Great Rock Albums of 1982: The Police- Ghost in the Machine

Normally, I start each year with the very first album or song from an album I heard at the beginning of said year. But my brain isn’t what it used to be and I only realised this mistake after this album was announced. So, you’ll get that one next post. I can’t even blame being caught in massive amounts of traffic and roadworks today while going to and from a supply teaching assignment that was miles away where my “Iron Man 2” soundtrack got scratched. Maybe it was all for the best because “Ghost in the Machine” by The Police might be a good place to start.

Tempting as it may be to once again mention my suspicion about albums whose hit single is the opening track being a ploy by one hit wonders, I won’t. True, the very first two tracks on “Ghost in the Machine” are the two singles from the album but I get a different impression here. “Spirits of the Material World” and “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” are both good songs in their own right and worthy of being singles, my impression is that the idea behind putting them first was to say, “Now, you’ve heard the singles, now listen to the rest of our album.”

The rest of the album is no less inferior, in fact, I only like it more. “Invisible Sun” gives me a dark brooding feeling while I listen to it but I like it. Then things go the complete opposite way with the next two songs. “Hungry for You” and “Demolition Man” are almost party atmosphere songs and definitely make things come alive. With the latter, I hear a bit of fingerboard smoking from Andy Summers which is probably why it’s my favourite track on the album. So once again I ask, why did they not just give him one song to just shred? Answers on a post card please. “Too Much Information” sums me up perfectly at times and is an enjoyable song and “One World” sticks out as well. With “Ghost in the Machine,” The Police stick with the standard reggae-rock roots but at the same time weren’t afraid to venture out of their comfort zone a little. The result is a great album.

Track Listing:

1. Spirits in the Material World

2. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

3. Invisible Sun

4. Hungry For You (J’aurais toujours faim de toi)

5. Demolition Man

6. Too Much Information

7. Rehumanizer

8. One World (Not Three)

9. Omegaman

10. Secret Journey

11. Darkness

The Police

Sting- vocals, bass, saxophone, keyboards

Andy Summers- guitar, guitar synth, keyboards

Stewart Copeland- drums, percussion, keyboards

It might not actually have opened 1982 for me musically but I think that perhaps “Ghost in the Machine” by The Police was a good place to begin the journey through the year.

Next post: The actual first album I heard in 1982, actually it was a couple of songs.

Rod Stewart- Tonight I’m Yours

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

 

 

 

Great Rock Albums of 1981: The Police- Zenyatta Mondatta

This classic album from The Police first came to my attention when my ship had pulled into Rota, Spain for the final stop before sailing across the ocean and home. I didn’t clock it at first when I went in the PX although it was there, I heard about it when the ship got a two month out of date tape of old Casey Kasem who presented the US chart show back then. On that episode, he showed the video to the album’s first single “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and I must say that I liked it. Although I have to say that a friend of mine liked it more because he used to sing it a lot, even one night when after a bit too much to drink, tried to dance while singing and ended up on his bum. God, the things that trigger memories.

Casey Kasem, anyone remember him?

With “Zenyatta Mondatta,” The Police once again prove that the rock/reggae fusion works well. The fusion is very plentiful throughout the entire album, the only possible exception being the penultimate song “Shadows in the Rain” which sounds rather spacey to me. Still even that’s not a bad song. What I find more interesting and I didn’t really notice it when I first heard the album all those years ago is that Andy Summers does bend the six string a little bit on a couple of songs. The most noticeable is the third track “When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around” and it leaves me to wonder what Andy would have actually sounded like if he had been given more autonomy on the guitar. Still, he does play well as does Stewart Copeland on the drums. Back on the subject of the album, I found the track “Canary in a Coal Mine rather good too and of course there is the other big single, the one I used to call “The baby talk song:” “De Do Do Do De Da Da Da.” There are also a couple of good instrumentals on it which, shoots down the myth believed by younger Police fans who never heard them until their last album that they were all about Sting. What rubbish!

Track Listing:

1. Don’t Stand So Close to Me

2. Driven to Tears

3. When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around

4. Canary in a Coal Mine

5. Voices Inside My Head

6. Bombs Away

7. De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

8. Behind My Camel

9. Man in a Suitcase

10. Shadows in the Rain

11. The Other Way of Stopping

The Police Sting- lead vocals, bass, synthesiser Andy Summers- guitar, guitar synthesiser Stewart Copeland- drums, percussion, synthesiser “Zenyatta Mondatta” is a good steady rock album with songs that are consistent throughout. Like other musical trios whose albums I’ve visited here, it shows plainly that three can sometimes be enough. I won’t get on here again till after Christmas Day so I’ll wish everyone a Merry Metal Christmas now! If you’re stuck for something Christmasy to listen to, you could try the Christmas album I visited this time last year, tee hee.

Next post: Fleetwood Mac- Live To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London