433. The Police - Reggatta De Blanc (1979)
















Track Listing

1. Message in a Bottle
2. Reggatta de Blanc
3. It's Alright for You
4. Bring on the Night
5. Deathwish
6. Walking on the Moon
7. On Any Other Day
8. Bed's Too Big Without You
9. Contact
10. Does Everyone Stare
11. No Time This Time

Review

This is one of those guilty pleasures that I don't feel guilty about at all. I really like The Police, actually the first album I knew the lyrics off by heart was a Police Greatest Hits compilation.

I think that the main reason that the police are seen as tacky today is because of Sting, his solo career was very hit and miss with some masterworks of 80's excess and overemotional, sometimes pretentious lyrics. He always worked better in the confines of a group, and this album is a prime example of that.

I am actually quite surprised that their first album Outlandos d'Amour isn't here, because that is another great work. This is reggae filtered through post-punk sensibilities and that makes for exciting, danceable all around good fun music. And Sting was really at his song writing peak in The Police. This is a great album not just for the singles but also for all the other tracks which are just as good.

Track Highlights

1. Message In a Bottle
2. Walking On The Moon
3. Bed's Too Big Without You
4. On Any Other Day

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album took only a few weeks (spaced over several months) to record, but unlike its successor Zenyatta Mondatta, there was no pressure on the band. As Stewart Copeland describes it, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?' We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in."

Message In A Bottle: