529. The Police - Synchronicity (1983)
















Track Listing

1. Synchronicity I
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II
7. Every Breath You Take
8. King Of Pain
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Tea In The Sahara


Review

This is The Police's best album, in such a way that the last 7 tracks are all pretty great and the first three aren't that bad either. That said, the most famous track in the album has been overused to the point of rape. And Every Breath You Take is now, because of that, the only song that kind of grates in what is an otherwise great album.

The Police moved further from their Ska origins here, making an album that is just on the right place between the pretty good Ska Police albums and the excesses of solo Sting, making it their best album.

Of course there is the usual "Sting showing how cultured he is" on this album, but it kind of works, particularly in Wrapped Around Your Finger, and Tea In The Sahara. Basically if you ever need a Police album, this is it.

Track Highlights

1. Synchronicity II
2. Tea In The Sahara
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger
4. King Of Pain

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Synchronicity topped both the Billboard Pop Albums and Billboard 200 charts (ending the reign of Michael Jackson's Thriller for a while in the US). It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

In 2001, the TV network VH1 named Synchronicity the 50th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 455 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band's first four records, instead featuring production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers that, at times, drove entire songs ("Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). Sting's material dominates the album, with the two short tracks by Andy Summers ("Mother") and Stewart Copeland ("Miss Gradenko") being seen by the band themselves as concessions.

As with their prior album, Synchronicity was recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat. For sound engineering reasons, the three band members recorded their parts in separate rooms: Copeland with his drums in the dining room, Sting in the control room, and Summers in the actual studio. This physical separation underscored the increasing tension and strain in the relationship between the bandmates.

Synchronicity II: