release date: Jun. 17, 1983
format: vinyl (AMLX 63735) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,73]
producer: The Police & Hugh Padgham
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: A) 2. "Walking in Your Footsteps" - 3. "O My God" - 4. "Mother" - 6. "Synchronicity II" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Every Breath You Take" (4 / 5) - 2. "King of Pain" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (4 / 5) - 4. "Tea in the Sahara" (4 / 5)
5th and final studio album by The Police follows 1½ years after their most recent album, Ghost in the Machine (Oct. 1981). What remains intact is the choice of co-producer Hugh Padgham - and the songwriting credits are (as usual) reserved Sting as exclusive name on eigth out of ten tracks with Copeland alone being resposible for "Miss Gradenko" (track #A5) and Summers having his only second exclusive song (track #A4) in the band's discography.
Here, the band utilize all their stylistic sources of inspiration for the better. Most tracks all contain elements of jazz, synthpop, fusion rock and more contemporary pop / rock but still maintaining a quite homogeneous output - much contrary to what didn't succeed on the predecessor.
The album is the band's number 1, best-selling, and best-awarded album. In my mind, that has to do with chosing what the people want. It's a fine example of knowing what most of their fans enjoy, which makes me think of Coldplay (from a contemporary perspective), although, I find The Police a more substantial band, but that's also ultimately the reason that it's not one of my favourite The Police albums. I simply find it too slick, too sweet, and a bit boring in the long run. It seems they have given in trying to progress artistically. Yes, it contains great pop songs, and "Mother" is a nice funny and daring ingredient but the colour remains the same. "Every Breath You Take" is possibly the bands most popular song ever. I just find that the title track (track #6) together with "King of Pain" are the best on this album.
Synchronicity won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Album of The Year, Best Song ("Every Breath.."), and just as the band's previous three albums, it made it to number #1 on the UK albums chart list, just as it did in a number of other countries. It's the only album by the band to top the chart on the US Billboard 200 in USA.
After touring with the new album, the band was found disputing internally, and they officially took a break from one another. Sting threw himself into the project that would be released as his first solo album, and both Copeland and Summers became occupied with solo projects. After what should have been a get-together and a projected new album in '86, the band only managed to re-record the single "Don't Stand so Close to Me '86" after which The Police officially disbanded in 1986 while releasing their first compilation album Every Breath You Take: The Singles (Oct. 1986).
Synchronicity is the second album by The Police to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5 stars ]
