Thursday, March 10, 2016

915. The Police / Synchronicity. 1983. 5/5

Perhaps more so in the 'old days' of the 1980's than occurs in this day and age, your first taste of a band's new album was of the initial single released, which is then (if you are deemed worthy) saturated with airplay on the radio, and thus increases or decreases your desire to buy the album it comes off. Often, the single was the 'best' song on the album, and so you would sometimes find nothing more exciting when you got the album. Occasionally though, no matter how much you liked that single, when you got the album, it completely blew you away, and it was the songs that were not tagged for single release that made the album as exciting as it was. This is what happened for me with Synchronicity.

Everyone knows the main three singles that were released from this album, and that's great, because they are all great songs.
"Every Breath You Take" is probably The Police's most well known song apart from "Roxanne", and everyone who grew up in the 1980's can sing that song to you. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "King of Pain" are also classic radio singles, in that their music is quiet and unobtrusive, able to play in a multitude of settings without 'upsetting' people, while having lyrics that are interesting enough to sing along to. Thus perfect for radio, who can play them at any time of the day. And they are great songs, don't get me wrong. But the instrumentation in "Every Breath You Take" is just... boring! Famously, the story goes that Sting wanted the very basic of basic backing on this track, and would force Stewart Copeland to re-do his drums if he even plugged in a simple roll out of the character that Sting wanted. Blows were even apparently traded during the recording process. Anyway, as brilliant musicians as Stewart and Andy Summers are, they were hamstrung during the recording of this song. Of course it sounds great, but it is strange that they were not allowed to put their own stamp on the song.
On the other side, there is the brilliant synth-into-guitar-drums intro to "Synchronicity" that sets the album off on the perfect footing. The first time I put this album on, turned it up, and heard this coming out of my speakers, I was hooked. It's the perfect combination of the old and the new, and a superb chorus lyrically:

"A connecting principle,
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible.
Science insusceptible
Logic so inflexible
Causally connectible
Nothing is invincible"


From here the remainder of the first half of the album expresses so much variety that it would be easy to dismiss it as a joke or poor creative musicianship. But that is what makes it so brilliant. The wonderful "Walking in Your Footsteps" mixes everything up, on the surface only concentrating on Sting's vocals, but a deeper look shows the excellent percussion and bongos from Stewart and the simple but effective guitar of Andy. "O My God" is a jazzy piece, that even incorporates lyrics from the band's previous hit single "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".
Then comes the piece de resistance, Andy Summers' "Mother", a freaked out, frantic guitar and drum piece with Andy himself crying out the vocals of the song. Let's face it, the music here perfectly portrays the mind of a man who would be saying these lines - "Telephone is ringing, is that my mother on the phone - telephone is screaming, won't she leave me alone!" and "Every girl I go out with, becomes my mother in the end". Terrific stuff that may not be appreciated by certain members of the audience but to my mind is excellent. This is followed by the straight forward "Miss Gradenko", which features dual vocals from Sting and Stewart throughout.
Above all the excellence that can be found here, "Synchronicity II" is perhaps the highlight. Through the brilliant rumbling bass line, Andy's ripping guitar riff, Stewart's amazing drums and lyrics that hit home in the best way possible, this song to me is the crowning glory to The Police's legacy. It also perfectly closes out side one of the album. Sensational.
Following the three singles previously mentioned that are the mainstay of side two of the album, the final two songs are the quiet and thoughtful "Tea in the Sahara" which closed out the original album, while "Murder By Numbers" is the additional track from the cassette (that I first owned) and the CD (which I now own).

This proved to be the final album released by The Police, and in many ways it is fitting that it was. There is little doubt that the members of the band were diverging in their musical tastes, and the fact that they were unable to do anything further together is not a surprise, no matter how disappointing it was at the time. Instead, we have this monument that stands as the finale of their career, and while it again has differences from each of their previous albums, it is the one that marks their greatness forever.

Rating:   "Another suburban family morning, grandmother screaming at the wall".   5/5

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