437. The Police / Ghost in the Machine. 1981. 3.5/5

When I first got this album, way back in the dark ages, I used to just adore it. I played it over and over again, knew all the words, loved the fact that it was different from what the band had done before. It feels a little bit darker, has different themes, and more of that wonderful quirky experimental type guitars and drums that really marked The Police as an exceptional band, and out of the ordinary.

My love for this album came from my teenage years, and to be quite honest, yesterday was the first time in about twenty years that I actually took out the album, put it on and listened to it in its entirety. I cannot recall having done so since high school, so it would therefore be longer than twenty years. I can also say that I was looking forward to it, to see exactly how it stacked up after all this time.
Obviously, the first three songs on the album will always be favourites - "Spirits in the Material World", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and "Invisible Sun" are the three standout tracks from the album. However, I was, and still am, fond of "Demolition Man", "Rehumanise Yourself" and "Omegaman". While the style of song here has progressed from their earlier albums, I still think it has progressed in a good way - much in the way they progressed even further with their next, and final, release. the biggest elements of change here are the addition of synth and saxophone, both of which are quite prominent in the majority of the songs on the album. "Hungry For You (J'Aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" is a bit too samey and predictable for my liking, and while a bit of sax here is fine, I do think it gets overused in places. This is the first album by The Police where they have moved away from the music being a simple triumvirate, where all of the songs were recorded by and could be played by just the three members, without having to add members to the live band if they were to play their songs. with Ghost in the Machine that now isn't the case.

In many ways this album has probably dated over the last three decades. Certainly the things that fascinated me about this album in the early-to-mid 1980's don't tend to have the same influence on me now. That could also be because of my changing musical tastes, but I remember absolutely loving this album all the way through. Even though having listened to this again has been an enjoyable experience, the repetitive feel of some of the songs in the back half of the album does just cull that love back a bit.

Rating:   "The edge of time closes down as I disappear".  3.5/5