Police

Zenyatta Mondatta

Underrated

Review Score:

(8/10)
By the time their third album came out in 1980, the band's label realized it had not only a record-selling cash cow, but a live act that was critically acclaimed. And any label knows, you promote your albums with live gigs. So A&M sent The Police around the world, gave them a short time to record and sent them out again. The result of the crammed studio sessions was what some critics called their weakest effort, yet even though reached number one on the Billboard charts and garnered them a pair of Grammys for "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "Behind My Camel." But what Zenyatta Mondatta shows of The Police is how the international experiences of touring and the pressures of stardom began to affect their music, lyrics and their outlook on life. This was the album in which Sting started writing about the state of the world and took stock of his place on the planet. And this is the album that coincided with the birth of the medium that would take The Police to the top, MTV.

Although Zenyatta is referred to as "rushed," several songs such as the first, "Don't Stand So Close To Me" feel very carefully crafted. "Don't Stand" introduces what I like to call "The Professor Sting Factor" as he begins to educate us on literary references the average rock fan might not know. Here is where he drops "Nabakov" and in later songs he'll refer to several novels and even a few mythic adventures. Of course, the storytelling of "Don't Stand" is what makes it such a great song. Sting's lyrics begin to not only come across as clever rhymes, but as clever stories as well. Where he tackled the controversial subject of a love affair with a prostitute in "Roxanne," he brings the more suburban taboo of the teacher/student crush. The moody intro and staccato guitar combined with the hi-hat and heavy bass drum bring us into a forbidden world of a teacher on the edge. Close to perfect, as pop songs go.
This is followed up by Stewart Copeland trying to break the skins of his snare drums on the intro to "Driven To Tears," Sting's first foray into socially conscious lyrics. Another classic Copeland drum attack and another short-yet screaming Andy Summers solo combined with a bass line that leads the way make this another example of what The Police are really about. "Driven" seamlessly flows into "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around." Good rhythmic bass and what could be Summers' easiest guitar lines drive The Police song with the longest title!
The catchy and quick driving "Canary In A Coalmine" is a lament to a hypochondriac that leads to the dark and dreamy "Voices Inside My Head" that is technically more of an instrumental since there are only two lines repeated over and over. A General longing for love is the theme behind "Bombs Away," a poke at military thinking.
Clever lyrics ironically convey the idea of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da," the story of a man who can't seem to get the right words out to his love. Summers' guitar and Copeland's drums compliment each other well in this hit. The Police take you to the desert for the Arabian feel of the instrumental "Behind My Camel" before taking you on tour with the "Man In A Suitcase," a look inside the rigors of constant travel.
The album winds down with the ethereal "Shadows In The Rain" with the lyric "Woke up in my clothes again this morning." A line Sting has said might make a good epitaph for his grave. The final track is "The Other Way Of Stopping," a drum-led instrumental with searching, soaring notes on guitar matched almost exactly on bass.
Zenyatta may not be the best collection of songs by The Police, but it holds its own as an important stepping stone in the development of the band.

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