- Synchronicity (The Police album)
-
Synchronicity Studio album by The Police Released 1 June 1983 Recorded December 1982 – February 1983
AIR Studios, Montserrat
Le Studio, Quebec, CanadaGenre New Wave, reggae fusion, post-punk Length 44:32 Label A&M Producer The Police, Hugh Padgham The Police chronology Ghost in the Machine
(1981)Synchronicity
(1983)Every Breath You Take: The Singles
(1986)Singles from Synchronicity - "Every Breath You Take"
Released: May 1983 - "Wrapped Around Your Finger"
Released: July 1983 - "Synchronicity II"
Released: October 1983 - "King of Pain"
Released: January 1984
Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by The Police, released in 1983. The band's most popular release, Synchronicity includes the hit songs "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", and "Synchronicity II".
Contents
History
The album's title was inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence, which mentions Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity. Sting was an avid reader of Koestler, and also named Ghost in the Machine after one of his works.
The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band's first four records, instead featuring production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers that, at times, drove entire songs ("Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). The influence of World music can also be heard in songs such as "Tea in the Sahara" and "Walking in Your Footsteps".
As with their prior album, the basic tracks for Synchronicity were recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat. For sound engineering reasons, the three band members recorded their parts in separate rooms: Copeland with his drums in the dining room, Sting in the control room, and Summers in the actual studio. According to co-producer Hugh Padgham, subsequent overdubs were done with only one member in the studio at a time.
During the recording of "Every Breath You Take", Sting and Copeland came to blows with each other, and Padgham nearly quit the project.[1]
The album was published in the UK and USA on both LP and CD in 1983, and on super audio CD in 2003. In 1989 it was published as a remastered gold CD. It was reissued as a remastered digipack CD in 2003.
Songs
"Synchronicity I" starts the album off with a sequencer line that repeats throughout the song. Its lyrics include a term from "The Second Coming", "Spiritus Mundi" (literally "spirit of the world"), which Yeats used to refer to the collective unconscious, another of Jung's theories. "Walking in Your Footsteps" features lyrics concerning the relation between extinct dinosaurs and humans, and is followed by the jazzy "O My God." (The song recycles some lyrics from two earlier Police songs: "Three O'Clock Shit," which was never recorded on an album[2] but was widely bootlegged from live performances, and the 1981 single "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.") "Mother" features screamed vocals by Summers and a frantic guitar line reminiscent of Robert Fripp (with whom Summers had previously recorded), and "Miss Gradenko" is a song about a romance in the middle of a communist bureaucracy.[3] "Synchronicity II" features extensive use of audio feedback.
"Every Breath You Take", which begins side two of the record is possibly The Police's best-known song, with Sting's vocals on top of a steady rhythm featuring picked guitar, strong bass, and controlled drumming. Originally, the song was what Andy Summers called a "Hammond organ thing that sounded like Billy Preston." The guitarist came up with a more interesting guitar riff which became distinctive part of the piece. The song, released before the album, went to #1 on both the U.S. and UK charts, aided by a black and white video directed by Godley & Creme.
"King of Pain" features a lyrical imagery and numerous effects and instruments, while "Wrapped Around Your Finger" uses subdued keyboards. The record's closer, "Tea in the Sahara", is a quiet, eerie song about three women who are deceived by a prince and left in the desert, where they meet their death. The title of this song comes from a section of Paul Bowles' novel The Sheltering Sky, which mentions the story. "Murder By Numbers", originally the B-side of "Every Breath You Take", was added to the CD and cassette versions of the album, and has lyrics comparing political power to the development of a serial killer. "Synchronicity I" and "Synchronicity II" allude to "The Second Coming", a poem by William Butler Yeats.
The album's original cover artwork was available in 36 variations, with different arrangements of the colour stripes and showing different photographs of the band members, which they took themselves. In the most common version Sting is reading a copy of Jung's Synchronicity on the front cover along with a negative/superimposed image of the actual text of the synchronicity hypothesis. A photo on the back cover also shows a close-up, but mirrored and upside-down, image of Jung's book. The original vinyl release appears black like most records, but is actually purple when held up to the light.
Reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic [4] Robert Christgau (B+) [5] Rolling Stone [6] Sputnikmusic [7] Synchronicity topped the album charts in both the UK[8] and USA (interrupting the dominance of Michael Jackson's Thriller in the US). It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In 2001, the TV network VH1 named Synchronicity the 50th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 455 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media ranked it #55 in their list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #25 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[9]
Track listing
All songs written by Sting except where noted.
- "Synchronicity I" – 3:23
- "Walking in Your Footsteps" – 3:36
- "O My God" – 4:02
- "Mother" (Andy Summers) – 3:05
- "Miss Gradenko" (Stewart Copeland) – 2:00
- "Synchronicity II" – 5:02
- "Every Breath You Take" – 4:13
- "King of Pain" – 4:59
- "Wrapped Around Your Finger" – 5:13
- "Tea in the Sahara" – 4:19
- "Murder by Numbers" (Words: Sting, Music: Andy Summers) – 4:36 (Not included on original LP release.)
Three other songs were recorded as B-sides.
- "Someone to Talk To" (Summers)
- "Once Upon a Daydream" (Sting, Summers)
- "Tea in the Sahara (Live)"
Personnel
- Sting – bass, keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals, oboe, drum machine on "Synchronicity I", saxophone on "O My God"
- Andy Summers – electric guitar, keyboards, lead vocals on "Mother" and "Someone to Talk To", backing vocals on "Someone to Talk To"
- Stewart Copeland – drums, xylophone, miscellaneous percussion
Production
- Hugh Padgham – production, engineering
- Dave Collins, Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Norman Moore, Vartan – art direction
- Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Norman Moore – design
- Duane Michals – photography
Charts
Album
Year Chart Position 1983 UK Albums Chart[8] 1 The Billboard 200 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart Singles
Year Single Chart Position 1983 "Every Breath You Take" UK Singles Chart 1[8] Adult Contemporary 5 Club Play Singles 26 Mainstream Rock 1 The Billboard Hot 100 1 "King of Pain" Adult Contemporary 33 Mainstream Rock 1 The Billboard Hot 100 3 "Synchronicity II" UK Singles Chart 17[8] Mainstream Rock 9 The Billboard Hot 100 16 "Wrapped Around Your Finger" UK Singles Chart 7[8] Mainstream Rock 9 1984 Adult Contemporary 13 The Billboard Hot 100 8 "King of Pain" UK Singles Chart 17[8] Awards
Year Winner Award Category 1983 "Every Breath You Take" Grammy Awards Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Song of the Year Synchronicity Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal References
- ^ Buskin, Richard (March 2004). Classic Tracks: The Police's 'Every Breath You Take', Sound on Sound.
- ^ Note: Though no proper album recording of "Three O'Clock Shit" exists, a demo recorded by the band Strontium 90 was eventually released on Strontium 90: Police Academy, with its title censored as "Three O'Clock Shot".
- ^ "Stewart Copeland's AOL transcript". June 22, 1995. http://www.stingetc.com/stewchat.shtml.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Synchronicity (The Police album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ Album Review, robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Album Review, Rolling Stone.
- ^ Album Review, Sputnikmusic.
- ^ a b c d e f The Police in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
- ^ Q August 2006, Issue 241
Preceded by
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Thriller by Michael JacksonBillboard 200 number-one album
23 July – 9 September 1983
17 September – 25 November 1983Succeeded by
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Metal Health by Quiet RiotPreceded by
Thriller by Michael JacksonUK Albums Chart number one album
25 June 1983 – 8 July 1983Succeeded by
Fantastic by Wham!Preceded by
The Number Ones by The BeatlesAustralian Kent Music Report number-one album
11–31 July 1983Succeeded by
Keep on Dancing by Various ArtistsThe Police Studio albums Singles "Fall Out" • "Roxanne" • "Can't Stand Losing You" • "So Lonely" • "Message in a Bottle" • "Walking on the Moon" • "Bring On the Night" • "The Bed's Too Big Without You" • "Don't Stand So Close to Me" • "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" • "Invisible Sun" • "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" • "Spirits in the Material World" • "Secret Journey" • "Every Breath You Take" • "Wrapped Around Your Finger" • "Synchronicity II" • "King of Pain"Other albums Six Pack • Every Breath You Take: The Singles • Greatest Hits • Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings • Every Breath You Take: The Classics • Live! • The Very Best of Sting & The Police • The Police • Certifiable: Live in Buenos AiresTours Related articles Discography • Strontium 90 • Strontium 90: Police Academy • Brimstone & Treacle • ¡Policia!: A Tribute to the Police • Everyone Stares • StingCategories:- The Police albums
- 1983 albums
- Albums produced by Hugh Padgham
- A&M Records albums
- English-language albums
- Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab albums
- "Every Breath You Take"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.