The Police – ‘Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings’ (2019) – Box Set

Originally released on vinyl in 2018, they smartened up and finally released this on CD on November 16, 2019. I missed out on the vinyl, but luckily did grab this even though it wasn’t until back at the end of December when UdiscoverMusic had a 50% off sale. I think I picked this up for like $25 or so and free shipping. That is always key!! The box set contains every studio album (there are only 5) plus a bonus disc called ‘Flexible Strategies’ which contains all their B-Sides as well. The Discs are all housed in a gatefold vinyl-like jacket made of cardboard and those are all housed in a sturdy box that is decorated inside and out!!

But there is something missing. This isn’t the Complete Recordings released back in 1993 so this isn’t everything they’ve recorded. And it is also missing a booklet that gives us writing credits, song credits, lyrics or anything about the band. That was a little disappointing in my book. But I’m also a casual fan so I still think this set is great as it gives me all I need really which is the music to enjoy.

If you don’t know who The Police are…well…you are missing out. It is made of Stewart Copeland on drums, Andy Summers on guitar and Sting on bass. They all do some vocals but most is handled by Sting. They started in 1977 and were very punk with a reggae swag to their music. They transitioned to a more post-punk and pop sound with their later albums and what I liked about their albums were they were all different and their song writing and playing kept getting better. I always thought of The Police as a “Smart” band as they used words I never heard before (just look at some of the album titles). The songs were so intelligent and they based a lot fo stuff off books and things they read. And I think that was also what made them interesting. It was great songs, great musicianship and they had something to say.

OUTLANDOS D’AMOUR (1978):

The debut album for me is one of their best for me because it is so raw. It sounds more punk than anything else they did. It was a band that was hungry and was attacking their music with so much vigor and life. The band sounded fresh and was at the cusp of being something great. I mean come on, “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You” are such great songs that I don’t know if they’ve done better. And not far behind is “So Lonely”, “Next To You” and “Masoko Tanga”. Are all the songs great, no, but they all show a side of band that was going to be something and make an impression on music.

REGGATTA DE BLANC (1979):

Now I know that Apple Music & ITunes has this as an essential album, but it isn’t one of my top picks. It is good, hell yes it is. The band is starting to find their groove and their song writing is definitely improving and these guys can play their instruments. I liked the reggae vibe on a lot of these songs and there are some amazing songs, but like the last one, there were a few filler songs that didn’t do anything for me and lessened my listening experience a little. But you can’t go wrong with such stellar classics like “Message in a Bottle”, “Walking on the Moon”, “Bring on the Night”, “The Bed’s Too Big WithOut You” and the title track.

ZENYATTA MONDATTA (1980):

How good are your albums when the one that contains “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” is your least favorite. And there are so many good songs on here, but my reason for it being on the least favorite is that there were too many boring songs and filler on this one. Mostly from Side 2. The songs that are on here that are good are great, but it was an all or nothing for the songs. I liked all the Sting songs on this one, but didn’t dig the Copeland or Stewart songs which is not usually the case. There are a ton of goods one including the catchy as hell, “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”. You also get “Driven to Tears”, “Canary in a Coalmine” and the longest title of “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”. Again, a very good album and not a Worst as they don’t have a Worst.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE (1981):

This was the album that I remember hearing the songs first thanks to this new found station on cable called MTV. In 1981, MTV was getting started and didn’t have a ton of videos so they played The Police a lot. Now, I probably didn’t see them until we got cable back in 1982, but I loved the songs and the videos. When I got the album, it was magic all the way through. Side one is one hit after another with “Spirits in the Material World”, “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and ends with “Demolition Man”. And Side two is no slouch either with “Omegaman” and “Rehumanize Yourself”. Oh Crap and “Too Much Information”. Man, so much good stuff.

SYNCHRONICITY (1983):

Regardless of the fact this was the band’s biggest selling album and had their biggest hits, it is actually the best of the bunch. Usually popular doesn’t mean good, but in this case, popular means AMAZING. This is also the first Police album I ever bought with my own money back in the day. I spent a lot of time with this one and have reviewed it on my site, not once, but twice (I need to write this stuff down). It is such an amazing journey of songs from beginning to the end. After you listen to the album all the way through, you experience so many different sounds, styles, tones and you hear lyrics that are intelligent and often times tell an amazing story. It doesn’t get much better than this. What songs are the best? Easy answer is all of them. I even like the crazy songs like “Mother” and “Miss Gradenko”. But it is the brilliance of songs like the stalker track that everyone plays at their wedding “Every Breath You Take” and then there are songs like “King of Pain” and the eerie “Synchronicity II” that are head and shoulders above everything else. And don’t forget “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and the title track “Synchronicity”. You can’t go wrong with any of it.

FLEXIBLE STRATEGIES (2018):

The final disc is the cool one with all the B-Sides on one disc. It is like having a new Police album. The only problem with it is that the lack of a booklet would be great here to read what was the A-Side for each of the tracks. I know ‘Murder By Number’ was actually a bonus track on the cassette as it was excluded from the vinyl release. The songs are in order of release which is cool as you can tell which album the songs are around based on the sound of the recording. The few opening tracks are more raw, more punk and then you get some instrumentals and some bizarre stuff as well. But all-in-all, a fantastically fun disc of rarer tracks. Even if it isn’t all the songs they’ve recorded.

And there you have it. If you don’t have anything by The Police, you can’t go wrong with this one. It isn’t overly pricey (especially if you get a 50% off deal like I did) and for what you get it is well worth the price. A band that was not around long enough, but this is all about quality over quantity with The Police! Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers and Sting might not have gotten along, but at least we got some great music before it all imploded. A band that went out on top and not many bands can say that!