What intrigues me most about the album is that, despite what some might think (i.e. those that just think of the Police as an idiosyncratic punk band that betrayed its past), the general approach and philosophy that the band would show on subsequent albums is already firmly in place. The band recognized that the most important facet of punk-related music had nothing to do with attitude or banal stupidity, but instead was well-crafted minimalism. When listening to this album, it becomes obvious that all of the members can do pretty much anything they want in their songs, but instead of choosing to stretch out songs unnecessarily, they instead (a) make sure that every note is in place, with nothing made excessively complex or wanky, and (b) make sure to (almost) always play as a band, with none of the players overshadowing the others.

Put another way, all three know their roles and stay within them, but within those roles all put forth their best efforts. The band doesn't use many "fancy" time signatures, but Copeland, in addition to demonstrating an absolutely AMAZING snare tone, amply demonstrates that incredible creativity can be shown even within "standard" time signatures. Sting doesn't engage in pyrotechnics a la Chris Squire or John Entwistle or whoever, but his playing is as smooth and controlled and powerful as needed. And finally, Summers shows that he can punch riffs out with incredible efficiency, play against the beat as needed (i.e. in the reggaish tracks) and even throw in a good solo once in a while (the incredibly fast and cool solo in "Peanuts").

It also helps that the songwriting is incredibly good, with only two of the ten songs really falling short of BRILLIANT. Of course, I dislike these two tracks pretty significantly, so it makes sense that they'd hurt the rating a bit. "Born in the 50's" is an obvious attempt on the part of the band to make a generic classic rock song, and while the chorus is memorable, it's incredibly banal and lacks the crisp punch that makes so many of the other tracks so great. Add in the fact that Sting's screams in the verses are pompous and ugly without having any resonance, and you have one of the few Police tracks I actively dislike. Unfortunately, the next track is even worse - while "Be My Girl - Sally" has cool enough music (especially that neat echoey Summers riffage), the spoken interludes with Summers talking about falling in love with a blow-up doll are just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. It might have been considered risque and even avantgarde back then (though one should note that Roxy Music beat them to the punch on this idea six years previously, and did it way better too), but today it just sounds like extremely stupid "experimentation."

The other eight tracks, however, more than make up for those two stinkbombs - it took me a few listens to get used to them (mainly because I was initially more inclined to the "polished" version of the band), but these songs have grown on me to such an extent that, if the album consisted only of them, I could make a strong argument for giving this an E. If pressed, I can guess I could say "Hole in My Life" is a little weaker than the others, but it's still a great song - the reggae groove could seem a bit monotonous, but Sting does a great job of modulating the chorus up and down, and the verse melody has enough surprising variations to relieve most of the boredom.

The rest, though, sheesh. The opening "Next to You" has punkish undertones, mostly because of Sting's attempts at growling vocals, but otherwise it's just an exceptionally good fast pop song with a terrific chorus and great vocal-to-riff flow in the verses. "So Lonely" is a common choice for the album's best song (though in my opinion, there's so much great stuff on this album that no clearcut choice exists), and it's not hard to see why - though it starts as an obvious Marley ripoff in the reggaish rhythm section, the verse melody is one of the great examples of simplistic brilliancy, and the chorus is just a fine piece of guitar-rock. Besides, it has that FABULOUS part near the end, where Sting wails the title (and necessary accompanying words) repeatedly, building the tension into a hell of a frenzy before the band jams over the choral part before fading out. So goodie, so goodie, so goodie!!

After the brilliant and universally known "Roxanne" (a piece that seems like reggae at first, until you realize that it's actually a tango - at least, that's what I thought until I heard that it's actually a bossanova. What a clever band) and the aforementioned "Hole in My Life," we get a trio of tracks that might not be as well known as some others here, but still amaze me just as much. "Peanuts" has EVERYTHING, from clever punkish verses to a GREAT chorus to an unexpected AMAZING guitar solo to an even MORE unexpected dissonant saxophone part that disappears as suddenly as it appears before going back to the "normal" song for the finish. The album then returns to a reggaish feel with "Can't Stand Losing You," but truthfully the only reggaish part is the guitar playing against the beat. Otherwise, it's just an INCREDIBLY catchy number, with another one of those choruses that amazes me with the total ease with which it manages to stick in my brain. And finally, there's "Truth Hits Everybody," with one of the greatest punkish riffs ever, more incredible drumming, another amazing vocal melody (with a solid, short middle 8), and even some chimes that should sound out of place but don't! Amazing.

Now, the album then hits a very disappointing lull with the two aforementioned stinky tracks, but it manages to redeem itself plenty with "Masoko Tanga," a world-beat piece that's technically not an instrumental but may as well be (supposedly, the vocals were recorded with Sting under hypnosis, so he doesn't actually know what the heck he's saying on this track, and neither does anybody else). Copeland does all sorts of amazing things on this track, overdubbing a "standard" drumming pattern with all sorts of ethnic patterns while Sting gets to play off him marvelously and Summers throws in some weird guitar effects as compliment his regular off-beat rhythm work. Suffice to say it's great, and I'm definitely glad that the album ends on such a high note.

Overall, then, this is a VERY high C, and a necessity for anybody interested in the New Wave era at all. As good as it is, though, the band managed to improve on the effort, and the next album conclusively proved that this was not a flash-in-the-pan group.

It helps that this time around, there's only ONE song that I'd call a significant weak point. "Deathwish," the lone group-composed number on here, is a piece that gives me great pains in trying to remember how on earth any of it goes, and while I sense that all of these tempo changes are meant to give it some sort of rocking intensity, it always seems like a bunch of idea fragments haphazardly glued together but not quite making it. It's unfortunate, but I dislike it enough to dock the album one point (and thus, as mentioned earlier, denying the band a 4) - it may fit the mood, but its structural "ugliness" somewhat spoils my listening experience every time.

As always, though, the rest of the album is just genial. This time around, Copeland gets to contribute three of his own numbers, and while some wince at this, I hardly find this a problem. "On Any Other Day" is hilarious throughout, and while it's clunkier than the rest of the songs on the album, the clunkiness is obviously intentional, and in turn adds to the amusing novelty of the song. "Contact" is better, though, a slow and menacing (at least in the verses) pop song that has a perfectly solid chorus to go with it. And finally, there's "Does Everyone Stare," a cabaret-based pop song that could function as an anthem for every clutzy (both physically and emotionally) teenager that ever lived. In particular, the last verse is one that should resonate with millions of young males all over the world, a spot-on devestating look inside the soul of a love-struck goof.

The other seven songs are all penned by Sting, and if you ever wondered after listening to any of his solo work how this boob ever got so popular, you need to go here to see just exactly how talented he once was as a songwriter. One of them, the title track, goes so far as to be an instrumental, and it's GOOD - it has vocals, but they're completely wordless, and the emphasis is on building from a vaguely reggaish beginning through various "CHA"'s and other wordless sounds over ever-intensifying instrumental parts, until the tension reaches a breaking point and the band explodes into a ferocious jam (I love those basslines!!!!!!) over the next minute or so until the track fades out. Maybe well-constructed instrumentals are too "artsy" for punk lovers, but hell, the Police were never a "true" punk band anyway, so get out of here.

There are, however, still some vague elements of punk in some of the other tracks. "It's Alright For You," in its essence, is a punk song, but it has the same type of hardened polish that makes up the rest of the album, and when you throw in the incredible rhythmic catchiness of it, I'm not about to complain about its presence on the album in the slightest. The closing "No Time This Time" also has a lot of punk elements, but face it - you would NEVER find drumming this incredible or basslines this fast in a song done by any "conventional" punk band. The mid-song guitar solo kinda stinks, but that's ok - it's hardly supposed to be the "selling point" of the track. And of course, there's the well-known opener, "Message in a Bottle," which just so happens to be the best song on the album - in many ways it too is a punk song, but on the other hand guitar lines this tight and this interesting aren't something you'll readily find elsewhere. Oh, ok, it also goes without saying that every other possible element of the song rules mightily as well, but since you've probably heard the song a zillion times, I guess there's no real point in describing it further.

Finally, there's three ballads with a vaguely reggaish base, but all turn into something quite a bit more. "Bring on the Night" comes first, opening with Copeland showing just how intriguing drumming can be even if it's just riding a cymbal and occasionally using a kick drum for twenty seconds, before it becomes mystical in the verses and catchy in the chorus (before fading out with all sorts of echoey guitar parts). Then a couple of tracks later, there's a total masterpiece in "Walking on the Moon." Sting's bass carries the instrumental melody (while Sting's vocal melody is totally genial), Summers augments his standard reggaish licks with these mystical echoey "ba-bammmmm"'s, and the drumming ... I'm gonna put this as simply as I possibly can - before I ever heard this track, I never realized that one could do so much on drums when playing 4/4. Aside from the greatest snare and cymbal tones you'll ever hear in your life, he just does so many incredibly creative things that I can't even begin to describe them. In any case, a couple of tracks after "Moon," we get one of the great examples of "reggae-pop" ever conceived, the gripping "Bed's Too Big Without You," filled with more great drumming and more great basslines and more subtle guitarwork. You know, typical Police genius.

So yeah, there's your brilliant album. A little monotonous in mood (yeah, I know that's the point of a moodpiece, but some moods suck me in better than others do) and with one really icky track, but otherwise full of brilliancies. If you only want to have one Police album (ie you're an idiot), this is definitely the one to have. Even if the following ones are damned great as well.

The really nice thing about this album is that, unlike the last two, it doesn't have a single track I consider filler. Yup, Outlandos had its pair of stinkers, and Reggatta had its lone yuck track, but there's not a single track on here that doesn't have a bunch of really cool things going for it. Yup, this even includes the various instrumentals (or near-instrumentals, as the case may be), which some people automatically dismiss as pretentious filler. The two near-instrumentals, in particular, are absolute headphone musts; "Voices in My Head" REALLY manages to convey the mood of the title, with a terrific groove (anchored by Summers' echoey guitar riffs and a GREAT melody line carried by Sting's bass) that eats away at your brain while Sting faintly chants lines based in the title, until it gains some paranoid energy from (first) the band yelling out CHA! CHA! (in a similar way to how they did on the last album's title track) and (second) Stewart getting more and more aggressive with his drumming until they fade out.

Then there's "Shadows in the Rain," the kind of piece that one may want to instinctively dismiss as boring filler crap but that shows that "weird" need not mean "bad." The drums (mixed waaaaay above everything else) manage to create images of raindrops falling in my head, the bass melody depicts (for me) a sort of semi-urgent-but-not-really need to get out of the rain quickly, the occasional bits of piano are puddles that I cross, and Andy's weird (and COOL) guitar lines (mixed in such a way that they literally sound like they're coming from a distant place far above me) make me feel like I'm watching something cool happen in the sky, like lightning or a meteor shower or something. Maybe it could have been placed in a better spot on the album (more on that later), but that doesn't hurt the track itself at all.

The two "proper" instrumentals could be considered more boring, but I don't mind them. "Behind My Camel" actually won a Grammy for Best Instrumental, and it probably deserved it (how many bands were putting out quality instrumentals in the 80's?) - it's extremely hypnotic, with Andy creating an "Arabic" melody out of processed guitars and more processed guitars. It's a total departure from all punk pretenses of the beginning of the band, but heck, Summers was always more Robert Fripp than Johnny Rotten, and the person in me that likes well-done experimentation applauds this. The Copeland-penned "Other Way of Stopping" (which finishes the album) is weaker, but it does convey (for me) a sense of a final surge "up the mountain" (to the top of the world), until it ends with that cool sounding noise at the very end that I guess represents reaching the summitt. Whatever, it has cool drumming.

The bulk of the album, however, lies not in instrumentals, but in the "regular" songs. Every one of them is simply great - I don't like how some of them are ordered, but when I listen to them on their own, I absolutely love love love them. The first four, actually, are ordered perfectly (which, come to think of it, is probably the main reason I get bothered with the ordering of the others - my brain gets into a groove of perfection, and when there's something less, it gets disappointed), making the already great songs feed off one another until they seem to transcend mere pop. First of all, I'm not sure there could be a better way to start an album than on here, and I don't just mean the actual song - has there EVER been a cooler introduction to an album than that ultra-eerie synth-processed guitar sound that is here??!!! Not that the song is any slouch - "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a pop masterpiece, one that manages to lyrically combine the base (horniness) with the "intelligent" (Nabokov!), and that musically combines a brilliant verse melody (that some people assume is the chorus) and lots of cool atmosphere to the already established expert playing.

The next three songs may be just as good, though - as far as I know, it may be just that "Don't Stand" comes first and has the cool intro that makes it "stand out" for me. "Driven to Tears" has a neat bassline (what else is new) over which Sting quietly rants against hypocrisy in dealing with poorer countries, in a way that says "I'm mad, but I'm not going to raise my voice to show my anger," and then uses a brief snippet of aggressive Summers guitar to vent instead (and then does all sorts of other neat things that I won't describe here). Then it virtually seamlessly segues (without being a "true" segue) into "When The World is Running Down You Make The Best of What's Still Around," which manages to showcase EVERYTHING good about The Police in one track (hard to describe it better than that). And, of course, there's the amusing (and SO CATCHY) "Canary in a Coalmine," where the guys manage to sound less earnest than on any other Sting-penned Police track, and Summers uses his mastery of guitar effects for humor (as opposed to "dramatic/atmospheric effect").

Now, the other three tracks are just fine, but for whatever reason, my brain wants to consider them "shoved" into the back part of the album (probably due to being sandwiched between the various instrumentals). Whatever, they deserve mention. "Bombs Away" is another amusing Copeland number, one that manages to make generals and other military people look and sound goofy, and in the process sound both timely and timeless (thanks to the fact that, as of this writing, bombs in Afghanistan aren't that far in the past). "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is sometimes slammed because of its "stupid" title, but heck, a great lightweight pop number isn't any worse than a great "serious" pop number, and the whole thing is so catchy it's scary. Last but not least (well, maybe least, but just of this great bunch) is "Man in a Suitcase," another catchy ska number like "Canary" but with enough significant differences to make it anything but a ripoff of that song.

All in all, a good good good album. I get tired listening to it sometimes, but that's really my problem and nobody else's. I can't see giving this ANYTHING less than a D, and like all other Police albums, any argument you can give to justify an even better rating won't meet much opposition on my part.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the first three tracks of the album are easily the greatest 1-2-3 wallop in the entire Police catalogue. "Spirits in the Material World" is essentially reggae-pop turned into synth-based art rock, and while some of the lyrics are a bit pompous ("they subjugate the meek" has always bugged me for some reason), the melody does a good job of conveying "distant majesty" for me, and the chorus is impeccably constructed, as usual. "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" is simply one of the best pop songs ever (written by Sting well before the band got together), combining a beautiful piano-based vocal melody with the chorus-to-end-all-choruses, and even a terrific coda that rivals the one from "So Lonely" for emotional impact (though it's done in a different manner, obviously).

And then there's "Invisible Sun," where Sting gives the most stately vocal delivery of his career in the verses (in melody, lyrics and vocal tone), yet also delivers an upbeat chorus that might bug some but also gives a glimmer of hope to the otherwise depressing atmosphere of the song. I can't really see how anybody would complain about the synths after hearing this track - the atmosphere they create in the verses is totally amazing, and the stuff they do during the chorus gives a feeling of "fullness" that might not exist there otherwise.

Most everybody loves at least two of the first three tracks, but for many, the rest of the album is spotty at best. Fools, I say, fools all of you. MAYBE "Demolition Man" is a little longer than it should be, but that just means I get to enjoy the great playing and cool riffage that much longer. And MAYBE "One World (Not Three)" goes too much a bit in the simple pop-reggae direction (I like it nonetheless). And MAYBE "Secret Journey" has a bit too little "song" during its time (much of it is devoted to GORGEOUS guitar ambience courtesy of Andy), and MAYBE the lyrics are a bit pompous, but they're delivered in such a way that I really get moved by them.

Other than those, it's hard for me to pick out significant problems on the album. "Hungry For You (J'Aurais Toujours Faim De Toi)" doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is - a REALLY energetic groove with Sting trying to sing in French and failing in an incredibly entertaining way while the rest of the band does their stuff as well as ever. Hence, as a devoted member of the Black and Blue/excellent-"lightweight"-stuff-is-as-good-as-excellent-"serious"-stuff school of thought, I like the thing to death. "Too Much Information" is an EXCELLENT pop-funkster filled with a near endless supply of hooks, and while I might understand somebody getting annoyed with ANOTHER reprisal of the "Cha!"'s, they work here just as well as they did on the tracks that had them before. The following "Rehumanize Yourself" isn't as catchy, but it comes close, and while it might be tempting to dismiss it as "just another Copeland pop song," I'd beg you to reconsider - it's no worse than anything else he ever did, and it's not like the playing is any worse than usual, so stop yer derned complainin'. These tracks aren't spectacular, but they're still really good.

The other two tracks are also often ignored, but they shouldn't be. Summers' "Omegaman" is EXCELLENT, as weird as it might be (mostly because of the chorus and the "ugly" main guitar part that I love anyway). The verse melody is, quite simply, one of the best examples of an "epic hook" (see some of my prog pages for ranting on that concept) that will ever be found on an otherwise "non-epic" album, though one should note that the echoey chords that Summers uses to underpin the vocals there deserve a large part of the credit for that. Don't forget that cool solo, either - it's short, as all Summers solos are, but the weird phasing effect that he uses is something that will absolutely take your breath away (if you're a Police fan, of course).

And finally, we finish on a somber, slightly nostalgic note with Copeland's "Darkness." It's a bit unsettling to end the album with a mid-tempo ballad whose message is, "I wish I never woke up this morning - life was easy when it was boring," yes, but an album as bizarre as this could never have it any other way. Besides, the chorus melody is perfectly memorable in all its melancholy, so it's not like it's just mood and nothing else.

Simply put, this album is great. Pretentious in parts, yes. "Overproduced," possibly. But well-written, yes. Well-played, definitely. Diverse, in both style and mood, yes. In other words, GOOD. Ignore the skeptics, listen to me. I'm right, after all.

FINE BY ME. Don't get me wrong, I do consider Synchronicity the weakest of the quintet, and there are several problems here that were unthinkable previously, but despite all these, I like this album a LOT. There are just way way way too many great songs on here for this album to get a low grade, and it's only some technical issues (the ordering of tracks, the reduced role of Copeland, et al) that keep this from making a strong case as my favorite Police album. Call me a sellout or McTernative or AlternaFerrin or whatever, this is just a great album.

Now, there are significant flaws, no question about it. Most of these stem from the fact that a more appropriate name for the album might be Stingchronicity, as Sting is obviously in almost COMPLETE control of the creative processes here. Yes, Sting got the primary songwriting credit the majority of the time on previous albums, but it also seemed that Copeland and Summers would usually begin making a significant impact early on in the song's development. This is not the case here - it's unfortunate, but virtually none of the drumming on the album reaches the superhuman levels to which Stu so easily and frequently aspired on the last couple of albums. To an extent, that's partially because many of the songs are quite subdued, meaning that energetic drumming wouldn't really fit in very well, but even on the faster songs, when the drumming has more energy, it still just seems normal.

The case with Andy, however, is a little more complicated. From one perspective, he's less integral to the sound than before, since his guitar parts don't interact with Sting's bass and Stu's drums in the same ultra-tight jamming way they used to. Instead, he's often more or less relegated to the side, not providing the backbone to the music he once did, but rather augmenting the sound with his various tricks. HOWEVER, from that perspective, this is Andy's experimental peak with the band - he may be close to a session man on this album, but he's definitely a featured session man, in that he pulls out so many cool sound effects that provide cool extra dimensions to the tracks that he almost accidentally makes himself the star of the album, despite Sting's domineering artistic facade towering over everything.

As far as Stu and Andy's songwriting, each only gets one track on the album, each found on the first side, and I tend to find that these are underrated by people. "Miss Gradenko" once again demonstrates a fine pop sensibility on the part of Stu, with a TERRIFIC lightweight chorus filled with macabre lyrics in the grand tradition of "Any Other Day." As for "Mother," I have a few words of defense for the track, in particular Andy's "ugly" wailings. You see, I had many an opportunity growing up to see my mother interacting with her mother, who could be, er, difficult to deal with at times. When Andy comes in with his wailings, I immediately am able to picture somebody whose entire body seems to radiate inordinate stress at just the thought of dealing with the "mother figure," somebody whose eyes may be bugged out hugely, or who starts to get an eye twitch when talking to her, or whose hair is totally on end or who gets a headache just from being around the person for three minutes. It's a phenomenon I have witnessed plenty in my life, and maybe seeing this is necessary to be able to "get" the song, but all I know is that I can definitely tell what it is Andy is trying to convey. And besides, I kinda like the "ugly" rhythm track, like "Behind My Camel" but more "sinister."

Beyond these, everything else is Sting and CLEARLY Sting, and the songs range from pretty good to absolutely freakin' fantastic. I do consider a couple of the tracks a good step down from the others, but they still manage to work in their own ways. "O My God" is the weakest of them all, with a bass line that we already heard just fine on "Driven to Tears" and "Demolition Man," and little else in the melody department ... BUT, it has a very nice emotional fire to it, shown especially in the wailing saxophone part at the end that drives home the desperation conveyed by Sting's vocals. I'm also a little less fond of the closing (on the LP release - the closer on CD is "Murder By Numbers") "Tea in the Sahara" than of the numbers before it, as it strays closer to "solo Sting" than anything else on the album, with a verse melody so mellow it completely fell under my radar the first time I heard it. Still, Summers gets in a bunch of neat guitar effects in the background, the chorus is memorable without being banal at all, the basslines are quite nice, and the lyrics are intriguing in their own way. It's a completely inappropriate choice for an album closer, but a nice track nonetheless.

That leaves seven tracks, all of which are just great. Side two kicks off with three MAJOR singles, and while one might be tempted to dismiss them as easy listening crud, just because they're so mellow, this is a temptation that should be ignored as much as possible. Do you REALLY want to tell me that "Every Breath You Take" is anything less than a brilliant song? Can you really imagine the world today without that brilliant guitar melody Summers plays to match Sting's brilliant vocal melody and creepy lyrics? "King of Pain" is another incredible track - the lyrics kind of go a little overboard in the pretense department, but there's no denying how brilliant the vocal melody is, both the main theme and the cool twists it throws around with ease. It has great use of instrumental contrasts too, in the way it moves from that simple (but neat) piano line in the beginning to all sorts of emotional (and not in the LEAST bit sappy) guitar parts.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" can seem a whee bit weaker when listening, but that's mostly because of what I consider slightly excessive use of "moody" keyboards - everything else about the track is ace. The vocal melody is twenty times anything Phil Collins could have come up with on one of his solo albums, the rhyming scheme is different from the standard pop rhyming scheme, the chorus is great, and Summers gets in some of the most memorable guitar sounds you'll find on the album (which says quite a bit). Then, after "Sahara," we close out the album with "Murder By Numbers," a lounge jazz-based piece about becoming a serial killer, which has yet another genius chorus to drive the gruesome song deep into your head, never to escape.

Despite all these brilliancies, though, I don't particularly feel that the second side really supercedes the first in quality. One track that gets a LOT of mediocre-to-bad press is "Walking in Your Footsteps," which I've loved since the first time I heard it (consequently, I was miffed when I read as many reviews of the album as I did that called this track weak. Hmmph.). For one thing, it has some of the most intriguing drumming of the album, but in a different way than you'd be used to on a Police album - Stu gets himself an echoey, multi-toned electronic drum kit, and the cool rhythms he plays on it would have made Bill Bruford proud, I think. Aside from that, though, the vocal melody once again rules, Andy's guitar effects are amazing to listen to, and darn it, I like the lyrics. Jewish cracker of a song (as Prindle called it) my big hairy ....

As I was saying, the first side is quite good, but I haven't yet mentioned what REALLY takes the cake for me - the two title tracks, bookending the side. "Synchronicity I" is just about the ultimate New-Wave artsy keyboard-based rock song, one that combines a GREAT keyboard riff with pretentious lyrics that are a blast to hear Sting belt out, and while it might have been nice to hear Stu come up with some more creative drum lines, the band is nevertheless quite tight and entertaining throughout the song. Yet as good as this is, the art-rock lover in me gravitates even more towards "Synchronicity II." The lyrics are quite neat, yet I managed to totally fall in love with this track long before I grabbed the lyric sheet and decided to read exactly what it was Sting was singing in the verses. The sheer epic urgency of the track is jawdropping, with all sorts of cool riffage springing forth from Andy's guitar to focus Sting's vocals (not just the words, but the way Sting molds his voice to mirror the tension of the lyrics) from potentially pretentious blabbering into something that gets my heart instinctively pounding in fearful anticipation every time I hear the track. Man, I tell you, when Sting is finished singing from the perspective of the father, and Summers bangs out that riff before Sting goes back to the Scottish lake, it seems like a supernova of disaster is about to explode out of my stereo, and that's a REALLY neat sensation.

So, you see, I really like this album. My biggest gripe is that bunching the three big singles plus "Tea in the Sahara" together on the second side really wasn't the best idea in the world - as good as the songs are, that is MUCH too much mellowness all in one spot for the listener who can tend to nod off if some bits of rock aren't interspersed between large stretches of softness. It's unfortunate, but as much as I like basically all of the songs on here, I do find myself starting to droop near the end, even though my brain keeps telling me "You idiot! "Wrapped Around Your Finger" rules!" And, ok, I'm disappointed with the relative lack of Stu that's here. Yet despite all that, it still fully deserves a high grade, and I'm quite glad that the band's studio album life ended on such a positive note.

The biggest gripe I have is that both discs provide, in my opinion, only a caricature of the band at those particular points in time. Even though careful listens to the five studio albums show that the band, in essence, didn't completely change over time, an introduction to the band through this album would suggest otherwise. The first disc really does make them out to be sloppy, sometimes careless punks, while the second disc really does make them out to be pretentious sellout corporate whores. True, the first disc has a LOT of energy, and the second disc is VERY tight, but on the other hand, the first disc displays only some of the tightness that distinguished the first two albums, while the second disc is SO polished and SO rehearsed that all "true" energy is virtually dissipated.

Still, there are a few things I like quite a bit on each disc, and let's face it, the track listing can't help but be pretty danged good. Each disc has a nice rendition of "Can't Stand Losing You," highlighted by oh-so-tasty incorporations of the title track from Reggatta De Blanc, so that's something. Disc one also has some neat "psychadelic" jamming at the end of "Bed's Too Big Without You," decent renditions of unreleased punk songs ("Fallout," "Landlord"), and lots of other energetic stuff. Disc two's highlights aren't as obvious, but the band does do the two Synchronicity title tracks meshed together without a break, and most of the other songs from that album aren't really worse than they were before.

On the other hand, disc one's version of "So Lonely" is kinda yucky, mainly due to the cool coda getting waaaaay too stretched out and thus losing much of its power. Plus, the band ends the show with "Born in the 50's" AND "Be My Girl - Sally" (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew), so that doesn't exactly leave the nicest taste in my mouth. As for disc 2, "Spirits in the Material World" is close to ruined (despite the synths being replaced by guitars, which is nice, the song is much worse than before due to the out-of-place female backing vocals), while "O My God" and "King of Pain" each become victims of the dreaded bad extended coda (in the case of the latter, an audience singalong).

Still, there's a lot of great songs on here, so this can theoretically work ok as a compilation. Hence, I'm not going to give it too low of a grade.

Aside from seven live tracks (I dunno if any are overlaps with Live!), which are ALL ace (in my opinion), there are 15 studio tracks on here (again, should have been 17), and they show that the Police were, indeed, a band with enough talent to record high quality material that still wouldn't make it onto an album. One of them sucks (an '86 remake of "Don't Stand So Close to Me"), but that was just a stupid posthumous cash-in anyway, so I'm not gonna count that. Otherwise, there's some FINE punk numbers from the early days ("Fallout," "Nothing Achieving," "Dead End Job," "Landlord," "Visions of the Night"), which show that, even when trying to be as punky as possible, they still couldn't help but throw in neat twists to really make the tracks worth it. I mean, dig all those cool guitar parts Summers flashes when he wants to!

After an interesting mono version of "Bed's Too Big Without You," there's a funny song called "Friends" (with spoken parts by Summers that are MUCH more entertaining than the stuff on "Be My Girl - Sally") and a slightly preachier poppy riff-rocker called "A Sermon." Then we move into the weird semi-hypnotic Zenyatta period, with the NEAT "Shambelle," which could have easily fit into the album and maybe have even made it better. I'm willing to guess that the following "Flexible Strategies" is from the Ghost sessions (due to the horns), and same for "Lowlife" (what NEAT echoey rolling guitar lines). Summers' "Someone to Talk to" is a throwaway, but it was well more than compensated by "I Burn For You," another moody Synchronicity Sting ballad that has great guitar ambience throughout. And finally, "Once Upon a Daydream" seems a bit too solo-Sting in places, especially in the lyrics, but hey, I've heard worse.

Final verdict on the boxset and the band - great sound, no matter what the era, and badly needed by any and all rock lovers. In theory, I should give the boxset the top grade, but that would be cheating, as I'd be grading the whole discography in one swoop, which is what I already spent the rest of the page doing. Ah well, no matter.