Synchronicity

So I’ve always preferred the first side of this record, which I bought at the time because of “Synchronicity II despite not really liking The Police. There’s less of a focus on Sting and more interesting ideas in the lyrics and music on the first side.

While “Synchronicity II” is cleverly written, with its chilling metaphor of the lake monster emerging from the slime as the violence stirring within the man in the song, I like “Mother” best (possibly because it’s the track that sounds the least like something by The Police). Who can resist the great repetitive guitar and Andy Summers losing his shit at the end? And the rest of the first side is interesting too, with the thrumming in the background of “Walking in your Footsteps,” the instrumental break with the sax on “O My God,” and “Miss Gradenko”’s excellent guitar and engaging lyrics.

Second side? Meh. Confession: I skipped “Every Breath You Take” and listened to “Mother” twice instead. I’m in between a 3 and a 4 on this one - what do you do when you really enjoyed one side of an album but were bored by the other? Give it a 3, I guess.

Out of the whole 1001 project, I think the biggest disappointment for me has been finding out The Police are a singles band for me.

Every Breath You Take is good, but just fine (Overplayed for me at this point) and Synchronicity II is a stone cold classic, but other than that, there's not a ton on this album that I'm really going crazy for.

Reggatta de Blanc was the same way. First half/singles were good, rest were just OK. I'm finding out I like The Police when they go more punk (Message in a Bottle, Roxanne, Next To You) and less when they stray from that.

So yeah. Bummer.

It was ok, I knew 3 songs going in, but it's before my time and doesn't do much for me.

Pretty ordinary with the odd flourish. Woeful vocals.

The Police får til mye bra, og det er en variert og god plate. Fra de mer progga tittelsporene til Gary Numan-aktige "Miss Gradenko" og world-aktige "Tea In The Sahara".

Syns "Mother" kunne vært byttet ut med en Sting-komposisjon. Syns "Walking In Your Footsteps" også kunne vært byttet ut med en annen Sting-komposisjon.

Jeg savner kanskje de mer new wavete-låtene, og kanskje hadde The Police utrettet alt de kunne utrette sammen i studio på dette tidspunktet.

Some people seem to have a real bee in their bonnet around this one. I thought it was alright yaknow, some great tunes in the midsection, but dragged towards the end. Maybe you needed to be there back in't day to understand why people hate the police, other than ACAB xx

I didn’t like this at all. The Police are the Eagles of early 80s pop-rock.

Started off much better than expected with the driving opener "Synchronicity I". Part II of that and the radio classic "Every Breath You Take" was decent too.
Unfortunately these were the only highlights as the rest of the tracks were either pretty forgettable or even hard to listen to (lowlight "Mother"... why?)
All in all, didn't get me interested in The Police's other work.
2.5/5 - okay

It's good when Sting isnt being a creep, unfortunately It keeps happening

I was somewhat nervous heading into this, thinking I'd be greeted with a fairly standard wanky 80s album, but this was far more volatile, unhinged and fractured than I could have ever hoped for. Structurally, this felt disjointed in the sense of each member seemingly wanting to pull into different directions from one another – there were some interesting diversions and complexities to the songwriting, even if the album itself is largely indebted to pop-rock sensibilities. Tonally and sonically, it also felt rather angular and off-beat in some aspects, with a dark psychological undercurrent to it. Therefore, I can see myself returning to try and further unpack the intrigue, and perhaps even purchasing this.

Weak 3. Wasn’t that special to me

I knew this day would come. The day when I had to listen properly to the Police after never really liking them, despite thinking they are well regarded for a reason and I do rate some of their tracks. This was good, but it allowed me to finally realise what has been going on. They are fantastic songwriters and the tunes and production are high class, but for me the music has no soul. Arrrgh-wait, Synchronicity II is such a great song I am adding an extra star.

Good album by the British band. Much less energetic than the debut, it remains a good album but far from being their best.

Ah 1983, l'année où le monde entier a décidé collectivement de se faire lobotomiser par un blondinet péroxydé qui se prenait pour un intellectuel jungien. On s'attaque aujourd'hui à "Synchronicity", l'album de la consécration, ou plutôt, l'album du divorce le plus lucratif de l'histoire du rock.

Une note de 3/5 s'impose ici avec une lucidité qui trahit une usure certaine, celle de l'ancien disquaire qui a trop souvent dû feindre l'enthousiasme quand il fallait vendre ce disque pour la centième fois de la journée.

Je pense qu'il faut, dès le début, mettre le doigt sur la plaie béante de ce disque : c'est du "faux punk" devenu de la "vraie soupe FM". The Police a toujours été une arnaque géniale – trois virtuoses déguisés en voyous pour surfer sur la vague punk de 77. Mais arrivé en 1983, les masques tombent avec fracas. Fini le reggae blanc nerveux, place aux synthétiseurs froids et à la production clinique. C'est propre, c'est net, c'est aussi aseptisé qu'une salle d'attente de dentiste. Sting ne joue plus dans un groupe, il joue avec des musiciens de session qu'il déteste (et qui le détestent en retour). L'ego du bonhomme a tellement enflé qu'il faut désormais un grand angle pour le faire rentrer sur la pochette.

On ne peut pas nier l'efficacité redoutable de la machine. "Every Breath You Take" reste l'hymne de stalker ultime, un chef-d'œuvre de malaise déguisé en chanson d'amour que les beaufs continuent de passer à leurs mariages sans écouter les paroles. "King of Pain" ? Une complainte de riche malheureux, calibrée au millimètre pour les radios américaines. C'est techniquement irréprochable, et c'est bien là le problème : ça manque cruellement de sang et de tripes.

Mais là où l'analyse devient vraiment savoureuse, c'est quand on se penche sur les sauveurs inattendus de l'album : "Murder by Numbers" et surtout... "Mother".

Ah, "Mother" ! Ce morceau que 99% de la planète considère comme une verrue auditive, une erreur de parcours, la chose à skipper d'urgence. Et pourtant, pour mes oreilles c'est une bénédiction, c'est le seul moment de l'album où le vernis craque. C'est Andy Summers qui pète un câble, hurlant en 7/8 sur une mère abusive, dans un style qui lorgne plus vers Captain Beefheart ou une version sous acide de King Crimson que vers le Top 50. C'est désagréable, strident, complètement hystérique et, par conséquent, c'est probablement le seul morceau "honnête" du disque. C'est le cri de désespoir d'un guitariste coincé dans un groupe de pop mondiale, étouffé par l'omniprésence de son bassiste.

Quant à "Murder by Numbers", c'est une petite leçon de cynisme jazz-pop qui rappelle opportunément que ces types savaient jouer avant de devenir des produits marketing. C'est vicieux, c'est fluide, ça groove.

Bref, "Synchronicity" est un monument, certes, mais un monument funéraire. C'est le son d'un groupe qui meurt sous les applaudissements. Un 3/5 mérité : un point pour la technique, un point pour les singles historiques (qu'on le veuille ou non), et un point bonus pour la folie furieuse d'Andy Summers qui hurle après sa maman. Le reste ? De la nourriture pour bande FM.

Wildly pretentious (thankyou Sting).

A film of this being recorded would make Let It Be seem tame. They recorded their tracks in separate rooms "for social reasons".

When it's good it's amazing, but there's also a lot of dross.

And then there's "Mother", Andy Summers "Lets give Ringo a song" moment.

And just to point out, Stewart Copeland goes hard on this.

Pretty cool

Standout Tracks: Synchronicity II, Every Breath You Take

This was weirder than I expected. The second half was what I expected, that’s the Police sound I’ve heard in passing. But the first half has some different stuff on it. I wish this ranking system was 1-10 because I gave Bowie’s Low a 3 yesterday and this I’m also giving a 3 but it’s closer to a two and a half, and Low is closer to 4 than 3 but wasn’t quite a 4 for me.

The Police demonstrate how to go out on top with an ALMOST perfect album (looking at you, "Mother"). Seriously, pretty much all the songs range from really good to great. If I had to classify them: Really good: Walking in Your Footsteps, O My God (sounds like it belongs on Sting's 1st solo album, which I love - couldn't confirm, but Genius says Sting played the sax solo?? Impressive), Miss Gradenko, Tea in the Sahara. Great: Synchronicity I, Synchronicity II (used to play this in a band - lots of fun), King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger. Stone Cold Classic: Every Breath You Take - it may be over-played, but it's an amazing song (and I guess technically one of the greatest songs ever made about stalking?). Super-easy 5.

Overrated thats all i can think about. I heard one other good song on this one, but Every Breath is so much above everything else on the album it’s insane. Some songs just dont belong on it AT ALL. mid 3

daleko najslabiji album grupe. neke bezveznije stvari, sve više popasto, iako više nego slušljiv, dobar. tekstovi više krindž nego prije. najdraže: mother, king of pain, wrapped around your finger