The Police- Murder By Numbers (REACTION & REVIEW)

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024

Комментарии • 109

  • @robertjewell9727
    @robertjewell9727 2 года назад +12

    I often think of this song as Police Noir. It's jazzy and dark like film noir is.

  • @maruad7577
    @maruad7577 2 года назад +7

    While the comments on this channel are often good (myself excepted) this is one of those rare moments when the comments are as good as the music and Justin's commentary. Great song, great reaction and great commenters. Well done.

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад

      I know, right?
      You can teach an old dog new songs… or about old songs… sumpin like dat.

  • @godbluffvdgg
    @godbluffvdgg 2 года назад +8

    :)...Drummer for 45 years; Syncopation is the playing of a part, against a steady beat/tempo. ...In Stewart's case...He often runs a steady bass drum count... Some examples; in the Police collection; Driven to Tears, Message in a Bottle, Synchronicity,
    Amazing song, very poignant...The Police are BEAST...Sting, Sommers and Copeland are one of greatest trios in music...

  • @manualboyca
    @manualboyca 2 года назад +8

    I’m sure I’m not the first to mention this, but Zappa did a version of this (with Sting on vocals) - it’s TOTALLY worth a reaction video from you! Cheers!

    • @78zappaf
      @78zappaf 2 года назад +1

      It's a great version. Sting also covered one of Franks track - The Idiot Bastard Son. There are also a few Police tracks that are good and mostly not known, usually were non-album tracks. B-sides. I do like their track called Somebody to Talk To sung by Andy Summers.

  • @mikeloomis687
    @mikeloomis687 2 года назад +3

    I love the vibe of this song. So well crafted and executed. Reminds me of the quality Steely Dan brings to their music. Thanks JP!

    • @JustJP
      @JustJP  2 года назад

      Happily Mike!

  • @frankpentangeli7945
    @frankpentangeli7945 2 года назад +3

    Copeland's snare sound is unequalled, and his placement of small cymbals and syncopation are magical.

  • @richardbailey1295
    @richardbailey1295 2 года назад +3

    For me, this song is about leaders/politicians killing people through their actions/words.
    It's a great build to that point, keeping everyone confused as to where the heck he is going with this!

  • @jaybird4093
    @jaybird4093 2 года назад +15

    The band was eating dinner when Andy pulled out his guitar and played this chord progression. Sting liked it and added the pre-written lyrics that he was looking to put music to. The two went into the studio to lay down the tracks. I believe it only took one take. When finished they asked Stewart to record the drums. Stewart, unfinished with his meal went into the studio, made up the drum beat, and laid it down in one take, then went back and finished his meal. If you listen closely to the second verse, you can hear where Stewart forgot the beat. It takes a measure or two for him to remember where to put the bass drum.

    • @mightyV444
      @mightyV444 2 года назад +4

      Yeah, there are different versions of that legend, for sure! 😄 Stewart's matches in regards to the start of yours (Andy noodling on his guitar and Sting liking those chords and then adding pre-written lyrics), but _he_ says that he'd already started figuring out the drum rhythm while Andy and Sting were still walking over to the studio, as his drum kit was set up right there in the dining room. Engineer Hugh Padgham had also meanwhile started rolling the tape while Sting and Andy were plugging their instruments in, with Stewart still/already playing the beat that later could be heard on the finished recording. And then the other two joined in on guitar, bass and vocals... I admit that I find _your_ version way more believable, but this is how Stewart described the recording process of that song himself! 😊 ruclips.net/video/C7EtnAhAfFQ/видео.html

    • @shellilawler1334
      @shellilawler1334 2 года назад +4

      I love that part.

    • @jaybird4093
      @jaybird4093 2 года назад +1

      @@mightyV444 Hey, V. You’re giving me lots of good stuff to watch. Thanks! Too bad this weekend’s been so busy. I’ll eventually get to it! 👍

    • @mightyV444
      @mightyV444 2 года назад

      @@jaybird4093 - That's usually the way, isn't it? 😄😉 And you're very welcome! 😊 By the way, I did watch the 'Snider' clip meanwhile; Old Alex was obviously just goofing off, LOL! 😄 Check out his BV's in _this_ video! ...whenever you'll find the time! 😉 ruclips.net/video/nhcM_hx0zxw/видео.html

    • @jaybird4093
      @jaybird4093 2 года назад +1

      @@mightyV444 Outstanding! Stewart Copeland came to my son’s university for the rehearsals and performances of his opera, The Invention of Morel. I didn’t get to meet him but had a couple of colleagues who did. I did get to sit about twenty feet away from him for a lecture of his. It was very cool! He’s a genuine guy; same personality and enthusiasm as in this video.

  • @-R.Gray-
    @-R.Gray- 2 года назад +3

    Check out the time when Sting got up on stage and performed this song in the middle of Frank Zappa's version of Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" on Zappa's Broadway The Hard Way CD.

  • @Azabaxe80
    @Azabaxe80 2 года назад +6

    This is the song that sold me on The Police. Sure, there was Roxanne, Message [..] and Invisible Sun, but I thought they were meh. The local rock radio station, which in 1983 must have had a very progressive program director, played this song way more than the pop hits from that album. I was like "this is The Police?" From the cool guitar chords to the sublime percussion to the wry humor of the lyrics, everything worked for me in a way that the band never had before.
    I only have 2 Police records. Ghost in the Machine and a greatest hits compilation. I have 4 Sting records. You get the idea. This song fits better in Dream of the Blue Turtles than anything else in the Police oeuvre.

  • @MDMagneticDragon
    @MDMagneticDragon 2 года назад +3

    I've always liked this track and its funky progression. Great reaction!
    Andy Summers has made a ton of solo albums, and there's some real gems throughout. One of my favorites is "Passion of the Shadow" off 1990's Charming Snakes; the guitar solo is so unusual, mixed very low and staying mostly on the highest pitches, it took me several listens to even hear the genius of what he's doing... but wow, once you hear it...! His collaborations with Robert Fripp are also really worth checking out.

  • @EC-dz3fb
    @EC-dz3fb 2 года назад +1

    "... love how that came in" - right? This seemingly opposite amalgamation of beat & melody suddenly & seamlessly just "works." ❥

  • @SoundlabStudios63
    @SoundlabStudios63 2 года назад +4

    This song was a bonus track that was incentive for buyers to purchase the cassette instead of the LP

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад

      The amount of music allowed on LP, cassette and CD was different, unless you’re Todd Rundgren, blessed are those who give us bonus tracks.

  • @benoitrenaud519
    @benoitrenaud519 2 года назад +5

    I had the pleasure of signing this as a music student in college. The beginning is a rhythmic challenge! Great song.

  • @XFLexiconMatt
    @XFLexiconMatt 2 года назад +2

    Justin, I knew you'd like this! Wow, what a way to set up my morning, thank you!

  • @John-df1nr
    @John-df1nr Год назад

    Sting use to introduce this song during the 1983 tour with ref to the evangelist Jimmy Swaggart who condemned the song on TV and proclaimed it was in fact ‘written by the devil!’

  • @sphericalharmony1603
    @sphericalharmony1603 2 года назад +1

    I had the original vinyl so didn't hear Murder by Numbers until much later. For that reason it now sounds the freshest track to my ears and the one I'm most likely to want to listen to again. I think Synchronicity I was my favourite back in the day. If I felt like listening to a Police album now, it would probably be Outlandos d'Amour, which has the raw energy of a debut record.

  • @3ggshe11s
    @3ggshe11s 2 года назад +1

    Great use of polymeter in the intro, with the drums pushing against the 12/8 meter. Incidentally, this wasn't a bonus track -- it was always on the cassette and CD versions but was left off the LP for some reason.

  • @jaybird4093
    @jaybird4093 2 года назад +4

    This sounds like polymeter; Stewart playing in 3/4 while Sting and Andy play in 12/8. However, what sounds like Stewart playing the bass drum on beat one is actually being played on beats 2 and 4.
    Polyrhythm can be heard between the beats. Stewart is playing duple while Sting and Andy are playing triple. If you zoom out, then the polyrhythm is reversed. Stewart is playing triples against the beat while Sting and Andy are playing duples with the beat. Extremely clever!!!
    The most basic polyrhythm is 2 against 3. Chopin had many piano works with 3 against 4 polyrhythms. Those are tricky. Some modern music has even more complex polyrhythms

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад +1

      Bang zoom, went over my head fast but, it’s much appreciated. I need more coffee…

    • @jaybird4093
      @jaybird4093 2 года назад +1

      @@-davidolivares I geek out on stuff like that. I’m sure that most people don’t care but I can’t help myself. That’s just the way my brain processes music. ✌️

  • @toshibautoob
    @toshibautoob 2 года назад +1

    Andy is the unsung hero of this song. Those chords!

  • @clarkem4119
    @clarkem4119 2 года назад

    I laughed when you were talking about saliva in Sting's voice... back in the 80s, my cousin Steve and I used to say "He totally phlegmed it" when he sang those lines.

  • @Bill_Jones.
    @Bill_Jones. 2 года назад +4

    Stewart Copeland’s drumming can’t be beat.

    • @phillyflyer12
      @phillyflyer12 2 года назад +1

      @Bill Jones Unless you're Barriemore Barlow.

  • @michaelakkerman407
    @michaelakkerman407 2 года назад

    Best song on the album. My band in Highschool used to do " On any other Day" which is a crazy awsome song by The Police...

  • @mattjohn4731
    @mattjohn4731 2 года назад +1

    I think all 3 Police were experienced in prog (maybe not Sting) but they were hip enough to see the punk explosion was relevant. They understood it was time for energetic rock but not stadium rock. Andy was so old but still became huge during the "new wave". They hit the top, as the biggest band in the world!

  • @Lightmane
    @Lightmane 2 года назад +3

    This is just too darn cool

  • @MP-TheNewGuy
    @MP-TheNewGuy 2 года назад +1

    Glad you did this one as it is quality track. B-Side reactions could be fun. Bands are a lot more loose in their style of play which can result in a wide variety of styles and quality. You might get something great like "Murder By Numbers" and then there is also tracks like "Friends" (also by The Police) that might give you that what in the world am I listening to reaction. I love listening to the B-Sides as like to hear everything as well search for that hidden gem, but I got to admit that a lot of B-Sides are bad. It is still fun to hear different sides of a band though. As for my favorite track off of Synchronicity, I got to go with Synchronicity II. That song just rocks that humiliating kick in the crotch.

  • @AqueousMantra
    @AqueousMantra 2 года назад +6

    Check out the live version with Frank Zappa's band

    • @gzaq
      @gzaq 2 года назад +1

      yeah it's a must, Zappa's band with Sting on vocals, it's on the album called Broadway The Hard Way

  • @arielquarante
    @arielquarante 2 года назад

    I am almost sure this song appears in a thriller movie as a part of a clue, but I can't remember the movie title !
    Thank you. Great review and reaction, for all the album.

  • @juanbarros756
    @juanbarros756 Год назад

    Here is something for you to notice: This is the last song in their discography and the only song that actually has an ending, all other songs end in a fade out.

  • @frugalseverin2282
    @frugalseverin2282 2 года назад +6

    The band went out on a high note with this album. One of my favorite traits about English artists/bands is the art of b-sides, those orphaned non-album tracks that are fun to hunt down. Some such as The Cure and Siouxsie & the Banshees have released whole collections of rare tracks. These lost gems let the band experiment, do a cover or just have a bit of fun.

    • @mightyV444
      @mightyV444 2 года назад

      The Cure in particular have some truly amazing b-sides, like 'A Foolish Arrangement' or 'Too Late', that are better than some of their album tracks! 🙂 That reminds me: I wanted to check if our friend Justin here had actually done anything on them, too! 😊 *Edit:* Of _course_ he had! Not really a surprise either! 😄

    • @HippoYnYGlaw
      @HippoYnYGlaw 2 года назад +1

      is the B side a lost art nowadays? or just rehashed as "bonus track"

  • @tonybanks1035
    @tonybanks1035 2 года назад +3

    brilliant track

  • @lifespanofafry1534
    @lifespanofafry1534 2 года назад +1

    Not that I don’t enjoy what you have to say but I love that it usually takes you less than 2 minutes to start.

  • @aniokay
    @aniokay Год назад

    Yeah, 30k subscribers - looking forward to hear the review of The Wall.

  • @mondegreen9709
    @mondegreen9709 2 года назад

    Fun fact: Stewart Copeland wanted this album to be called "Syncopicity"...
    PSYCH!!! 😄

  • @CCDzine
    @CCDzine 2 года назад +1

    Thank you.

    • @JustJP
      @JustJP  2 года назад

      Thank YOU

  • @yes_head
    @yes_head 2 года назад

    It speaks to how good a band was when their b-sides are this good. I remember this got a fair amount of airplay on the main FM rock station in San Francisco back in the day, and stayed in rotation as the occasional "deep cut" right through the 90's.

  • @progperljungman8218
    @progperljungman8218 2 года назад

    So right about Copeland! Would recommend his solo album The Equalizer and Other Cliffhangers. Awesome album with his own unique style!❤

    • @gerardodoherty9178
      @gerardodoherty9178 2 года назад +1

      Theme to the equaliser is originally from a copeland solo album called "The Rhythmatist" which is worth tracking down.

  • @-davidolivares
    @-davidolivares 2 года назад +3

    B-sides, more like me-sides…
    Bonus tracks, more like, yes, do them, absolutely.
    I’m going to put this as delicately as I can, in most cases you are learning from music of the past. This album music was available in many forms, LP, 8track, cassette, CD etc. Why on earth use just LP output as the standard measure.
    So many great singles, B-sides, bonus tracks are being tossed to the side for an archaic reason. Friends can debate, that’s all I’m doing here.
    Be well.

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад

      I at least vote for a Single, B-side, Bonus track day a month.

  • @daveking9393
    @daveking9393 2 года назад +1

    only got to see them once for the tour of this LP and boy was it a great show....

    • @JustJP
      @JustJP  2 года назад +2

      Wish I could see em live!

    • @daveking9393
      @daveking9393 2 года назад +1

      @@JustJP That was 1984 my senior year of highschool... Worth watching a DVD of them live, a really entertaining group. Many MTV videos for these guys. So worth it to see them perform. Regatta de Blanc is another great LP for your list to consider. I remember buying synchronicity right before my annual summer trip to GA to visit my father. I played it many times over those 4 weeks... Under several different states of mind... Oh the childhood memories....

  • @kronosarm1680
    @kronosarm1680 2 года назад +3

    Please, please check out the Frank Zappa with Sting Live version of this from Zappa's Broadway The Hardway album (Actually please do the whole album 😬 but this track in particular is fire)

    • @manualboyca
      @manualboyca 2 года назад +2

      Yes!

    • @manualboyca
      @manualboyca 2 года назад +2

      I found out about the Zappa version less than a week ago. 😂

  • @gregjones861
    @gregjones861 2 года назад

    Okay, now is the perfect - absolutely perfect - time for you to react to another oft-requested syncopated drum song, Dancing Madly Backwards by Captain Beyond. It's the coolest drumbeat I've ever heard (and for a Bruford fanatic to say that about a different drummer is a huge endorsement). You're planning on doing it eventually anyway, but now in close proximity to this would be amazing. Once you hear the intro drumbeat, and then where the band plays off of that dazzling beat, you'll know.

  • @jeffmartin1026
    @jeffmartin1026 2 года назад

    Sting does this song live when Frank Zappa invited him on stage one evening. It's not safe for your channel, but is worth a listen.

  • @HippoYnYGlaw
    @HippoYnYGlaw 2 года назад

    not officially a B side but an EP track, You Might Recall, by Genesis. One reason among many why it's loved by thousands , nay, millions of people: Phil's drumming.
    Don't forget it JP; 3x3 ep- from the somewhat harshly judged A****B sessions.
    This? Sting straining his voice a tad? They were an essential singles band - amazing catchy singalongs and accomplished playing. Talking of which, Rush have just sent Signals to your new abode. Will you Spot the Difference between them ?

    • @JustJP
      @JustJP  2 года назад +1

      Rush...Signals...hmmmm 🙂

  • @gaiaeternal5131
    @gaiaeternal5131 2 года назад +1

    Hi Justin. Dave from London, Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon. Nice, jazzy (yes, syncopated) bonus track, which for me signals the direction Sting was to take in his solo work, like the album I have, Nothing Like The Sun, which features Manu Katche on drums.
    P.S. my song ref Lazing... is by Queen

    • @jaybird4093
      @jaybird4093 2 года назад +1

      “…I go off to work on Monday morning…”

    • @gaiaeternal5131
      @gaiaeternal5131 2 года назад +1

      @@jaybird4093 "I come from London Town, I'm just an ordinary guy.."

    • @Bill_Jones.
      @Bill_Jones. 2 года назад +1

      I hope your share a cup of tea with Ray Davies while he’s visiting with you.

    • @gaiaeternal5131
      @gaiaeternal5131 2 года назад +1

      @@Bill_Jones. Yes, it's a Sunny Afternoon here too, Bill, and many's the time I've been to a gig at the Festival Hall and watched a Waterloo Sunset in the interval.

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад +1

      We want Night At The Opera, Justin…

  • @stlmopoet
    @stlmopoet 2 года назад

    When the album first came out I was put off by the lyrics, was not able to think beyond the literal. Too young and stupid. It's a great track.
    Appreciate your insights.

  • @airwindows
    @airwindows 2 года назад +6

    It's a hell of an album when a track this good is the WEAK track on the album :) such a band…

    • @SoundlabStudios63
      @SoundlabStudios63 2 года назад

      Technically this is a bonus track only on the cassette version. It was originally the B side to every breath you take. Mother is definitely the weakest songs, Murder by Numbers included

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад +1

      Yeah, mother… sorry Andy.

    • @SoundlabStudios63
      @SoundlabStudios63 2 года назад

      @@-davidolivares Omegaman on Ghost in the Machine makes up for it

  • @diegoka7943
    @diegoka7943 2 года назад

    Zappa Zappa Zappa Zappa

  • @MisterWondrous
    @MisterWondrous 2 года назад

    Also the name of a cool film, by Jim Jarmusch I think.
    Sting smooth.

  • @jamespaivapaiva4460
    @jamespaivapaiva4460 2 года назад +3

    I just can't understand this outcry to "de-fund the Police"? What did they attend a really bad performance, or feel cheated by an album purchase? I do not know, I'm clueless, but any effort to take their earnings, would Sting me! Peace and Love together that's Synchronicity!

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад +1

      It’s only moving funds for training and therapy, for maybe another album.

    • @jamespaivapaiva4460
      @jamespaivapaiva4460 2 года назад

      @@-davidolivares Maybe mobilizing manna for manana? Hmmm, mercy me!

    • @gerardodoherty9178
      @gerardodoherty9178 2 года назад +1

      Ikr! Hopefully that won't happen, if at all, for many summers yet. Italian vineyards don't come cheap!

  • @a.k.1740
    @a.k.1740 2 года назад

    Good piece with jazzy intonation, but for me it's starting to sound too much like solo Sting. I attended the Synchronicity Tour in September 1983 and it was fun but a bit on the decline, however I would have preferred to see the trio on the 1980/81 tour when they were still fiery. I think it was the right time for The Police station to close for good ! 😉

  • @greggibson33
    @greggibson33 Год назад

    Genius...... again.

  • @tdog9818
    @tdog9818 2 года назад

    Cool groove for a morbid subject.

  • @lancewolf2451
    @lancewolf2451 11 месяцев назад

    Copeland said this whole song was one take in the studio..

  • @jimhardiman3836
    @jimhardiman3836 2 года назад +1

    What's the definition of syncopation? The unsteady progression from bar to bar. Hic 🍸
    The crazy rhythmic illusions that happened at the beginning were very organic and the drum part you hear was the very 1st time Stewart played through the song! He talks about it here:
    ruclips.net/video/C7EtnAhAfFQ/видео.html

  • @SpaceCattttt
    @SpaceCattttt 2 года назад +1

    You owe it to yourself to listen to the live version of this song with Sting and Frank Zappa, Justin. It's.......better.

  • @aniokay
    @aniokay Год назад

    Stewart Copeland is amazing. Legend.

  • @jfergs.3302
    @jfergs.3302 2 года назад

    Fairly typical Police. It's ok, though i thought Stewie a little 'cymbal happy' in this one.

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад +1

      How Cymbaline of you.

    • @jfergs.3302
      @jfergs.3302 2 года назад

      @@-davidolivares Coffee, and Floyd aside you may well be right :)

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад

      @@jfergs.3302
      More!!!!???

    • @jfergs.3302
      @jfergs.3302 2 года назад

      @@-davidolivares There's an Italian coffee of sorts known as a cymbaline. Something to do with the distincive mark the steamer leaves on it, the posh coffee machine having been made by Cymbali. And isn't Cymbaline a Pink Floyd tune? Maybe you meant to say i was cymphobic 🙂

    • @-davidolivares
      @-davidolivares 2 года назад

      @@jfergs.3302
      Yeah, I was referring to the tune… originally I heard it’s original name was Nightmare…