Police

Ghost in the Machine

The Police's arguable greatest triumph

Review Score:

(10/10)
English rockers The Police released their fourth album Ghost in the Machine in October of 1981 just exactly one year following their first US Top 10 and Platinum selling album Zenyatta Mondatta.
Ghost in the Machine basically picks up where Zenyatta Mondata left off. The trio continues to deepen the lyrics contained in their music. They also continue to become more of a Classic Rock band while still maintaining the formula that has become the basis for their sound.
Lastly, the band switched producers from Nigel Gray whom worked on the band's first three albums to Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins/Genesis engineer Hugh Padgham.
The trio also began incorporating other instruments other than Sting's Bass guitar and vocals, Andy Summers' Guitar work and Stewart Copeland's flawless drums -with Horns and synthesizers. The result is amazing and now the half by half or as it was in the days side by side look into each track.
The album's second US single Spirits in the Material World opens this classic album with lyrics that were a socio-political commentary is very present in this song with words such as "There is no political solution; to our troubled evolution" and "Our so-called leaders speak; With Words they try to jail you". At the time, America's arguable best to many or worst to some Pres Ronald Reagan just took office and the song was a huge hit. We follow with Every Little Thing She Does is Magic which was the song that gave the album its massive success and was the band's first US Top 5 hit. It's a great pop song with a simple theme of being smitten by a woman. We go back to dark territory with the album's arguable best piece Invisible Sun as it dealt with the pain and violence in Northern Ireland. We then have the only Police song sung in a different language Hungry For You (j'aurais toujours faim de toi). The charm of this song is that the majority of it is in French except for the quote "no matter what I do I'm still hungry for you". Sting succeeded where Billy Joel failed a year earlier with singing a song in French. The first side ended with Demoliton Man which was a great rocker with horns and Andy's guitar work on the Fender Strat being flawless.
The second half of the album starts with Too Much Information which was an underrated tune. It has a reggaeish sound similar to ther first two albums, yet overlayed with the horns. Rehumanize Yourself follows and is a song that deals with human rights. Just like the track before, it combines the elements of the classic Police sound combined with the horn elements. This track appeared in the 1984 Tom Hanks film Bachelor Party and is a great song. One World (Not Three) is yet another great combo of the classic Police sound with the new incorporation of horns. This socio-political song questions why we often differentiate a "Third World" from the rest of the world. Andy Summers' Omegaman follows and is yet another "dark" song that discusses how one who considers himself nearly "Superhuman" deals with the problems in the world and had killer guitar work from Andy. Secret Journey follows and is another underrated song which is one of my all time favorite Police tracks. Stewart Copeland's Darkness ends the album on a dark note with a musically uplifting yet lyrically dark track.
This album was the first Police album I heard as a six year old in 1982 as my oldest sister had this album yet I wound up hijacking this album from her within a few years. Today, this album sounds even better thanks to Bob Ludwig's painstaking restoration of The Police's catalog.
Ghost in the Machine went to #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and was the band's second Multi-Platinum album in a row and doesn't sound like a 24 year old album.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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