The Police: Classic or Dud, Search and Destroy

he's smart/literate enough to know that just moving the downbeat in the drum part around or having a strummed guitar chord on the offbeat doesn't make your song reggae

Trump is such an asshole he thinks becoming president betters him, when in fact him becoming president lessens the office.

not you too

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-the-police-pass-torch-to-u2-20130924

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGpWksgEI8

How embarrassing for all involved

At least Edge didn't try to play.

Preach it, Edge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ELpJqa4PaY

Page: "gosh not sure if I can figure out how to play those two notes or not. Whoof"

Stink n' Boner

The video is cringeworthy as hell, but it's worth it perhaps to see Paul glance and smirk at Gordon at one point when they're sharing the mic, but G doesn't return the look, not willing to foresake the gravitas of the moment.

And in the almost as difficult to watch Jimmy / David interaction, I wonder if there were any latent English / Irish musings in their heads

His worst songs.

https://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/i-dont-subscribe-to-this-point-of-view-the-worst-of-sting-and-the-police/

v glad i saw them live before Synchronicity

"Synchronicity I"???????

'Synchronicity I' is excellent, as is the brilliantly unhinged 'Mother', which is one of my many personal highlights on that LP.

'Saint Augustine in Hell' has the hilarious part about music critics, too.

I actually like synchronicity a lot as a whole except for brontosaurus/lesson for us

I used to love "Mother," now I wish Sting had sung it. Or, better, Andy's mom.

I actually like synchronicity a lot as a whole except for brontosaurus/lesson for us

― or at night (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, July 12, 2017 12:42 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha, yes!!

Let's rank their albums.

I would do something like

1. Reggatta
2. Ghost
3. Zenyatta
4. Synchronicity
5. Outlandos

damn, they're all good!!

Not canon, but disc 1 of the live album is pretty great too.

yea and the first few tracks of disc 2 are pretty decent too

always bothered me how the volume suddenly increases a 30 seconds or so into the first disc. such an obvious glitch, I don't get how it wasn't fixed

Their logic ties me up and rapes me!

I'd forgotten about 'Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot' which is indeed garbage.

'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You' is one of his best ever songs, though, as is 'Synchronicity II' ...

I wish the Toby Keith version of "I'm So Happy.." had charted.

Ok, rating Don’t Stand so Close to Me ‘86 over the original is bananas!

Seconded. That ‘86 version destroys the chorus and in general just has all the life drained out of it. To this day I feel shortchanged for its inclusion on that year’s singles compilation.

"Every Breath You Take" make my friend hilariously angry, because he can't hear it without hearing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=837k74c4rHQ

A+

where do the Shaggy singles fit in here

it wasn't me

Ok, rating Don’t Stand so Close to Me ‘86 over the original is bananas!

― Darin, Wednesday, May 22, 2019 5:11 AM (eight hours ago)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Seconded. That ‘86 version destroys the chorus and in general just has all the life drained out of it. To this day I feel shortchanged for its inclusion on that year’s singles compilation.

― dorsalstop, Wednesday, May 22, 2019 8:57 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thirded. One of the most pointless recordings Sting has been involved in, and this is Sting we're talking about.

Didn't realize "Next To You" wasn't a single! Manifestly belongs in the classic pile.

It's pointless, yeah. It needn't exist. Yet the fadeout in the original allows the tension to leak out of the song. I prefer how sinister Sting sounds in the original.

you guys know there's an album of re-recorded Sting songs out in two days right

As Tom Ewing wrote, "It’s not that 'Don’t Stand' needs to resolve its story – in fact it works better for not doing so – but it doesn’t need to hang around either."

aww, i've always loved 'spirits in the material world'. had no idea what it was about obv and if i tried to unpick it now i would probably find it totally ludicrous (hey it's sting), but i suppose i was a sucker for quasi-mystical nonsense in my early teens (too much time spent watching 'monkey' instead of doing my homework); 'secret journey' off the same album tickled the same part of my brain. that sax blort at the start of the song sort of fools you into thinking it's a sort of odd ska that they're going for but it's some weird eastern european folk fusion thing isn't it? the synth standing in for an accordian, and then that zithery balalaika thing on the third verse. the drums are fantastic (hey it's stewart) - the crispness of the snare when it comes in is soo good! solid 7.5/10. still sad that sting isn't actually signng about the reykjavik of failure though.

'Spirits in the Material World' is a better song than 'Invisible Sun', IMO, the energy level of the former is one of many points in its favour over the trudge of the latter.

As Tom Ewing wrote, "It’s not that 'Don’t Stand' needs to resolve its story – in fact it works better for not doing so – but it doesn’t need to hang around either."

― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, May 22, 2019 5:05 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh I had another possible misheard lyric in ‘Spirits’. Does Sting really say ‘grow testes and survive’? Actually nervous about googling that one

I’ll be honest with you I usually don’t check what thread I’m posting in

there is only one thread, i'm on the same page. literally

been on an andy summers kick of late, had never actually heard his epic solo on this one before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aAsg2UTZo

(the guitar solo is from 2:00 to 6:30)

(it sounds nothing like the police btw)

the audio on this is killing me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJyEr-jWVv4

sounds like some of the guitar parts from 'voices' - anyone know if it's available somewhere?

Is it the intro music on the Synchronicity tour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyp7au1vOrM

oh, definitely related to that, thanks! the tempo is a bit quicker though and the guitar parts are a bit more abstract. drum machine sounds like the same one that plays at the start of 'duchess' by genesis - CR-78?

Thinking about picking up Around the World. Picture quality aside (it does look great now that it's fully-restored from the negative) how's the film itself? Is it a good doc or at least a good concert compilation of sorts?

The band originally broke up in . . . 1984? When Sting decided he would be better off going it alone, a la Paul Weller. In retrospect, it seems like an inevitability, but he pulled the plug on the band when they were still fairly well peaking.

Like a friend of mine said a while back, when we were listening to Dream of the Blue Turtles: "You broke up the Police for this? Fuck you."

So, your friend didn't consider Sting turtley enough for the Blue Turtle Club?

Although, to be fair, you could say he did a favour to the legacy of the Police by breaking them up when he realized his muse was leading him in that direction.