80s Classic Albums (Featuring: King Crimson)

[bl5150]

Maybe I need to check this one too.    I am really only familiar with their radio hits and my response to those is 50/50..............."Since you've gone.........." in Every Breath You Take is one of my favourite pop rock moments but Roxanne irritates me ....and so on.  Although the Eddie Murphy moment in 48 Hours was awesome   

I saw them live for some reason but never actually owned an album.  On the surface they're a bit too pop rock - which is likely why I never bothered - but in the right song I can enjoy Sting's voice and Andy Summers is a deceptively good guitarist , so there is some hope for me with this band , unlike Depeche Mode .

[jjrock88]

Like Brent, I'm just familiar with the radio hits.  50/50 as well.

[Orbert]

This is the one Police album I never owned.  I had the first four on vinyl, later upgraded Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost in the Machine to CD, but after listening to this one a few times at my friend's house, I decided I didn't need it.  Some cool songs on it, for sure, and I wasn't sorry to hear the reggae go away, but I guess I'd just moved on by time this one came out.

[Cyclopssss]

This is probably the best album they ever made. And too bad they hated their guts (well, Sting and Stu did) making it and it was to be their last. From the kick in the teeth of Synchronicity I on, it's brilliant. Much of the album title and concept material on it is inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence.  Songs like King of Pain, Wrapped around your finger, Every breath you take, but certainly also Synchronicity I and II, are instant classics. The touring, for the album, although short, was impressive as well.

[gazinwales]

For a 'pop' band The Police were and are incredible musicians.
Was just watching the 2008 Tokyo Dome concert YT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBFAxXjKmpE

[Kotowboy]

Every Breath You Take is one of my favourite songs of all time.

And yeah they're all great musicians. Andy Summers often gets overlooked.


I've got a copy of Ghost In The Machine on vinyl. Took me ages to figure out the LEDs on the front are the band member's faces.

[Kotowboy]

For a 'pop' band The Police were and are incredible musicians.
Was just watching the 2008 Tokyo Dome concert YT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBFAxXjKmpE

hey thanks i'll check that out Might have to download it too .

[gazinwales]

Yeah no worries mate.
Some of the renditions on it are a little different, but still very good.

AS is a very unrated guitarist, if you've ever tried playing the Police songs on guitar, you'll know some are pretty tough.

[Kotowboy]

Especially the Every Breath You Take riff !

And Andy is a small guy with tiny hands !

[Kotowboy]

Bloody Hell - Andy is 72 ? I thought he was a lot younger than that !

Their debut album was released November 2nd 1978 - 5 days before I was born

[Orbert]

I've got a copy of Ghost In The Machine on vinyl. Took me ages to figure out the LEDs on the front are the band member's faces.

The first three albums each feature the band member's faces quite prominently, so I guess I got it immediately because of that.  I thought it was pretty clever.  Ghost in the Machine was a deliberate step toward changing the band's image and sound, with the title actually in English and their "portraits" on the cover done in LEDs.

[bosk1]

I had this album, but never really "got" it for some reason.  I really liked the hits.  But for some reason, the album as a whole never really gelled for me.  However, that does not keep me from recognizing how good it is and its classic status.

[Kotowboy]

Didn't they say recently that it was a myth that they hated each other ? And they actually got on fine.

[King Postwhore]

No,  Sting and Copeland fought all the time. 

[hefdaddy42]

One of the best albums ever, not just the 80s. 

This one is pretty much all killer, no filler.

[Lowdz]

Decent pop rock band with substance. I have a best of but don't play it often. When I do I like it. Never heard a whole album other than the best of.

[Kotowboy]

Yes they were very much a singles band. The albums had a lot of weaker material on - which some could deem as filler.

[KevShmev]

There is no filler on Synchronicity, which is the featured album we are talking about. 

Even the oft-maligned Mother isn't as awful as some say it is.  Deep cuts like Walking in Your Footsteps, Murder by Numbers and O My God are all tremendous.

[T-ski]

I used to hate "Every Breath...." as it was overplayed big time, but now I can truly appreciate its beauty.  I think "Wrapped Around Your Finger" is the best track from the album.

Solid album no doubt.

[KevShmev]

   Synchronicity II is by far my favorite Police song.

Me too.

[Orbert]

I like "Mother".  I mean, I can understand why people don't like it; it's horrible and obnoxious and completely conveys the dread of your mother calling you, but that's exactly the point.  Also, it's in 7/4 or something, isn't it?  It's been a while.

"Murder by Numbers" is amazing.  I love how the 3/4 and 4/4 overlay each other and you sometimes can't even tell what the time signature is.  Trivia: It's not on the vinyl.  It was a "bonus track" on the cassette, and presumably is on the CD as a regular track.

[KevShmev]

I actually meant to mention that in my write-up, but when I decided on that style for presenting this album, it didn't work.  But yeah, I owned the vinyl back in '83, and Murder by Numbers was not on there, so when I got the CD like a decade later, it was a brand new song to me on what was already one of my favorite records!

[Calvin6s]

Even the oft-maligned Mother isn't as awful as some say it is.  Deep cuts like Walking in Your Footsteps, Murder by Numbers and O My God are all tremendous.

Murder by Numbers is one of my favorites

[Lowdz]

There is no filler on Synchronicity, which is the featured album we are talking about. 

Even the oft-maligned Mother isn't as awful as some say it is.  Deep cuts like Walking in Your Footsteps, Murder by Numbers and O My God are all tremendous.

Just listened to the whole album and was enjoying it until mother came on. That was every bit as awful as people say it is 
Hmm. Liked some of it, disliked some of it, about 50/50 I guess.
I really don't listen to this sort of thing much at all, so 50/50 isn't bad.

[KevShmev]

Hey, at least you tried.

Even though it is one of the hits from it, King of Pain has always been my 2nd least favorite song from this.  I like it, but don't love it.  Every other song, except for Mother, is a major winner, although I agree with your comment, Orbert, about the song being obnoxious on purpose.

[jammindude]

I just listened to Mother for the first time.    I have a whole new perspective of this band.   THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!    I was always a bit 50/50 on The Police myself.   But this song is absolutely brilliant!!   I may have to go get this album after all.

[Cyclopssss]

The Police has a history of having at least one irritating, jarring song on an album. This is as grating as they come! As far back as Outlandos d' Amour 'Peanuts, Be my gir-Sally,' to Regatta da Blanc 'Does everyone stare', they've always had songs like that.

[KevShmev]

Even though I was a fan of quite a few of Phil Collins' solo hits in the 80s, the hits from No Jacket Required never did anything for me.  "Take Me Home" is okay, I guess, but "Sussudio" and "One More Night" both make me nauseas.  "Don't Lose My Number" isn't bad, but I can't imagine ever going out of my way to hear it.  Regardless, No Jacket Required was massively popular, and I'll give it its due by featuring it, but just don't ask me to like it.

[Calvin6s]

This was the album that ushered in the decline of Phil Collins (for me).  I didn't own any of his albums until later, but I liked the songs off the first two much better than this one.

And this one has a special bleh for me (here comes that nostalgia).  My friend was a big Genesis/Phil Collins fan at the time.  I was neither love nor hate.  I'd hear "I Don't Care Anymore" and think this guy was something special.  Then his next single would be "Can't Hurry Love" and I'd feel there was nothing special going on.  So he was hit and miss.  And big hits and big misses for me.

But "Sussudio" really put me over the edge.  I actually thought the song was decent (not great, but decent) when it first came out.  But then I went to the water slide / miniature golf hang out with my Phil Collins friend.  We liked to wring out every penny spent, so we'd stay there all day.  Visions of an endless loop of "Sussudio" as I barrel down the waterslide pipe still haunt me to this day.  It was augmented by the Collins-head friend telling me how great the song every of the 100x it came on that day.

So this album actually kept me from purchasing my first Phil Collins CD until the early/mid 1990s.  And it was the first two because I had to overcome that day-built bias and admit I really liked some of those early songs.  I then went and bought his other albums (as I am prone to do with artists) thinking I just missed the good songs on the other albums, but they were all decent at best.

Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going! can play with joy any day of the week for me.  The others, I usually skip before they finish.  That includes No Jackets Required.

[bl5150]

I had almost forgotten how much I like Phil Collins' voice in the right song until I heard Against All Odds the other day -not my normal style but I almost had to have a think about who it was singing.

I never bought this album , but was a big fan of Don't Lose My Number as a youngster.

[bosk1]

I have never heard a single Phil Collins song I did not like.  Ever.  And yet, I never owned a single one of his albums and don't really feel compelled to.  I think it is simply the fact that his music is still so ubiquitous that I can hear it any time I want, combined with the fact that, while I like his music in general, there is usually something else I would rather listen to if I am choosing an album.

But in any case, this is a really good album.  I liked all the hits.  And the couple of times I think I heard the entire album, I enjoyed the deep cuts as well (although I cannot presently recall ANY of them).

[bl5150]

I have never heard a single Phil Collins song I did not like.  Ever. 

Even Groovy Kind Of Love ? 

[bosk1]

I have never heard a single Phil Collins song I did not like.  Ever. 

Even Groovy Kind Of Love ? 

No, I'm good with that one too.

[Orbert]

I thought his first two albums were great.  I bought each one when they came out, and in some ways, Hello, I Must Be Going! was even better than the first.  I picked up this one when it came out as well, and it then that I realized that Phil and I were no longer a match.  I can listen to the first two albums all the way through, but I don't know if there's a single song on this album that I actually like.

[hefdaddy42]

I agree that the first two are better albums.  But there is still a lot to like on this one.  In fact, I am going to listen to it again now.

One overlooked thing here is how Phil really embraced the potential of the music video.  He made some great ones.  The one for Don't Lose My Number was hilarious.