I had the amazing pleasure of seeing the police live on their reunion tour in 2007 and what an amazing show it was and what made the police so special was in such a short amount of time created 5 brilliant albums and left us fans wanting more
@@statesandkingdoms I saw the show on my birthday weekend what was amazing was seeing Stewart Copeland and Andy summers live to me those 2 make that band what they were
This is the first Police album I ever bought. Don't Stand So Close To Me is not only a great song, but I love all the rolling vowels in the title. The next two songs (Driven To Tears, When The World Is Running Down are right there too).
This was a Huge album in the 80s. Here in the UK Don’t Stand So Close sold half half a million copies in the first 5 days of its release. Loose change compared to Synchronicity but with Zenyatta, it still sounds raw and spontaneous relative to where they were with Synchronicity which sounded over produced, over rehearsed and clinical to the point where much of the raw energy of the first three police albums was missing with their material from 1983.
I really like your appreciation of Zenyatta Mondatta. I play it a lot. My favourite album is still Ghost in the Machine, particularly the running order of the special edition.
I have problems finding a consistently entertaining LP from The Police. I think their singles are incredible, but I have trouble with the deeper cuts. With few exceptions, nothing is really awful, every song maintains a certain level of quality but as with other bands where I'm generally satisfied with a hits collection, there aren't any deeper tracks that I feel are as good as the singles. My feelings aside, this was another fun discussion and I'm going to listen to this record today for a fresh perspective.
I first started getting into the Police with a singles collection, and for the most part those are still my favorite sings, there are exceptions. But I get it :)
@@statesandkingdoms I've always wondered why When the World is Running Down never made any of the compilation releases. I recall it getting lots of airplay back when radio would still be a little creative.
I was under the impression that this was the weakest album, like they were running out of steam after the one-two punch of the first records. But after remembering the tracks thanks to you guys just naming the titles, I think it’s really, really good. My favorite moment is when “world running down” kicks in immediately after “Tears”. Still, I always got Beatles for sale/Kinks kontroversy vibes, like they were exhausted from endless touring or something. PS, I have a funny anecdote about this album. When my parents were going thru their ugly divorce & dividing the album collection, my mom was super-pissed that he took all the Police records save this one. She said out loud”he left the one that sucks!” Lol.
For years I found that Zenyatta Mondatta was the weak point of The Police discography, however over the years I have reviewed my judgment because in the end it contains as many strong moments as more average moments and anyway from my point of view, none of the trio's five studio albums are perfect, including Synchronicity which is undoubtedly more coherent and compact but which already leans towards Sting's solo career. This third album from The Police offers much the same formula as on their first two, however certain songs put more emphasis on the 'pop' aspect in the trio's music. This is not a criticism, just an observation. My favorite tracks are "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "Driven To Tears", "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around", "Canary In A Coalmine", "Man In A Suitcase", "Voices Inside My Head" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da". "Bombs Away" is not very sought after melodically, that said there is much worse in this genre and this composition is not unpleasant, even if it will not remain in the annals of music. On the other hand, among the tracks that I don't particularly like there's the instrumental "Behind My Camel" which has a plaintive side which I don't like, "Shadows In The Rain" which I find a bit repetitive and too long for what it is, and the instrumental "The Other Way Of Stopping" which is of no interest to me and sounds like a filler at the end of the album. Overall, it's still a very good album by the band and its front cover remains my favorite with that of Ghost in the Machine !
![THE POLICE - Ghost in the Machine [1981] Vinyl Review | States & Kingdoms](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VDTiLZHkXcg/mqdefault.jpg)
I had the amazing pleasure of seeing the police live on their reunion tour in 2007 and what an amazing show it was and what made the police so special was in such a short amount of time created 5 brilliant albums and left us fans wanting more
That's awesome! I saw just sting in 2005. Would've loved to see the whole band
@@statesandkingdoms I saw the show on my birthday weekend what was amazing was seeing Stewart Copeland and Andy summers live to me those 2 make that band what they were
This is the first Police album I ever bought. Don't Stand So Close To Me is not only a great song, but I love all the rolling vowels in the title. The next two songs (Driven To Tears, When The World Is Running Down are right there too).
This was a Huge album in the 80s. Here in the UK Don’t Stand So Close sold half half a million copies in the first 5 days of its release. Loose change compared to Synchronicity but with Zenyatta, it still sounds raw and spontaneous relative to where they were with Synchronicity which sounded over produced, over rehearsed and clinical to the point where much of the raw energy of the first three police albums was missing with their material from 1983.
I really like your appreciation of Zenyatta Mondatta. I play it a lot. My favourite album is still Ghost in the Machine, particularly the running order of the special edition.
Agree on the song sequence!
I have problems finding a consistently entertaining LP from The Police. I think their singles are incredible, but I have trouble with the deeper cuts. With few exceptions, nothing is really awful, every song maintains a certain level of quality but as with other bands where I'm generally satisfied with a hits collection, there aren't any deeper tracks that I feel are as good as the singles. My feelings aside, this was another fun discussion and I'm going to listen to this record today for a fresh perspective.
I first started getting into the Police with a singles collection, and for the most part those are still my favorite sings, there are exceptions. But I get it :)
@@statesandkingdoms I've always wondered why When the World is Running Down never made any of the compilation releases. I recall it getting lots of airplay back when radio would still be a little creative.
I have 3 copys of each the police album on vynil I have over 500 vinyl records some rare but never going to sell any I love my vinyls.
Don’t sell! :)
I was under the impression that this was the weakest album, like they were running out of steam after the one-two punch of the first records. But after remembering the tracks thanks to you guys just naming the titles, I think it’s really, really good. My favorite moment is when “world running down” kicks in immediately after “Tears”.
Still, I always got Beatles for sale/Kinks kontroversy vibes, like they were exhausted from endless touring or something.
PS, I have a funny anecdote about this album. When my parents were going thru their ugly divorce & dividing the album collection, my mom was super-pissed that he took all the Police records save this one. She said out loud”he left the one that sucks!” Lol.
Hahaha our parents divorced too 🙃
My favorite moment is when “when the world is running down” kicks in immediately after “Tears”.....absolutely Mark, its the best.
Side A of ZM is as good as anything they ever did. Side B meanders a bit but still good. Still blast this on vinyl often. My favorite band.
For years I found that Zenyatta Mondatta was the weak point of The Police discography, however over the years I have reviewed my judgment because in the end it contains as many strong moments as more average moments and anyway from my point of view, none of the trio's five studio albums are perfect, including Synchronicity which is undoubtedly more coherent and compact but which already leans towards Sting's solo career.
This third album from The Police offers much the same formula as on their first two, however certain songs put more emphasis on the 'pop' aspect in the trio's music. This is not a criticism, just an observation. My favorite tracks are "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "Driven To Tears", "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around", "Canary In A Coalmine", "Man In A Suitcase", "Voices Inside My Head" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da". "Bombs Away" is not very sought after melodically, that said there is much worse in this genre and this composition is not unpleasant, even if it will not remain in the annals of music. On the other hand, among the tracks that I don't particularly like there's the instrumental "Behind My Camel" which has a plaintive side which I don't like, "Shadows In The Rain" which I find a bit repetitive and too long for what it is, and the instrumental "The Other Way Of Stopping" which is of no interest to me and sounds like a filler at the end of the album. Overall, it's still a very good album by the band and its front cover remains my favorite with that of Ghost in the Machine !