Condition: Used
The Police - Every Breath You Take (The Singles)
Label: A&M Records, A&M Records Of Canada Limited
Catalog#: SP-3902, SP 3902
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Record: VG+ several light scuffs
Cover: VG++ in shrink, with original sticker, slight cornerwear
Includes printed inner lyrics-sleeve
Country: Canada
Released: 1986
Genre: Pop, Rock
Style: Pop Rock
Tracklist
A1 Roxanne 3:10
A2 Can't Stand Losing You 2:47
A3 Message In A Bottle 4:49
A4 Walking On The Moon 5:01
A5 Don't Stand So Close To Me '86 4:48
A6 De Do Do Do De Da Da Da 4:07
B1 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 4:20
B2 Invisible Sun 3:43
B3 Spirits In The Material World 2:57
B4 Every Breath You Take 4:12
B5 King Of Pain 4:57
B6 Wrapped Around Your Finger 5:13
Notes
"This Recording Is Also Available on Compact Disc And BASF Chrome Cassette
A&M Records, Inc. P.O. Box 118, Hollywood California 90078 (c) 1986 A&M Records, Inc. All Rights Reserved. SP-3902
Fabriqué et distribué par / Manufactured and ditributed by: A&M Records of Canada Limited, 393 Warden Ave., Scarborough, Ontario M1L 4C5. Trademarks used under license from trademark owner, A&M Records, Inc."
The Police started out, strangely enough, as a punk band made up of older musicians with jazz and reggae sensibilities. When The Police managed to find the right balance, this odd fusion -- jazz complexity and a punk edge hidden under chirpy pop or reggae -- resulted in some of the most interesting hits of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The "Every Breath You Take" compilation draws songs from each of their albums and exhibits the wide variety of styles through which they could maneuver.
Problem is, that volatile mix produced musical and personal tensions that came to a boil after the "Synchronicity" album (which quickly went multi-platinum). The band members took a break to work on other musical projects, but relations did not improve and when they regrouped in the studio all they could manage was a drippy remake of the song "Don't Stand So Close to Me" that showed where the singer's new pretensions would be moving him.
This hits package was the vehicle for releasing that swan song, and everything about it (from the album name to the packaging to the song selection) shows that they were aiming for pop fans picked up by the last album. Their attempt succeeded; the compilation shot to Platinum and eventually achieved Multi-Platinum RIAA certification. A subsequent release under a new subtitle, "The Classics," added the original DSSCTM and a new mix of "Message in a Bottle," but there are so many copies of the older compilation floating a around that it still serves as an effective and cheap way to sample the band.
"Every Breath You Take - The Singles" takes tracks from each of the band's five albums. Two tracks from "Outlandos D'Amour" ("Roxanne", "Can't Stand Losing You"); Two tracks from "Regatta De Blanc" ("Message in a Bottle", "Walking on the Moon"); One track from "Zenyatta Mondatta" ("De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"); Three tracks from "Ghost in the Machine" ("Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", "Invisible Sun", "Spirits in the Material World"); Three tracks from "Synchronicity" ("Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). One of the big attractions to this collection when it was released was that it (at the time) was the only album that contained a new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" - simply titled "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86". This was a slower, more somber version of the original version from "Zenyatta Mondatta". Sting clearly doesn't hit the higher notes like he did ont he original. This version also contained a slightly altered lyric (adding the word 'famous' to 'that famous book by Nabokov"). The general consensus was that this 1986 version did not stand up to the original - I subscribe to that theory.
One strength of this collection is that the tracks are chronologically arranged by the studio album they released. This allows you to see how a band has progressed over time. In the case of The Police, this is essential because I think it is important to hear how their sound evolved. The exception to this rule in the new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" is slotted right before "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da". While this is when the song was originally written, it wasn't when the song was recorded. I would have still placed this version of the song at the end of the collection.
The Police - Roxanne
I watched Sting play bass to see how to do it right. Him and Paul McCartney are my two favorite bassists, and just being able to hear them play is amazing. Songs like Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, Paperback Writer, and many others show ho w a non complicated song can still be amazing.
The Police - Message In A Bottle
The Police - Don't Stand So Close To Me 86
The Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
The Police - Every Breath You Take
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