release date: Oct. 3, 1980
format: vinyl (AMLH 64831) / cd 2014 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,98]
producer: The Police, Nigel Gray
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: A) 1. "Don't Stand so Close to Me" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Driven to Tears" - 3. "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" - 4. "Canary in a Coalmine" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Behind My Camel" (4 / 5) - 3. "Man in a Suitcase" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Shadows in the Rain"
3rd studio album by The Police follows one year after Reggatta de blanc, and like that it includes Nigel Gray as co-producer. Sting is here back as undisputed songswriter being credited eigth out of eleven tracks. Summers provides one song only (track #B2), and Copeland is credited two songs (tracks #A6 and #B5).
Again, the band has changed style, although this time it's more of a subtle turn. The strong jazz and fusion element is more subdued and the album appears as less experimental with a bolder mainstream pop / rock profile. Fans all over the world immediately embraced the album, it won them several awards, however, critics were less enthusiastic about the broader appeal and a turn to "easy" money. But it goes down as the band's confirmation of their breakthrough on both sides of the Atlantic with Reggatta de blanc.
I have always thought of their first three albums as a trilogy, and it makes sense in more than one way. These three have all been given strange or non-English titles. They're all founded on basically the three instruments the trio handles: bass, guitar, and drums / percussion, and they all include tracks of fast, short new wave tracks, whereas the last two studio albums have much more complex orchestration with keyboards, horns and strings, aside from having less reggae-inspired compositions.
Anyway, this album plays a major part of my youth and the music I listened to just before throwing myself over punk rock. So in that sense this is a fine link between traditional pop / rock of the 1970s and new musical styles. Just like their previous album, Zenyattà ended up on top of the UK albums chart list, a position it also made in Australia and in France.
In my book, this is their second-best album overall, and definitely one to know of.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 4,5 / 5 stars ]
