The Police Albums Ranked From Worst to Best
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- The Police's unique blend of punk, new wave, reggae, jazz, and pop made them one of the biggest bands of the late 70's and early 80's, but they only managed to put out 5 albums before things imploded.
Today, Kramzer, Joe, and Jason rank all 5 studio albums, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Albums discussed:
Outlandos d'Amour
Reggatta de Blanc
Zenyatta Mondatta
Ghost in the Machine
Synchronicity
Let us know in the comments how you rank these records, and as always, thanks for watching Listography.
Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from www.videvo.net
I’ve been binge watching this channel but I am having an allergic reaction to Regatta getting a unanimous last place. Unbelievable.
Couldn't agree more. It's one of their best.
1. Ghosts in the machine
2. Regatta de Blanca
3. Zenyata mondata
4. Synchronicity
5. Outlandos d' amour
Jason you are sleeping on one of the greatest artists of all time. BOB MARLEY
Totally agree. Not sure what is wrong with their hearing at times 🤣
Yeah. Makes me kinda of want to go back and review their other picks. But I have to say I agree with a lot of their other picks particularly the 70s lists.
yeah that part was a total circle jerk between them. a bit strange, most people quite enjoy that album
Wow, that was painful to see Reggatta at a consensus #5 and to see so much hate for it! It would be my #1, followed by Zenyatta, Outlandos, Synchronicity and Ghost.
That’s exactly right. You have fabulous taste.
agree with 1.
Almost the same except I have Regatta and Zenyatta exchanged places - it's very close though
Reggatta is great
i’m with you☝🏻regattas the best playing police album start to finish🎸
I love all 5 of their albums personally, a short and easy discography to rank. And Stewart Copeland is an incredible drummer. My personal ranking :
1 - Regatta De Blanc
2 - Ghost In The Machine
3 - Synchronicity
4 - Zenyatta Mondatta
5 - Outlandos d' Amour
Gotta disagree about Regatta de Blanc. Excellent album, in my opinion.
1. Zenyatta Mondatta
2. Regatta de Blanc
3. Ghost in the Machine
4. Synchronicity
5. Outlandos d' Amour
I love Zenyatta Mondatta and Regatta de Blanc the most.
Zenyatta is good from beginning to end!
@Grandmasta Gruncle Ronni 2K Gojira the 3rd When I was younger, and when it was first released, I absolutely loved Synchronicity and I still like it quite a bit. However, some of the songs are overplayed and a couple are not all that great. "Mother" is easily the worst song on any album by the band.
@Grandmasta Gruncle Ronni 2K Gojira the 3rd Of course. No problem with that.
Yep totally agree regatta de Blanc is awesome.
I'm absolutely shocked that all three of you had Regatta De Blanc on the bottom of your lists, and I had no idea it was considered their worst album by any consensus. I don't see Regatta as anything less than amazing, and this video hit me hard as big a fan of that album and the Police as a whole. I wasn't expecting so much negativity with this episode...
It seems the only consensus with this finding is these 3 guys. It's my favorite album by the Police and as you can see a fav of many many friends.
I agree with them. Regatta de Blanc is their worst lol
Agreed. Outlandos is the worst.
There is consensus about Reggatta de Blanc being their BEST album. Only three clueless Americans think it their worst.
They were wrong is all. Perhaps its an American/ non-American thing with no youth exposure to reggae etc unlike the rest of the world.
The Police dont have a bad album in the lot.One of the greatest power trios ever.
yer these guys are to serious 🧐
I’m not gonna lie; There’s not a single one of their albums I truly dislike. I love all of them, and I think this is proof that the more you listen to a band, the better they become because I think a lot of you need to give more of these albums a chance.
Reggatta is where the vintage Police sound came together. All 5 albums are classics.
I just listened to synchronicity for first time and loved all the bad tracks for some reason. I see what y’all are saying tho but I could get into them easily cuz the playing and production were so nice. And sting voice is so cool imo. Luv y’all
Shocked to see Outlandos ranked so high! It's my least favorite! Also, Regetta is a great album!
This is my favourite you tube channel. Thanks guys
‘Regatta’ is easily their best. The songs have never gone away with many global artists recording brilliant covers. ‘Every Breath’ is of course built to last forever
They forgot to write songs on Regatta - Joe
It's very hard to rank any of these each is unique and has their own sound, but they're all great!
I like this channel but sometimes you're impossible to grasp. Regatta a horrible album? Also I don't skip any song in neither ghost nor synchronicity. Mother and Miss Gradenko are amazing as well as murder by numbers. My list:
1-ghost in the machine
2-zenyatta mondatta
3-synchronicity
4-regatta de blanc
5-outlandos
1. ZENYATTA MONDATTA... I love the "world music" feel of this album and the songwriting is pretty strong throughout. Even the "comic relief" songs work well for me. I see Zenyatta as the album where everything jelled for them. All three band members are in top form on this album.
2. SYNCHRONICITY... even though this album has a couple-three tracks of filler the good songs are all-time classics that will still be played a thousand years from now. If I made a list of the 20 greatest Police songs there would be 7 songs from this album on it.
3. GHOST IN THE MACHINE ... the lyrics on this album are the best that Sting wrote while he was in The Police. It's probably their most rockin' album although musically it gets a bit weak in the middle. However, you could make the argument that "Invisible Sun" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" are the two best songs the Police's entire catalog.
4. REGATTA DE BLANC ... this is the best "sound" the Police ever found (and Stewart Copeland's drumming is off-the-charts on this album.) But apart from the Big Four- "Message in a Bottle," "Walking on the Moon," "Bring on the Night," "The Bed's Too Big"- the songwriting is not as strong as my top 3 albums.
5. OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR ... the sound of fusion musicians trying to be punks. There's some good songs here but it comes across as a little forced. Sting was already playing most of these songs in his previous jazz-fusion band before The Police rearranged them to be punk tunes. It only partially works.
1 Ghost. 5stars 2. Regatta 4stars 3. Zenyatta 4stars 4. Synch 4stars 5. Outlandos. 3.5 stars
Great video guys, keep up the good work!
Darkness from Ghost in the Machine (by Copeland) is their most beautiful song.. I absolutely love it.. it has an unparalleled atmosphere I've never forgotten about
Huge Police fan and my ranking is:
1 Ghost
2 Synch
3 Zenyatta
4 Outlandos
5 Reggatta
A band that started out wanting to be punk, but later introduced reggae, funk, ska, pop, world music and jazz, creating a unique sound that took names or bands like Frank Zappa, Alanis Morissette, Violent Femmes, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, among others doing covers.
It's like these guys don't understand that when albums were released before CDs and Spotify, they had a Side 1 and a Side 2. It made sense to start the album with Synchronicity I and end Side 1 with Synchronicity II. It made sense to start Side 2 with Every Breath You Take, which really flows well into King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger. When albums were released, there were lots of albums where Side 1 and Side 2 had a different feel. It's interesting to see this lost on a later generation.
So.......the Police doesn't translate to future generations? Your collective take on Regatta De Blanc is mind-blowing. The Police are one of those bands where I don't know how to rank them because each of their albums is just as good as the other ones. My favorite album is the one I'm listening to now.
I agree totaly. My best group of all time with Radiohead.
I don’t find the Police as inconsistent as any of you :)🤷♂️
The only track I might - might -skip on Synchronicity is “Mother”.
Certainly the singles from the album have been heard on radio a million times more -
And they are all great -
But I certainly don’t skip “Walking in your Footsteps “, “O my God” , “Ms Gradenko” , “Murder by Numbers “ or “Tea in the Sahara”. ✌️🙂
(Not to mention “Synchronicity I” -which while you all seem to like it - was not a single as far as I’m aware :)
I'm shocked. I thought all Police fans recognized Regatta de Blanc as their best album! But all of you have it #5....so confused!
1. Regatta de Blanc
2. Ghost in the Machine
3 & 4. Zenyatta Mondatta and Synchronicity (can't decide!)
5. Outlandos d'Amour
Weird fan base. - Joe
Before you make a list of top songs for The Police I implore you all to listen to the song “I Burn For You” they did it for a movie Sting was in and it was almost on Zenyatta Mondatta, but they didn’t think it’s darkness fit with the album. It is a real hidden gem from The Police check it out!
1. Ghost in the Machine (most mature album, great production, no weak tracks)
2. Zenyatta Mondatta (great song variety, yet it all fits together, instrumental track works, no weak tracks)
3. Synchronicity (quality dips a bit towards end of side one, one of the best side two's ever)
4. Outlandos d'Amour (great singles, a few excellent album tracks, and a few weak tracks)
5. Reggatta de Blanc (great singles, a couple decent album tracks but about half the album is weak)
1. Synchronicity (I actually like the first half more than the second half, though the second half is still great, for some reason I sort of compare this album to OK Computer)
2. Ghost in the Machine
3. Outlandos D'Amour
4. Zenyatta Mondatta
5. Regatta de Blanc
Wasn't a huge fan of The Police for a while but Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity are both great albums and won me over.
Love these reviews! I always enjoyed the police's album that featured wrapped around my finger, and Sting's solo late 80s project. I agree. I forgot how many hits they had. I always loved Every Breath You Take with Mary J Blige. You really don't here much about Sting or the police as much as you did back in the 90s. Thanks for the review!
it's interesting to see the three of you react to the band based solely on the albums/music devoid of their influence on the pop landscape and the complete domination that happened with Synchronicity. As a young person growing up with this band, they were and are a major favorite band - seeing them live was so cool when I was 13 and I loved their videos and their posturing and style, and compared to what else was out there in 1977-1983, it was salvation from disco and bland yacht rock, etc.
Yep!
1. Synchronicity (1983)
2. Ghost in the Machine (1981)
3. Outlandos D’Amour (1978)
4. Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
5. Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
1) Zenyatta 2) Regatta 3) Ghost 4) Synchronicity 5) Outlandos 👮🏻♀️ 👮🏻♂️👮🏻
Nailed it.
Straight in order. This band just got better and better with each release.
5 Outlandos d’Amour
4 Reggatta de Blanc
3 Zenyatta Mondatta
2 Ghost In The Machine
1 Synchronicity
Not sure about the bottom three but 1 and 2, possibly reversed would be mine.
Wouch (a cross between a wow and ouch, obviously), 'Regatta de Blanc' often is considered one of the band's biggest classics.
Nonetheless, enjoyed this ranking.
I wonder what Jason thinks of "Dreadlock Holiday" by 10CC 😉
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic is the perfect song, hard to top that one.
A challenging list for sure. When it comes to The Police I usually listen to the Greatest Hits as well. Here's my rating....
1. Ghost in the Machine
2. Synchronicity
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Outlandos d'Amour
5. Regatta de Blanc
That was entertaining. Now you definitely made me wanna hear all the 5 albums. Thanks for the mission. I know maybe ten or twelve police songs and pretty much like all of them as far as i can recall. I´m not sure if i respond well to hearing more than 3 songs in a row with stings voice in it no matter how good they are. But I know for sure that i respond well to Copelands drumming style from what i can tell.
1. Ghost in the machine
2. Synchronicity
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Outlandos d'Amour
5. Reggatta de Blanc
a quote from wikipedia:
Reggatta de Blanc has appeared frequently on professional listings of the greatest albums.[15] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the record at number 369 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[29] on an updated version of the list published in 2012, it placed at number 372.[30] In 2006, it was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[31] In 2014, Spin cited it as one of the major moments in the history of white reggae.[1] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists Reggatta de Blanc as the 418th-most acclaimed album in history.[32] In an interview with Modern Drummer, Stewart Copeland named it his favourite Police album.[33]
Crazy how so many people could be so wrong. - Joe
The Police are quite simply one of my two favorite bands of all-time! The Beatles are the other band. The Police never even remotely made a bad album. They are ALL classics:
1. Synchronicity - 5 stars (no album has impacted me more than this one, blowing my 15 year old mind when it was released)
2. Ghost in the Machine - 5 stars (the first three tracks and the last three tracks are especially awesome!)
3. Zenyatta Mondatta - 4.5 stars (the so-called "filler" on this album is fantastic as well)
4. Regatta de Blanc - 4.5 stars (the band's musical synergy was never more dynamic and tighter than on this album)
5. Outlandos d'Amour - 4.5 stars (my least favorite yet still Outstanding in every way!)
also, so interesting to see you take the song order as a static list from 1 to 11, but I know you know that vinyl was the standard when this album came out, so "6,7,8..." is the start of Side Two of the record and it makes for one of the Best Side Twos in record history.
They really were a singles band, mainly, though I do like the punk vibe of the first album particularly.
I've always liked The Police but outside a handful of tracks never loved them. I'd say that viewpoint is probably shared by quite a lot of people. Nice video guys!
This is awesome listening to the one guy that hates them. I totally applaud you for doing it.
‘I hate this one less than the last one’ YT Gold!
I used to not like the Police, but I've grown to like them quite a lot. I think all their albums are great, but their debut is something else.
5. Zenyattà Mondatta (1980) ★★★★
4. Reggatta de blanc (1979) ★★★★
3. Ghost in the Machine (1981) ★★★★
2. Synchronicity (1983) ★★★★½
1. Outlandos d'Amour (1978) ★★★★★
★★★★★ - Masterpiece
★★★★½ - Really great
★★★★ - Great
★★★½ - Really good
★★★ - Good
★★½ - OK
★★ - Bad
★½ - Really bad
★ - Awful
½ - The worst
It can happen with many artists or albums that you don’t like them at one point in time and you like them years or sometimes decades later! 😊
@@kevinmcfarlane2752 Yeah, and it's very nice when it happens :)
Mine :-
1. Regatta De Blanc(them at their purest form - a trio and more focused, with a fusing of punk, reggae and a little bit of a jazz).
2. Synchronicity(ignore Mother, there is still experimentation going on here with things like Tea in the Sahara and Murder By Numbers).
3. Ghost in the Machine(Their most experimental album with things like Invisible Sun and Secret Journey).
4. Zenyatta Mondatta(has some more obscure songs like Voices Inside My Head, Canary in a Coalmine, Man in a Suitcase).
5. Outlandos d'Amour(has a punk energy, and is a decent debut album from a great group).
*MY LIST*
5. *ZENYATTA MONDATA* [I like the deep tracks on here more than I do the singles that came off of this one. It was a rushed record that they quickly threw together in the middle of a tour, and I feel like it shows, but it still calls for an interesting listen.]
4. *SYNCHRONICITY* [Aesthetically, you hear where Sting is gonna go as a solo artist, musically. Production wise, its Very 1983, but it hasnt aged this album. Its amazing that this album actually got finished with all the in-fighting that was plaguing the band. But yet they still came through with a solid effort, and arguably their most famous and successful album. Except 'Mother'. What the hell Andy?]
3. *OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR* [Its the sound of a punk band discovering Ska and Reggae and getting infected by influence. The energy is off the charts. The genre blending and variation on this album can sometimes be jarring, but you can't deny the level of passion and heart that was put into every moment on this album. One of the best debuts by ANY band.]
2. *GHOST IN THE MACHINE* [HELLO Horns and Synths!! Its the first record that takes the band's sound out of the power trio vision of the first 3 albums, and its a great step up. The overall tone on the record is pretty menacing and dark, aside from ELTSDIM. This album has grown the most on me over the years. I would've placed it lower in my list before, but I recognize it now as being a near masterpiece.]
1. Your worst favorite Police album (I can't believe you guys 😂)
*REGGATTA DE BLANC* [Because 'Message In A Bottle' 'Walking On The Moon' 'The Beds Too Big Without You' and 'Bring On The Night' are ESSENTIAL Police cuts, and the rest is littered with great and interesting deep tracks. To this day I find it to be their most interesting record. I love that they fully embrace Ska and Reggae, while still keeping their punk energy intact. Sting is singing his ass off. Stewart is showcasing a star-class drumming performance, and Andy is the sweet sonic blanket on top of it all.]
The Police are one of those interesting incidents in music history. They came and dropped this solid 5 album run, and then 'POOF'. That was it. And it still stands up to this day. You really can't go wrong, no matter how ya rank them. You're gonna find something to love within each release. You will never be bored.
It’s interesting we get so many people putting Reggatta De Blanc at number one on here. I may have to give it another spin one of these days. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Thats fair. I understand why you 3 put it as low as y'all did and you all made fair points. You can make a case for either of these albums being their best or worst. I dont think there's a 'Bad' Police album. Its just a matter of which ones you like the most.
The Bed’s Too Big Without You sucks.
Andy wrote "Someone to Talk To" and Sting wouldn't allow it to be on "Synchronicity" instead.
@@TastesLikeMusic What about you, Kramzer?
favorite album
5: reggatta de blanc
4: outlandos d'amour
3: zendetta mondatta
2: ghost in the machine
1: syncronicity
I like "Reggatta de Blanc". I've heard it all the way through on vinyl. The ones I can't really get onto are "Bring On the Night" and "Walking on the Moon" cause of his voice that is like similar to "Roxanne" from "Outlandos d'Amour". I think it's those two (BOtN and WotM). I'm like "Go with your low register".
Wow Jason! That was brutal. Lol. I’m a huge Police fan. Most people don’t realize how complex they are. When our band tries to cover The Police, it’s a struggle. Yet Police play so effortlessly. Stewart is my favorite rock drummer. I’m sorry you don’t like them.
Yeah he doesn't know what he's talking about
With ya on trying to play their stuff, especially Andy Summers’ chords. It’s a stretch to say the least.
Wow - so my list is ...
1. Regatta De Blanc - easily their best album! Genius level music!!
2. Outlandos d' Amour
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Ghost In The Machine
5. Synchronicity - with the truly terrible "Every Breath You Take" (should be renamed "Stalker's Paradise")
I have to add that Stewart Copeland is a drumming maestro and he does not put a stick wrong on any of the Police albums - but especially Regatta De Blanc, where his playing is sublime.
How is every breath you take terrible? It’s a well constructed pop tune. It’s a massive hit for a reason, lyrics and meaning aside. And honestly I get tired of hearing about Copeland. I never gravitate towards him, I’m always much more enthralled by Summers, his playing is so crisp and melodic. He doesn’t get talked about enough because people are too busy talking about Sting and Copeland. It’s the guitar playing in this band that really does it for me.
I'm going as:
5. Outlandos d'Amour
4. Reggatta de Blanc
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
2. Synchronicity
1. Ghost in the Machine
Reggatta de Blanc is my least favorite as well, but I still find it perfectly enjoyable. As for my overall personal ranking:
5. Reggatta de Blanc
4. Zenyatta Mondatta
3. Ghost in the Machine
2. Synchronicity
1. Outlandos d'Amour
Synchronicity was by far their best album
5. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Synchronicity
3. Reggatta de Blanc
2. Outlandos d’Amour
1. Ghost in the Machine
I think Reggatta de Blanc is my favourite album.
i know you right☝🏻
1. Synchronicity
2. Outlandos d'Amour
3. Ghost in the Machine
4. Reggatta de Blanc
5. Zenyattà Mondatta
Checking if this was released on April Fool's day. You have an album with "Message in a bottle", "Walking on da moon", two of the greatest pop songs of all time, then "Bring on the night" and my personal favorite "Bed's too big without you" ... and you guys describe this as noodling around, poor songwriting, songs "starting kinda nice but then going nowhere" ... If this was the first video on your channel, I would probably never have checked another video.
You can rank it 5th for all I care and mention that there are some lesser songs on this one, but that was just too dismissive of the great (half) album it is.
Those two songs you mention wouldn’t make my top 10 Police songs much less best pop songs. This seems to be the favorite album for the non-pop crowd. - Joe
1. Ghost in the Machine
2. Synchronicity
3. Regatta de Blanc
4. Zenyatta Mondatta
5. Outlandos D’Amour
I like all there albums. I’m surprised everyone is down on Regatta. Ghost in the Machine is there deepest album. No weak tracks and some great highlights like Invisible Sun, Demolition Man, Every little Thing, Spirits in the Material World and Omegaman. Synchronicity has great highlights but has a couple of weaker tracks that bring it down a little bit.
5. Ghost In The Machine
4. Zenyatta Mondatta
3. Outlandos D'Amour
2. Regatta De Blanc
1. Synchronicity
My Ranking of The Police Albums
1. Reggatta de Blanc
2. Ghost in the Machine
3. Outlandos d'Amour
4. Zenyatta Mondatta
5. Synchronicity
1. Ghost in the Machine
2. Zenyatta Mondatta
3. Synchronicity
4. Outlandous D’Amour
5. Regatta De Blanc
Mine would be
1. Zenyatta Mondatta
2. Ghost In The Machine
3. Reggatta De Blanc
4. Outlandos D’Amour
5. Synchronicity
Crazy im on the last album now give my ranking shortly
I love all their albums. You know the takes are going to be awful when one of their best is everyone's worst and one person uses the phrase "culturally appropriated." ugh.
1A - Regatta De Blanc- I put this as 1 A just because I like Message in a bottle a very slight bit more than Every Little thing She does is Magic.
1B - Ghost In The Machine - Love most songs on this album.
3 - Outlandos d' Amour- This is the Police raw. So very good.
4- Synchronicity - They were getting too adult contemporary here. Some really great songs but went away from the rock they were doing. They seemed to have lost some of their uniqueness here. Their most popular but also the most overrated album. But still great.
5 - Zenyatta Mondatta
Love LOVE the Police - though I also understand why some might choose to disagree with me. Sting does strain for the notes sometimes, his lyrics can seem cloying and mawkish too - but overall, an absolute tour de force in music who will be unsurpassed. I love the depth, the space, the layers to their sound which few other bands of their time were able to pull off
5. Zenyatta mondatta
4. Outlandos d' amour
3. Regatta de blanc
2. Synchronicity
1. Ghost 👻 In the machine
I like Ghost In The Machine best, especially the three first songs. Zenyatta Mondatta would be my second favorite, even the strange Behind My Camel sounds good to me in spite of not fitting in with the album. Then comes Reggatta de Blanc for me, I happen to love reggae. Their first and last album is a bit of a challenge for me, but thanks to Every Breath You Take their first album wins the worst album spot for me even though it still is not bad.
I'd like to see a ranking of XTC's albums.
1 - Zenyatta Mondatta
2 - Regatta de Blanc
3 - Outlandos d'Amour
4 - Synchronicity
5 - Ghost in the Machine
I actually love the noodly drawn out tracks most of all
I'd put it like this:
1 - Regatta De Blanc
2 - Ghost in the Machine
3 - Synchronicity
4 - Outlandos D'amour
5 - Zenyatta Mondatta
agrred zendetta mondatta isnt my favorite but it has voices inside my head which is a bop.
5. Synchronicity is their worst because of the lack of Copeland.
4. Outlandos d'Amour
3. Zenyattà Mondatta
2. Ghost in the Machine
1. Reggatta de Blanc (Ya’ll trippin)
Their albums aren’t very consistent but Reggatta wins for me because it has my three favorite Police songs. (Message in a Bottle, Bring on the Night, Walking on the Moon)
"Walking in Your Footsteps" is great!" Bizarre is good! And I expected Jason to mention Synchronicity largely abandoned the reggae since he doesn't like Reggae.
I think for the time every artist used world music in their pop songs, think Peter Gabriel & Dire Straits, to me Walking in your Footsteps doesn't sound all that strange when we consider its on one of the more popular records of the 80s, the arrangement is ambitious too almost primal and makes u feel like you're in the jungle
Boring
I got to agree with Kramzer because I can't put "Outlandos d'Amour" as the best. Sting sounds so irritating like "Roxanne".
It's funny how i totaly disagree with pretty much what have been said here. I'm 49 and i've started to listen to them in 1980. My two best friends and me had the same favorite Police album... Reggatta de Blanc! I like reggae though and they've been influenced a lot by Bob Marley in their early years... And Reggatta is certainly their most reggae influenced album. That's why i consider it the best one. The strong songs are classic songs (Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon, Bring on the Night, Bed's too Big Without you) and also like No Time This Time (nice drumming by Stewart who's my number 1 drummer ever), Does Everyone Stares, On Any Other Day (funny Stewart's song)... The three things i love the most about them are 1* Stewart Copeland, 2* Their live performance, 3* One of the rare 80's groups from whom I like to listen to their albums, not only singles. Difficult for me to rank their albums, i love them all so much. Let's say, 1* Reggatta, 2* Outlandos, 3* Ghost, 4* Zenyatta, 5* Synchronicity.
Wow the regatta Deblanc smack talk made me sad love that album
Yeah, unlike most of these people in the comments, I fully agree with Reggatta de Blanc being at the bottom. It is two stars, it is a bad album. With the exception of three songs (Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon, and Bring On the Night) the album is mostly just unfinished reggae jams that are so lazily conceived and boring land monotonous. The Bed’s Too Big Without You sucks, Any Other Day is a dreadful song, Does Everyone Stare is terrible, Bring On the Night is really annoying, and the last song sounds completely out of place and that’s because they literally pulled it from the Outlandos D’Amour sessions and just tacked it at the end of the record to pad for time. I don’t even think Message in a Bottle or Walking on the Moon are that good, overrated.
Yeah, I’m never gonna reach for Reggatta de Blanc again, what a waste.
You might like the B-sides more: Friends, Shambelle or Someone to Talk Too.
Stuart Copeland recorded some songs under the Pseudonym Klark Kent. Pre-Police. Plays all the instruments and handles the vocals. Better than anything from the police in my opinion. His album Kollected Works has all of his essential material. Good luck obtaining it for a reasonable price however.
5 Synchronicity
4 Ghost in the Machine
3 Regatta De Blanc
2 Outlandous D'Amour
1 Zenyatta Mondatta
5: Ghost in the Machine (1981)
4: Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
3: Outlandos d’Amour (1978)
2: Synchronicity (1983)
1: Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
I have no clue what you guys were listening to.
This is quite simple, chronological order. They start out promising and then develop with each release. First two records are charming, Then the influences start to pull in different directions on Zenyatta (not a negative for me). There is a dark undertone on Ghost in The Machine which I like a lot. But it´s difficult to not have Synchronicity in first place, with so many timeless classics on the same record. I will never understand people's fear/contempt of World Music, for me Footsteps is an original and daring idea, always liked that song. 1.Synchronicity
2. Ghost in the Machine
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. . Regatta de Blanc
5. Outlandos d' Amour
I think Regatta de Blanc is slightly misunderstood because there were push pull dynamics in the band between Copeland trying to emphasize his punk roots and Sting trying to steer the band with his songwriting. After all, the band started out as Stewart Copelands project. 3 of his tracks are his and one is played by him (it's alright for you). Copeland actually sounded like his side project Clark Kent on some of the songs. Stings excellent songwriting was also starting to become pompous, but he created 2 stellar tracks Message and Walking. Summers was in the middle thumbing his way and fitting his jazzy sound to their style. 3 very different musicians but nothing sounds like this. Yep you have to like Copeland and his drumming, otherwise this album is not for you but the instrumental dynamics are intricate and phenomenal here, it's almost like there s a conversation between the three of the instruments (just listen to bring on the night, beds too big sithout yiu and deathwish...) . The title tracks is one of my favorite instrumental/ arena sing along / explosive reggae meets prog meets rock moments of all time and it was taken from the live extended version of their instrumental passage in can't stand losing you. It won best instrumental performance at the Grammy and that's well deserved. Generally, live performances of the early stages of the band between Outlandos and Regatta are absolutely incredible with their energy being mixed to their more far reaching sound. As for Synchronicity II, it's pretty much all Sting and he gave each other member only one song so there wasn't much room for the band to breathe...They all knew they had to rely on Sting for their success by then and Sting pretty much told them it was his way or the highway....you can feel the control and direction taken with preachy lyrics, world music influences and use of sax to add more instrumentation. The live performances at that time were filled with back singers, extra musicians and sounded not too dissimilar to Peter Gabriel's. In other words, they added orchestral dimension but took away the fun and youthful energy. From 1977 to 1983 there was no comparison. Sting was lucky to have been found by Copeland, but there is an element of megalomania that plagued his mentality and allowed him to become the $$$$$$ singer he is today. The Police was basically the push that allowed Sting to exist. With their last album, the band could not have called it a day at a more perfect time. Great band with a great sound.
Ghost in the Machine is by far their worst, I like Regatta de Blanc. 🤷♂
Couldn't be more wrong boys from an original fan it's. #1 Regatta De Blanc 2. Ghost in the Machine 3. Synchro 4. Outlandos 5. Zenyatta - goo goo ga ga. I would add Andy Summers is an excellent and very unique guitar player no one else like him.
Regatta is only okay. How many times do I above to tell people this. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic you need to open your 3rd eye✊🏻
Ok now, rewatching this again I feel I’ve got to set the regatta straight…
5. Synchronicity - yep, half a Police album (side 1), half Sting’s solo launching path (side 2). Don’t get me wrong, the album is great (not a bad one in the bunch here), but this is where the studio fistfights really start to translate into the music.
4. Outlandos D’Amour - an excellent pseudo-punk album (too well-played for the genre with those proggers in the band). Towards the end of it, where many think the album gets weaker, I do think the band starts to find it’s true identity more (Be My Girl-Sally, Masoko Tanga). Especially that last jam is really, really awesome.
3. Zenyatta Mondatta - Now here’s where it starts to become ‘can be #1 tomorrow’-territory. Flawless stuff here. The instrumentals on side 2 might suggest that the recordings were rushed (they were, being recorded in a short time-pocket between tours) with those instrumentals, but I think it all sounds awesome.
2. Regatta De Blanc - An amazing , fun, fun album, from start to finish. The band really starts to hit it’s stride here. You guys are nuts!
1. Ghost In The Machine - Amazing songs, amazing, dark vibe. The world-weary lyrics go really well with the rich, layered textures of the music (thanks, Hugh Padgham!). This is the band shining in all it’s essence.
Wow, I have to disagree on Regatta de Blanc! Walking on the Moon, Bring on the night, Beds too big without you, Message in a bottle, yikes those are all awesome songs. I also love Deathwish and I think the playing on it is amazing. I know this is a tough list to make but Regatta would not be at the bottom.
We’ve been getting a fair amount of that. It’s definitely their most reggae-influenced, which we are admittedly not the biggest fans of. - Joe
Listography Fair enough Joe, I am really enjoying your channel keep up the good work! I have always said ranking the Police albums is really hard in my mind because I believe they are all great for different reasons. I am a big fan so I am biased. Anyway it’s fun to discuss among fans.
Totally agree
even the title track is a fantastic instrumental☝🏻even the other ones complete bullshit😂
And my favorite Police song isn't even on am album. Murder By Numbers is so cool.
Frank Zappa too.
Another short and challenging list! I have loved The Police from the beginning and, like you all, am not a huge reggae fan. But I think the fact that they blended that post-punk sound (in early releases) with other elements made them so good. Here we go....
5. Synchronicity - My least favorite by a country mile. I tried to remove myself from the summer of '83, when we were bombarded by the singles, and listen to it from a fresh perspective. Nope. King of Pain is an apt title. Excruciating. Every Breath Blah Blah Blah is drivel and embarrassing. The rest is filler of the worst kind. Next...
4. Zenyatta Mondatta - Goodish record, with some catchy/silly singles, though a finger wag for the abysmal Don't Stand So Close To Me '86
3. Ghost In The Machine - Incorporating synths and riding the new wave/pop sound that would define the early MtV generation. And the schoolgirls swooned..
2. Regatta de Blanc - My favorite song by The Police, or anyone else, is Walking On The Moon. Space Reggae perfection. The rest is tight and precise, a solid follow-up to their debut. I still listen to this quite a bit.
1. Outlandos d'Amour - Hard to beat their first. I clearly remember hearing Roxanne for the first time.
Christmas 1978, I was 13, visiting my cousins in Cleveland. Turned on the radio late at night and this came on. I bought the album months later and was equally blown away.
As always, thank you for a great post and....Cheers!
5. Zenyatta Mendatta (pretty much the same thing they've been doing)
4. Reggata de Blanc (more new wave sound, more synthesizers, decent sophomore effort)
3. Ghost in the Machine (more industrial hard rock sound and lyrically mature)
2. Synchronicity (great concept album overshadowed by its hits)
1. Outlandos d'amour (great blend of punk, garage rock and reggae. Not a dull track on here)
Regatta de blanc is killer!!!
Copeland is one of the greatest drummers of all time!!!
Ad a fan of progressive rock mostly i simply adore the police brilliant band and excellent musicians
Wow, although my ranking is very similar to what Kramzer and Joe have, I could not disagree more with you guys on how good this band was. To my mind they were the best new band when they existed. Even their weakest album which i agree is Reggatta de Blanc to me is still a solid B and Ghost is the Machine may be the best album release by anyone that year. and the last 3 albums are all gems from start to finish for me. Along with the Cars they were the best bands to come out of the late 70's and into the early 80's and to me it's not close.
5. Regatta de Blanc
4. Outlandos d'Amour
3. Synchronicity
2. Zenyatta Mondatta
1. Ghost in the Machine
1. Ghost in the machine
2. Zenyatta mondatta
3. Synchronicity
4. Regatta de blanc
5. Outlandos d'amour
My list is closest to Ryan's, although I question his use of the word "laziness" in his breakdown. Oh well.
I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I think he basically just meant ‘with a relaxed feel.’ -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic when put that way, it makes sense... Relaxed > Lazy.
Being in school when The Police hit, I instantly became a fan. No mention here of Andy Summers' guitar which has some great moments in their canon, Stewart Copeland's energetic drumming is fun to listen to (I don't know how energy can be annoying) and Sting's songwriting and voice are well known. My take on the band is that they were trying too hard to be a punk-sounding band on Outlandos D'Amour. The musicianship was obviously good and so were the songs (So Lonely, Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You, Hole in My Life, Born in the 50s, Truth Hits Everybody).
Reggatta de Blanc is their best album where they perfect the sound of the debut - it has a nice blend of faster songs and slower melodic numbers. How you guys think this is their worst is beyond me. Songs don't always have to be 'crafted' for the studio - back in those days, bands who could actually play, played live in the studio to recreate that sound for the record. What you thinkis jamming is actually recording live to increase the energy of the record as opposed to over-produced lifeless music that relies too much on knob-twiddling and not enough on musicianship. From track to track, regardless of the quality of the songs (and they're good), this 'live band' sound creates such an infectious energy to the whole record. It has so much confidence, it's just a joy to listen to. Message In A Bottle, great Andy Summers' riff using 9ths and Stewart Copeland's incredible drumming, Reggatta de Blanc may sound like a jam but to me it sounds spontaneous and fun, It's Alright For You is not much of a song but it works as an album track with lots of energy, Bring on The Night, my favourite track on the album with stellar guitar work from Andy Summers, Death Wish, another rush of energy. Walking On The Moon slows the pace down with that gorgeous spacey guitar from Andy Summers and a memorable melody from Sting. On Any Other Day is a throwaway Stewart Copeland track but the weakest of the album's tracks still sounds OK because of the excellent musicianship. The Bed's Too Big Without You has a great guitar riff and a danceable reggae groove, one of the best tracks on the album, Does Everyone Stare is an interesting oddity, starting like a strange Stewart Copeland contribution before Sting comes in with the vocals and it rocks into a memorable pop song. Contact and No Time This Time, again aren't great songs but they capture the energetic mood of the whole record.
Zenyatta Mondatta is probably their worst album - apart from the singles De Do Do Do De Da Da Da and Don't Stand So Close To Me (which are already starting to sound like lazy retreads of familiar scratchy picking and choppy reggae-infused block chords), it's uninspired. The album has no atmosphere and the tunes are substandard - Driven To Tears and When The World is Running Down are too depressing, Man In A Suitcase and Canary in A Coalmine straining for jollity too reliant on the choppy reggae guitar work. The rest of the album is not worth listening to.
Ghost In The Machine is a step up - the first three tracks a great start with Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic one of the best pop songs ever written. I would agree with Joe that the mid-section is ill-thought out, unfinished and uninspiring and Secret Journey, Omega Man and Darkness are better.
Synchronicity is probably their second best album. Outlandos sounds more cohesive but the highs on this record are higher and they've matured as a band to include a greater range of sounds. Synchronicity and Synchronicity II are stellar tracks. O My God Mother and Miss Gradenko embarrassing, Walking In Your Footsteps marries an interesting groove and lightens its doom-laden subject matter. Every Breath You Take, King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger are a great triumvirate and Tea in The Sahara is a good closer with Andy Summers' guitar soaring. The variety of sounds here probably sees The Police at their most diverse.
I don't think any of these albums would make a top 5 of any year except Reggatta de Blanc in 1979. The Police were more of a singles band and their roster speaks for itself but the sheer energy of that album puts it head and shoulders above anything else they did, Outlandos was too raw, Zenyatta devoid of ideas and sounds more manufactured in the studio, Ghost better ideas, studio-dominated not always well executed, Synchronicity attempts a balance of more live sounding tracks to studio trickery with mixed results. And Joe's right after Reggatta, they drift into pretentiousness and weightier subject matter that does not always have the background music to make it work.
Woah woah woah woah woah you can leave mother in the trash, but O my god? Just go and listen to Miss Gradenko by itself again; That’s a fantastic song.
Always thought outlandos was their best but never seen it top any ranking list. Until this one.
Interesting fact first. Pete from Sea Of Tranquility channel just did a Police ranking last week and had Regatta de Blanc first. It’s my least favourite too but it’s not as bad you are all making out.
1. Synchronicity
2. Outlandos d’Amour
3. Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Ghost In The Machine
5. Regatta de Blanc
I saw that he did The Police too, but we had recorded ours before his was posted, as evidenced by my quarantine hair. Haha.
Listography Haha I hadn’t even noticed. I actually thought you were doing these and uploading almost right after
pete’s right👍🏻
@@TastesLikeMusic watching you guys assess it was definitely a case of being there at the time there early albums particularly were really a lot different to anything at that time so to us 55_60 year it’s like the good old days and music becomes memories☝🏻it’s great you guys showed interest in them👍🏻
My list:
1. Zenyatta Mondatta
2. Reggatta De Blanc
3. Synchronicity
4. Outlandos d’Amour
5. Ghost in the Machine
It’s interesting to see the reactions to this one. We all had Reggatta De Blanc at the bottom, but I don’t think a single commenter has. What were we missing? - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Joe, it's for multiple reasons. Regatta arguably has Copeland's best drumming. Very original. Also, the overall "sound" (ie production) on Regatta is the best the Police ever found. They were jazz-rock fusion musicians with a love of reggae so they were more "at home" with material on Regatta (and Zenyatta) versus the material on the other Police records. And a lot of people think "Message in a Bottle," "Walking on the Moon," and "The Bed's Too Big" are their absolute best songs. I can't really blame them for thinking that.
Regatta 3X5? The two best songs are on it. Hated every minute of it? Dear god. This is the strangest moment on this channel after "I never got Remain In Light, and I never really liked David Byrne." and "The more I listen to the White Album, the worse it gets". :D My favourite Police song: Spirits In The Material World.
I'm going to be a contrarion here. I think your views on the 2nd album are way off. I like all the albums except Synchronicity - although Synchronicity II is excellent as is the non album track Murder By Numbers.
For a punk band they did a lot of boring songs. I like “Mother” because it works against that. It always makes me laugh as it wakes me up from their not so impressive stuff.
All of them are good to great. I also feel that with this band the singles are their best songs but there are a bunch of great deep cuts too
1- Zennyatta Mondatta. Makes me really nostalgic. All tracks are fantastic but the last two which are just fine
2- Synchronicity. Mother is their worst song ever and Walking in Your Footsteps doesn't fit, but the rest is flawless including O My God which I really like. Very mature and balanced album
3- Ghost In The Machine. Very dark and mature. First three tracks are massive, the five songs in the middle are very repetitive but I really enjoy Hungry For You. Demolition Man is pretty good but too long and Too Much Information is my favorite of the five. The other two are more of the same and not worth listening to but the ending three are phenomenal, really love them.
4- Outlandos d'Amour. Once again a bunch of classics, Hole in My Life I really enjoy but it is a little repetitive, Peanuts is fine, Born in The 50's and Truth Hits Everybody are both really good. Be My Girl is really catchy until you get to Sally, and Masoko Tanga again really nice and catchy but it could have been way better than it is.
5- Reggatta de Blanc. Message In a Bottle, Reggatta de Blanc, Bring on The Night, Walking On The Moon and The Bed's Too Big Without You are absolute bangers but all the other song are really forgettable except Contact and Does Everyoe Stares which are ok
I'm tempted to call the Police a "hits" band. Love the songs that were played on the radio but many of the album tracks seem uninspired. I do think Every Breath You Take has maybe the best bridge ever on a pop song. Their highs were impressive, and they were superb musicians, but they only had five studio albums, and none were 5 star.