The Police Albums Ranked

The Police were a British rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Emerging in the British new-wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. Considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the U.S., in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them “the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in the world.” The Police disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour that ended in August 2008. Here are all of The Police’s albums ranked.

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5. Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)

“By this time the Police were truly becoming monsters in both album sales and on the concert trail. The band were playing all over the world to huge crowds and this album would help to propel them to superstar status. This is another good one. I think that just about every song on this disc got played on AOR radio and several of the tracks were huge top 40 hits. The reggae influence is still here, but The Police were definitely developing their own unique sound at this point. A lot more politics and overall social issues begin to make it into the lyrics on this one as well. This is another must own for Police fans.”

4. Outlandos d’Amour (1978)

“Born out of the tail end of the British punk scene, this debut album by the Police is a severely underrated offering. Sting gives us a hint of his great lyric-writing abilities so evident on future albums on tracks like “Roxanne” and “Born in the 50’s”. It becomes very clear as one listens to the tracks here that this is not your usual run-of-the-mill punk band with lame, brain-dead lyrics and 3-chord 4/4 time music but the great musicianship of Summers, Copeland and Sumner and the complex stylings and arrangements of the compositions come to the fore on “Hole In My Life” and “Can’t Stand Losing You” This digipak version is a real treat too as the sound quality is very well remastered and sounds excellent. Recommended.”

3. Ghost In The Machine (1981)

“This album greatly expands the sound of the earlier Police recordings with the addition of Keyboards and Horns. It is also the beginning of the rising tensions within the band as Sting basically starts pushing the other members contributions to the back, which understandably causes some resentment and probably led to the breakup of the band. That being said, this is still a strong recording by the group, with a nice bit of pop with “every little thing” and the exploration of a more thematic approach to music with most of the rest of the tracks. The band plays strongly and in fine form here, and the music holds up well, even after thirty years, making this a recording still worth listening to.”

2. Reggatta De Blanc (1979)

“The Police were on their way to the top already by the time this; their second album was released in 1979. The title means something like “White Reggae” and indeed there is a lot of reggae influence to be found on this disc. Along with the reggae the album pretty much goes in a bunch of different directions almost as if the band was struggling to find just what kind of sound that they wanted to put out there. Overall this is another strong album from the Police. A couple of huge hits came from this disc “Message In A Bottle” and “Walking On The Moon” and the non single tracks are all good as well. This one fits in well between the album that proceeded and the album that followed it and should be a part of any Police collection.”

1. Synchronicity (1983)

“This is simple, when you get three guys that have studied jazz for years together, you know the result can’t be bad. But, if, besides, one of them is an incredible talented songwriter, then, you’ll listen probably one of the best bands on earth. I’ve have all The Police’s CDs, and I must say this is their very best, is the crown for the best pop band ever. The whole album is perfect, with the exception of “Mother”, which is incredible bad. However, you’ll find here the highest level of composition and every member executing their part at their highest level. Stewart Copeland’s drums are truly from another planet, Summers is the master of Rhythm Guitar, and Sting, of course, won’t disappoint you, he brights as a singer, but as a bassist as well. The tempo on “Tea in the Sahara”, “Miss Gradenko”, and “Wrapped around your finger” are exceptional. And, of course, the well known songs, as “Every breath you take”, and “King of Pain” spare me any further comment.It’s as simple as this: GET THIS ALBUM RIGHT NOW! It will help you to understand why music went down from that point on: It couldn’t get higher, The Police reached the top. The only thing I have to regret is thinking what could have happened if The Police would have stayed together for a coupple of more years. A really shame they had to split.