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Raised on the Radio #34- the Police
Feb. 11th, 2014 09:18 amDoing a series on music I grew up, the Police seem like a no brainer. I have went on length in other areas of my blog about the Police,but they merit inclusion in this series.
Synchronicity was the largest album at the planet for a time from what was the most important band on the planet for the time; and there lies the rub. I do like Synchronicity, but I have heard the songs of it probably in terms of thousands of plays. Like other 80s bands that went intergalactic, albums like Van Halen's 1984 and The Joshua Tree are epic moments in pop music, but I really have heard them too much.
Like those bands, I have no trouble hearing their early singles again and again and again. Van Halen, U2, the Cars (I'm surely leaving some obvious ones out) made some early albums that are still amazing in 2014. I don't tire of early Police hits like "So Lonely", :Message in a Bottle" and "Locked out of Heaven", but I could take or leave "King of Pain".
Sure enough, that's the truth now, but that was also the truth then. Synchronicity was inescapable at the time. "Every Breath You take" was played every hour of every day of every week (like it is now, still, I am sure), So I have a bit of love-and-hate for the Police's biggest album.
My favorite song off the album back then (and don't forget there are some weird departure moments where Copeland and Summers took center stage) was "Synchronicity I".
It's a manic piece of work, almost more of a fragment than a song, and certainly more 'album track' than single. I think I recall it getting played on the radio at least a couple of times (the more traditionally pop "Synchronicity II" was indeed a single), but maybe it was only because the album was everywhere. It's a frenzy of work as the Police tried to grab the 80s- an era where words like 'stress' and 'data' were being used every day. Like Billy Joel's "Pressure", the artistic capture of the moment has not aged well. I suppose I should get to Sting's solo career as well, but that's a post for another day- all I will say is, like his outfit below (and Anne Rice allusions and Cold War references), it made sense at the time.
Synchronicity was the largest album at the planet for a time from what was the most important band on the planet for the time; and there lies the rub. I do like Synchronicity, but I have heard the songs of it probably in terms of thousands of plays. Like other 80s bands that went intergalactic, albums like Van Halen's 1984 and The Joshua Tree are epic moments in pop music, but I really have heard them too much.
Like those bands, I have no trouble hearing their early singles again and again and again. Van Halen, U2, the Cars (I'm surely leaving some obvious ones out) made some early albums that are still amazing in 2014. I don't tire of early Police hits like "So Lonely", :Message in a Bottle" and "Locked out of Heaven", but I could take or leave "King of Pain".
Sure enough, that's the truth now, but that was also the truth then. Synchronicity was inescapable at the time. "Every Breath You take" was played every hour of every day of every week (like it is now, still, I am sure), So I have a bit of love-and-hate for the Police's biggest album.
My favorite song off the album back then (and don't forget there are some weird departure moments where Copeland and Summers took center stage) was "Synchronicity I".
It's a manic piece of work, almost more of a fragment than a song, and certainly more 'album track' than single. I think I recall it getting played on the radio at least a couple of times (the more traditionally pop "Synchronicity II" was indeed a single), but maybe it was only because the album was everywhere. It's a frenzy of work as the Police tried to grab the 80s- an era where words like 'stress' and 'data' were being used every day. Like Billy Joel's "Pressure", the artistic capture of the moment has not aged well. I suppose I should get to Sting's solo career as well, but that's a post for another day- all I will say is, like his outfit below (and Anne Rice allusions and Cold War references), it made sense at the time.
