THE POLICE - REGGATTA DE BLANC

Like most people my age without older siblings, my first exposure to Sting and The Police happened around the time 'Synchronicity' was released. Of course 'Message In A Bottle' was floating around the radio and it popped up on MTV. I kinda liked what they were doing, but not enough to buy anything they were putting out. Sting was a voice and to this day, I still consider him more of a vocalist than a song writer. I know many people would disagree with me and I also know he writes most of his own material. That being said, I've never found his writing particularly interesting.

Oddly enough, Stewart Copeland has become a figure of interest to me. Since The Police disbanded, Copeland started working from his home studio and has created a highly stylized sound of music. This material first appeared on the "Spyro The Dragon" video games by Insomniac. Later, he contributed this sound to the hit television series, "Dead Like Me". I absolutely love this material. It's delightful! Simply delightful.

But enough rambling, let's discuss this CD... So I bought 'Reggatta De Blanc' at a used CD store for something like $1.75 back in the early 90's. I was mainly drawn to the disc by the inclusion of 'Message In A Bottle'. I'd heard another Police song, 'Murder By Numbers' recently but wasn't certain of the title. I thought 'Deathwish' might be it and on the strength of that speculation decided to try it out. Big mistake. Aside from the first track, there isn't anything else on the album suited to my taste. There are clever song ideas and some interested instrumentation here and there, but nothing to keep me pinned to my seat.

To be fair, I listened to this disc for the past three days, letting it play in the background over and over again, trying to find something diverting about the other 10 songs. Aside from the occasional interesting bit here and there, I'm not impressed. At the time, The Police were making this hybrid New Wave/Reggae sound. There was also a sense of experimental jazz in there somewhere as well. It certainly possesses a great deal of efficiency production wise and can at times sound effortlessly flawless. Still, I couldn't find a reason to invest heavily in the songs whether it be subject matter or melody. It didn't cross over.
My final word: DISAPPOINTING. This is one you should definitely save your money on and purchase individual tracks rather than buying the whole disc. Or better yet, skip ahead to the band's more polished production. It could hardly be a crime to miss this one.

THE POLICE - REGGATTA DE BLANC
01. Message In A Bottle
02. Reggatta De Blanc
03. It's Alright For You
04. Bring On The Night
05. Deathwish
06. Walking On The Moon
07. On Any Other Day
08. The Bed's Too Big Without You
09. Contact
10. Does Everybody Stare
11. No Time This Time