The Police

I admit off the bat that I may be a little impartial about the Police. You see, growing up, they were my favorite band, even though they broke up the year I was born. Obviously, everyone knows who they are and are probably sick of them after being exposed to "Every Breath You Take" for the 300th time on their clock radios, but I'll contend that they were one of the few bands that actually had the talent to match their status. Sting was one of the best songwriters around during his tenure with the band, and instrumentally, this was about as tight a group as you could imagine. Some of this is due to the fact that all three of these guys have background in progressive rock, unlike any other band that came out in the era of punk. I'm not going to fall over myself praising Stewart Copeland the way so many others do - he's a drum great and probably one of my top three favorites, but most of that is because of his technique, which relied on riding the hi-hats and playing in a propulsive, nearly jazzy style, which was impressive considering everything the Police did was in 4/4. Talent wise he's definitely up there but most of his parts were overdubbed to the point that they couldn't really be played live (Copeland himself pointed out that watching the drummers in Police cover bands try to imitate his parts was "amusing"). Oddly enough, the third wheel was actually the guitarist, Andy Summers, who was actually kind of a vet by the time the Police formed (he's got a decade on the other members). He doesn't stand out so much because he plays more like a rhythm guitarist, though his more thoughtful style suits the band well, especially since many of their hits actually turn out to be really tricky to play ("Message in a Bottle", "Every Breath You Take"). The band made it big on the heels of their "white reggae" idea, which was mostly influenced by Bob Marley, but since these guys actually could play, their sound wound up being pretty unique. Most of the big groups of the late 70's/early 80's tried reggae at one point, but only the Police were able to successfully integrate it into their sound naturally. Their early sound was a mixture of punk and reggae (though not at the same time), both of which faded as the group soldiered on.

As for the songwriting, Sting was obviously the center of the group, and as a result, he’s the lone credit for probably around 75% of their work. His stuff is actually really consistent – most of his songs have a strong bass lead and a memorable chorus. The lyrics on the other hand are another story; growing up, I thought they were fine, but on further listens they don’t hold up so well. His subject matter went from generic to pompous fairly quickly, and on later albums it seemed clear that he really, really, wanted people to notice his background as an English teacher. Copeland was also a songwriter, though he’s not quite as refined, sticking mostly to catchy and quirky pop songs, which were often a welcome break from the more serious material. He actually wrote a lot more songs than what we get on the albums, many of which he decided to release himself under the name Klark Kent. Summers has also kicked in a few songs, many of which didn’t make the albums, mostly because his songwriting approach is a lot weirder, resulting in things like “Mother” (which almost everyone hates).

The Police have gotten a reputation as a singles band, which is understandable but somewhat inaccurate. It's true that most of their best songs are the singles, and each one of their five albums has scored at least two major hits (a streak which I believe only the Beatles have done before). However, their non-album tracks generally tended to be pretty good, and often featured some pretty great performances. All I can say is, don't make any judgments about this band based on the first side of Synchronicity, and if you're interested in the group, you may want to do yourself a favor and just track down the Message in a Box 4-disc set, which is one of the few comprehensive boxsets out there that's great all the way through. Really, for their career, the Police rarely made a misstep, which may be partially because they never got much of a chance to, as Sting's gigantic ego eventually got in the way and split the group up at their peak of popularity even though they weren't creatively spent yet. And the rest is history. Sting became an Adult Contemporary megastar that everyone kinda liked, before devolving into the tired Adult Contemporary megastar that everyone couldn't stop comparing to Phil Collins, before becoming the semi-retired former star that nobody really talks about anymore. Stewart Copeland mostly spent his time composing soundtracks and doing solo albums (some of which were actually pretty good), though he also joined a couple of bands that didn't stay together for very long. As for Andy Summers, nobody really knows what happened to him, except he teamed up briefly with Robert Fripp for a while to form the Legion of Guitar Weirdos. I did find a cassette he made on sale for $2, which I found terribly boring as a 12 year-old.

And now, on to the reviews:

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", which may be the best of the three), the band's early punk roots come through as well, 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. No complaints for the first seven tunes - it's energetic and three-dimensional (even the punk songs don't stay in one place), and Copeland is astounding. The last three songs are where things get a little unhinged - I can dig the rhythmic, faux-tribal "Masoko Tanga", which has Sting singing a wordless vocal in a trance-like state (perhaps on LSD??), but the bizarre "Be My Girl - Sally" is a misfire, combining a half-written riff-rocker with a poem about a blow-up doll that grinds everything to a halt. In contrast, "Born in the 50's" is sort of generic old-fashioned power-pop that almost seems like an afterthought. But forget about that - the majority of this album is good enough to dispel any reservations you may have had about the group, and there's little of the pretension or obnoxiousness that would cloud later releases. It's important to know that all three of these guys had been on the scene for a while, so there's only a little bit of the sloppiness or incoherence that usually comes with "raw" debut albums from bands like this.

Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
A lot like the first album, but even better - the slower songs groove and engage, while the faster songs have enough going on that they feel like they could run twice as long as they do. Summers' guitar tones are crisp and Copeland's drum technique is mesmerizing, and the result is an album that not only displays great songwriting but also displays musicianship to match. 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", "No Time This Time"). The big hit was "Message in a Bottle", their first #1, featuring a near-immortal riff, although "Bring On the Night" has one nearly as good, and the slower faux-reggae "Walking on the Moon" was deservedly a big hit as well. To balance out the more serious material written by Sting, there are a few songs on side 2 that were penned by Copeland, which are lightweight and memorable ("Does Everyone Stare" has an addictive and endlessly repeated chorus, while "Contact" uses a super-catchy guitar riff in place of one). 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 group of white guys (only the Clash were similar), and Copeland's drumming is innovative and unparalleled, particularly on this album which, along with the next one, is his peak. Even in the golden age of post punk, this album stands out as one of the best rock albums of the era.

Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
Another refinement, to the point where the punk influence is non-existent. Essentially this is based more on grooves rather than riffs, with the guitar parts generally taking a backseat to the bass and vocals. 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"), where Sting tell us what's wrong with the world in his eyes, which is the type of thing that got him a lot of hate over the years (although these ones are not really so bad). This 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 Copeland's "Bombs Away", which is a lot of fun. However, there is a rushed feeling here - four of the tunes are either instrumentals or nearly so, which is a little strange for a rock album from a group of this stature. "Voices in My Head" works fine, with an echoey, groovy riff and some amazing drumming, but "Shadows in the Rain" is dark and dreary and a little bit too long. 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. Even the half-written closing instrumental "The Other Way of Stopping" is catchy and melodic, but it's slight and doesn't really work as a closer. Basically this is like Outlandos D'Amor in a way - the first seven tracks are great and nearly flawless, but the album ventures into shaky territory after that ("Man in a Suitcase" is basically a rewrite of "Canary" but not as good). Still, these guys were playing at such a high level that nothing they can do really drags the album down much. Track this down if you liked the first two.

Ghost in the Machine (1981)
For the first time the group's sound makes a major shift, venturing into a somewhat more serious and almost jazzy direction. It's the first Police album that loses the band feel, with the 3-piece sound starting to give way to synths and a bunch of songs with prominent sax parts in the middle 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). But Sting’s basically in charge here, which might be why most of the songs are about political or social issues. There were actually four singles taken off the album, but the one everyone knows is "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", 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, but this one has lines like "they subjugate the meek/but it's the rhetoric of failure" that both the simps and scholars can hate on. I can see both the other singles (“Invisible Sun” and “Secret Journey”) being torpedoed by the same thing. I guess Sting could only resist showing off his background as an English teacher so long. That said, how much you really enjoy this album depends on how much you like the upbeat, sax-dominated middle part - some of the tunes are groovy and energetic but overlong ("Demolition Man" and "One World", which are otherwise first rate), and some are ear-catching 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 melodic songs yet. Despite its flaws, the songwriting again keeps everything afloat; there are plenty of neat bass parts and big choruses, though Copeland is noticeably toned down. Still, as heavy-handed as the lyrics can be, at least most of the music is pretty upbeat, and when it’s not, the songs work well regardless; even the low-key, piano-led “Darkness” leaves an impression.

Synchronicity (1983)
Like it or not, this is essentially the start of Sting's solo career - the band aesthetic is nearly entirely gone here, and it’s pretty damn clear that Sting was in charge of damn near every decision on the record. Granted, Ghost played out mostly the same way, but at least that record had spunk and the big hit was very upbeat, while Synchronicity plays like one big, serious artistic statement. And though this isn’t the Police’s best album, Sting really is on top of his game here. The lyrics are more poetic, and he’s not butchering his metaphors for once, though he does seem unquestionably bitter and depressed. And his vocal skills are at a peak too – he still has the punk growl, but he can be smooth when needed, and he’s able to play up the atmosphere of his songs. Yep – the atmosphere is huge here, not quite at mid-80’s overproduction levels, but Summers does create a bunch of shimmering guitar effects that make this album sound fairly unique. The result is one massive second side, with a murderer’s row of radio staples – “Every Breath You Take”, “King of Pain”, and the chilling “Wrapped Around Your Finger”. For all his sins (is he really painting himself as a messiah?), he nails the morose, melancholy mood of his songs, and despite their overplaying on FM radio, they’ve held up well. To cap it off is “Tea in the Sahara”, which, jazzy rhythm aside, is practically all atmosphere, and definitely the slowest and most reflective song the band ever did. There’s a noticeable lack of energy here, but it doesn’t seem to matter when the songs are written this well. And yet, that may be the record’s Achilles’ heel – there really isn’t any, outside of “Synchronicity I”, which sounds like a thrashy riff-rocker except that it’s led by a keyboard, and “Synchronicity II”, which really IS a thrashy riff-rocker, albeit one that plays more like progressive rock. Confused? Well, it’s got multiple sections, an extended running time, epic lyrics, and sounds almost exactly like Rush. It’s the only Police song that commands a big atmosphere and it would be easy to argue that it’s the best thing on here. But problems arise once you realize that it’s actually the only song on the album with a real guitar lead. Side one also provides us with “Walking in Your Footsteps”, a weird world-beat meditation based on electronic drum patterns while Sting sings about the dinosaurs, and “O My God”, a pretty forgettable jazzy tune that could have easily appeared on Sting’s first solo album.

The result is an album that somehow feels less than the sum of its parts, but it wound up being enough to temporarily dislodge Thriller atop the album chart, cementing the Police as the one-time biggest band in the world, and like Thriller, there’s enough care put into this that it stands up as a worthwhile 80’s relic, all flaws aside. Despite Sting’s dominance of this album, both Copeland and Summers contribute a tune, and while neither are great, “Miss Gredenko” is still an adorable, short pop song. Summers’ “Mother” on the other hand, is a ridiculous mess, with a Middle Eastern atmosphere and Summers screaming at the top of his lungs. Almost everything about the song is disturbing, which necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps a little strange to put on a pop album. Much better is “Murder by Numbers”, which appeared on the CD but not the record (perhaps making it the music industry’s first “bonus track”!), a good jazzy tune about killing your friends and family for fun. Who says that Sting’s lost his edge? (well, he did, but it took a few more years) Either way, your mileage may vary – there’s more in common with Sting’s first solo album Dream of the Blue Turtles than any Police album.

Live! (rec. 1979, 1983, rel. 1995)
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 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 supported by Sting and Sting 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. Even for those who can't stand the later period of the group, the first disc is worth hearing, and I have to give credit for a pretty unique live disc format.

By the way, there is a weird mastering glitch where the volume suddenly turns up in the middle of the first track - that bothered me for years.

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. 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 tune, "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 most of the album material and should have been included. 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. 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)
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 (I may put Andy Summers' albums here if I ever find any, but Sting and Copeland will get their own pages)

Strontium 90 - Police Academy (rec. 1977, rel. 1997)
Strontium 90 was the name of the proto-Police, featuring the trio plus former Gong member Mike Howlett, who put this album together, really just a comp of demos and some live stuff. Some of the material is pretty nice - Howlett's "New World Blues" 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 a bang with future B-side "Visions of the Night" (great tune, but it didn't really fit the Police) 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). I wonder if there was originally supposed to be more; the liner notes refer to "track 11" in the credits, but there are only 9 on the disc. 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 and is worth hearing a few times, but it’s the last track, so whatever. Has the sound of the 90’s really dated so poorly?