that’s not easy to do. It’s totally out of print, and really isn’t any good, but I have it so I’ll review it. Basically the album is a collection of 9 Police songs, mostly hits, re-done as Eurodance tracks. Some of it kind of works, as it’s basically garbage Eurodance with a good sense of melody (provided by Sting, of course), and they don’t completely botch the tunes here that actually kind of lend themselves to the style (“Synchronicity I”, “Spirits in the Material World”). Nothing I’m really eager to hear again – this stuff just doesn’t date well, and they adhere too closely to the originals to really take off and do something interesting. I mean, this whole album could have been made in the span of 24 hours, as there’s strikingly little innovation here, and only about three synthesizer presets get used the whole way. If you don’t really like dance music this album’s going to be one “I can’t believe they did that!” after another. Comes with 3 ‘bonus’ remixes, including an ambient “Message in a Bottle” that actually does show some outside-the-box thinking, but it’s the last track, so whatever. Has the sound of the 90’s really dated so poorly?