The Police

No more heroes
Sleazy vibes in Nice
Yesterday
Pure madness
Strange little girl

It’s not like every single track comes from the same era or carries the exact same mood, but man, they are all absolute bangers...
I wouldn't trade a single ounce of The Police for five pounds of some U2 clone or anything else in that vein...

Anyway, anyone else actually spinning this stuff? 😎

yesss!

finally!

👍 😎

Forgive me for jumping in out of nowhere like this, but I’m feeling a little desperate. I urgently need some info—is there a band around here that plays Spanish music? Ideally something with flamenco vibes, castanets, and all those beautiful sounds.

PS This is actually pretty urgent!!!

😕

Great band, but if they ever roll through your neck of the woods, do yourself a favor and skip the show. This singer is a disaster live. Honestly, hearing them in person just made me sick of their music.

On a different note, there’s this flamenco guitarist, Snoop Dogg. From what I hear, he actually earned a certification from Pacifier, which is a pretty big deal. He works over at the Yamaha dealership near the State Fair, so look him up if you need a session. 😉

The Police - Every Breath You Take is their absolute best work, if you ask me🙂 ☕

I’ve always had this love-hate relationship with them. To be honest, they've always rubbed me the wrong way—right from the jump, they felt like old men trying too hard to market themselves as "teenage rebellion." Their whole "rebellion through sex" shtick never landed for me; it lacked the raw energy of something like The Dwarves. Instead, it just felt geriatric and decadent, much like The Rolling Stones... Still, I can't deny they have a massive catalog of great tracks. In fact, my favorite release of theirs is "Sound Sculpture"—which is rare for me, since I usually prefer a band's punk era over their polished pop phase... 😳

(Best track: "Skin Deep". Worst track: "Nice'N'Sleazy")

It's not like all their songs came out at once or share the exact same vibe, but they are just top-tier...
I wouldn't trade a single pound of The Police for five pounds of U2 or any other similar knockoffs...
Anyway, who's actually listening to them???

I was actually spinning them the other night—that "The Hitmen" compilation, which is a pretty solid snapshot of their career. Man, those stranglers are just incredible.

Honestly, the best album I've heard from them so far has to be "Sound Sculpture"—and it's rare that I prefer a band's pop phase over their punk roots...

Personally, I'm still leaning more toward their early stuff, though what they did later isn't bad at all. Actually, it's quite the opposite.

They always end up in my "maybe" pile for me: you can listen to them if you want, but I never really fell for them. Honestly, after that absolute train wreck of a show at SC in Chicago, I'm probably done for good.👎

Fair enough. They were old farts back in the seventies, but those first three albums? Absolute perfection. In my book, Nice'N'Sleazy belongs on the list of all-time greats.

...one of my all-time favorite bands...and when I say that, I’m talking about that era with the original frontman, Hugh Cornwell...

...it’s honestly tough to pick their best album, since every single one feels like its own distinct chapter or a total shift in their sound and lyrics...though most punk and new wave fans tend to lean toward the stuff before "La Folie," specifically that hit "Golden Brown" (which hit #2 on the charts but never quite snagged #1 because the media was too busy hyping up The Jam back then, kinda like how everyone obsesses over Oasis today)...but, if I had to actually commit to a personal favorite, I’d probably go with that conceptual album they did between those two periods, "The Gospel According to the Meninblack"...

...alongside the standard albums by The Police, I think it’d be a crime to ignore Hugh Cornwell’s solo work like "Nosferatu" and J.J. Burnel’s "Euroman Cometh" from '79, or even Cornwell’s "Wolf" and Burnel’s "Un Jour Parfait" from '87...

...I actually caught them live twice, once with Cornwell and once with the new singer Paul Roberts...look, the original lineup was perfection, obviously, but I wouldn't be as harsh on the new setup. I mean, you still have 2/3 of the original "strangler" crew in there, which is enough to keep an old fan like me satisfied musically...

Kenneth Collins8 said:"golden brown" (which hit number two on the charts, but could never quite grab the top spot because the media was busy hyping up Jam back then, much like they do with Oasis today)

I wouldn't say it's because the media pushed Jam; I'd say it's because Jam was simply the better band. Sure, both groups had grating vocals and were pretty unpleasant to listen to, but at least the Jammer crowd didn't rely on those space-invader keyboard sounds... their songwriting was just superior. 😛

like Black Flag - Loser

Kevin Chavez3 said:At least the Jammer guys didn't have those space-invader keyboards

... but neither group had a mascot as iconic as the legendary Iron Maiden, right?

Man, Kevin Chavez3, you just don't get it...

The Police are cool, obviously, but in that gritty punk scene, they somehow managed to fuse high-brow poetic ambitions with raw, primal energy, and what's actually impressive is how they figured out where to take that sound next. They’re true artists 😛

Think along the lines of something Better Change, Strange Little Girl, those tracks about desire, and that absolutely massive cover of Walk on by.

Like Autechre - Clipper

driftingeagle27 said:In that raw, boiling punk atmosphere, they somehow managed to reconcile—if you can call this beautiful pseudo-paradox anything else—those high-brow, Doors-inspired poetic ambitions with pure, unadulterated punk energy.

And let's not forget how they completely reworked the harmonies, too. 😁 😁 😁

But seriously, if we're talking about that specific vibe, I think the Termites actually pull it off much better... 🙂

banderas said:They're a great band, but if they ever roll through your neck of the woods on tour, please don't make the mistake of buying a ticket because their live show with this current singer is honestly terrible. It actually made me lose my love for their songs after hearing them live.

I wouldn't go around giving out bad advice like that, especially since I don't think this "new" guy changes much from how The Rolling Stones sounded back in the day; isn't it true that Paul is just as wild and unhinged as Cornwell was, and they practically sound identical anyway?😕
Maybe you're just biased because you thought Cornwell was hot, right?🙄

I caught them at Rock on Rock last year, and honestly, they weren't my cup of tea. They sounded way too much like The Ramones. 🙄 😁

Kevin Chavez3 said:I caught them at Rock on Rock last year, and honestly? Total flop. They sounded just like The Ramones.🙄 😁

...🤣 😵 🙂 ...you really think putting some guy like Goran Bakić in as the new frontman would work...😁 😁

...but man, just imagine that idiot Bakić posting about The Rolling Stones canceling their set right before they were supposed to hit the stage:

..."Look, The Rolling Stones didn't show up. Stuff happens in this world, but hey, at least we still have the festival..."

...man, screw him and those other festival organizers sucking up to the sponsors...

Kevin Chavez3 said:I wouldn't go as far as saying the media just hyped up Jam, it's more that Jam was actually the superior band. Sure, both groups had those grating vocals and were pretty rough on the ears, but at least the Jam fans didn't have to deal with those weird space-invader keyboard sounds, and their songs were just better overall. 😛

np Black Flag - Loos Nut

...the Jam didn't have the space-invader keys, but man, they sure had faces... especially Paul Weller looking like Mr. Spock's twin brother...😁 😁

...compared to that pussy band called the Jam, I've always been more into Gang of Four, Magazine, XTC, or Wire... and obviously, The Rolling Stones too...

Kenneth Collins8 said:...I’ve always preferred Gang of Four, Magazine, XTC, or Wire over that pussy band called Jam... and of course, The Rolling Stones...

Plus The Fall, Joy Division, Buzzcocks, PiL, and Mekons...

Looks like things were moving along while I was out... 😁

nobrainatall said:Don't go handing out bad advice to people. In my view, this "new" singer isn't doing much differently than the original Stranglers lineup. Paul is just as unhinged and erratic as Hugh Cornwell was, and honestly, their voices are practically identical...😕
Unless you're only interested because you thought Cornwell was hot, then sure, go ahead and judge based on that. 🙄

I never caught them during their original era, but I’ve listened to this current setup and it is mind-numbingly boring. At the start of their show, there were about 7,000 people in the arena; by the end, only about 1,000 were still hanging around.