Artist: The Police
Album: Synchronicity (1983)
Favorite song: King of Pain
Rating: 
(3.5 / 5)
Thoughts: When most people reflect on The Police, this is the album that immediately comes to mind. Synchronicity was the fifth, and final, studio album recorded by The Police, and contained what is arguably their biggest hit single – “Every Breath You Take.”
As definitive as that single was, and still is, I simply can’t get over the creep-factor. It’s the ultimate stalker anthem, and almost as creepy as “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” off of their earlier album – Zenyatta Mondatta. That song, which is obviously about an inappropriate relationship between a young male teacher and one of his under-age female students, seems to hit too close to home. After all, before writing that song, Sting was a school teacher.
So despite my fond middle-school memories of singing along to “Every Breath You Take” with my classmates, I have to go with “King of Pain” as my favorite track on this album. Its soulful imagery just grabs hold of me in a palpable way. I’m also very fond of “Synchronicity II,” which is probably a close second. But to be honest, with the sole exception of “Mother,” every track on this album is strong. That frenetic song, the only one on the album written by Andy Summers, stands out – and not necessarily in a good way.
By this time in their career, the band was starting to unravel. Sting had clearly become a major star, and the two tracks written by Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland seem almost like bones being tossed to the less popular members of the band. Still, it’s an exceptional album, and holds up to repeated play 30 years after its initial release.
Album Art: The cover of this album is colorful and memorable, with swaths of blue, red, and yellow being streaked across the front image. The same three bands are reproduced on the center label of the record itself (as seen in the picture). One would expect the opening to be on the left of the album cover, as per normal usage. However, the record slot is on the top, along the top, which makes it a bit odd with respect to orientation. The inner sleeve has song tracks and lyrics on one side, and a large black & white image of the band on the reverse.
————–Side 1————–
- “Synchronicity I”
- “Walking in Your Footsteps”
- “O My God”
- “Mother” (Andy Summers)
- “Miss Gradenko” (Stewart Copeland)
- “Synchronicity II”
————–Side 2————–
- “Every Breath You Take”
- “King of Pain”
- “Wrapped Around Your Finger”
- “Tea in the Sahara”
**All songs written by Sting, unless otherwise noted**