Police

Synchronicity

So much more than "Every Breath You Take"

Review Score:

(10/10)
"Synchronicity" was the fifth and final full-studio album by the trio, The Police. This album was a monster success that was propelled by the hit single "Every Breath You Take". To say that "Synchronicity" was a monster success because of that one song is greatly inaccurate. On this album, The Police had shown they had arrived. The first two albums "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta De Blanc", The Police established their foundation sound - basically a sound that consisted of elements of Punk, Reggae, and Jazz. On the next two albums "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost in the Machine", The Police began to expand that foundation sound to have more of a Classic Rock sound - along with some deeper lyrics It seems with each successive album, The Police continued to grow as a band. "Synchronicity" marks the band completing their evolution. Because of its commercial success, many consider this a Pop album. I tend to disagree - yes there are some Pop elements, but there are also Classic Rock Elements, elements that have the old style of The Police, and even some new avenues. The result - another homerun by the trio.

On "Ghost in the Machine", The Police had begun to experiment with the use of Keyboards and Horns in their music. This trend continues on this collection. However, the foundation of the band Sting's Bass, Andy Summers' Guitar, and Stewart Copeland's Drums are very much present. In fact, I think each of the band members give their strongest Bass, Guitar, and Drum work respectively. One thing is that Sting continues to be the main songwriter for the band. Sting had always liked to make use of metaphors in his songwriting - this collection represents the best use of metaphors possible.

"Synchronicity I": This is a powerful opening song. There is a great keyboard intro, but Stewart Copeland's drumming is ferocious. Sting's vocals are right on the mark with great harmonies. The word Synchronicity is based on Jungian Theory that refers to a coincidence of events that are meaningfully related. This song gives lots of examples of that.

"Walking in Your Footsteps": This is a very unique song that is dominated by an African sounding percussion. This is a very underrated track. Sting draws an analogy to the path we are going down in today's world to the path the Dinosaurs took (toward extinction). Sting vocals also shine.

"O My God": This another underrated track. Sting's Bass, Andy's Guitar, and Stewart's Drums are outstanding on this track providing for some great instrumentation. The Horn Work that started on "Ghost in the Machine" is back for this song. Lyrically, this is a song where Sting is being to doubt his spiritual beliefs.

"Mother": This is definitely an experimental track by The Police. This was not only a song written by Andy, but it features Andy on vocals! I think this is a great change of pace. There is almost a Middle-Eastern Sound to this song - but there also is a very bizarre element to this song. Definitely an example of new avenues pursued by The Police.

"Miss Grandenko": This is Stewart Copeland's lone penned song on the collection. This has a very catchy beat. It somehow seems like The Police's version of "Mrs. Robinson". It also has a feel to their older material.

"Synchronicity II": Like "Synchronicity I", this is a powerful song. Stewart's drumming is ferocious throughout, but Andy Summers provides some incredible guitar work as well. Sting is on top form with his vocals. Although the word "Synchronicity" isn't used in this song, this time the coincidence of events are now applied to suburban family life. On "The Police - Live" album, "I and II" are played to back to back and segue nice. On this album, "Miss Grandenko" provides a nice segue to this song.

"Every Breath You Take": Despite being the monster hit, I think it's the collection's weak spot. Not only has it been overplayed, but it has been over sampled in too many other songs (especially in Sting's work). It's a simple song. Sting provides some excellent Bass melodies and Stewart does a relatively simple, but effective drum patterns.

"King of Pain": This might have been a Top 10 smash, but it is far from a Pop Song. I think this perhaps the strongest song done by the trio on any collection. The Piano intro is outstanding and of course, Stewart, Andy, and Sting are incredible on Drums, Guitar, and Bass respectively. This is a very Dark song chock full of some great metaphors.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger": Same category as "King of Pain" - a Top 10 smash, but far from a Pop Song. This is another song loaded with metaphors and nouns such as "Scylla", "Charybdis", and "Mephistopheles". This song also has a haunting element to it. I think Sting's Bass work is underrated in this song.

"Tea in the Sahara": Here we begin to hear a Jazz element ( a prelude to Sting's first solo album). This song is a cross between Jazz and light Middle Eastern song. There also is a haunting element to this.

"Murder By Numbers": This song wasn't included on the Vinyl version, but was a B-side to "Every Breath You Take". This song also has a Jazz Element that reminds you almost of a Supper Club. This is another dark and haunting song, but it is a very good piece of work by the Police.

In terms of the commercial sales of "Synchronicity", I do think that much of this was due to the fact that "Every Breath You Take" was such a monster pop hit. While I do think the content of "Synchonicity" did win a lot of mainstream fans overt to The Police' style of music, I do think if the Police had made another album shortly after "Synchronicity", they would have trouble with matching the commercial success of "Synchronicity". Overall, this is a great album - highly recommended to all fans.

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