5 (??) GREAT ALBUM TRACKS FOR FRIDAY....(Part 6)

I am making it much easier for myself this week by going for a band who have a reputation for releasing a lot of excellent singles but whose albums were, for the most part, disappointing (other than the songs which were released as singles).

The Police were the first headlining band I ever saw live back in May 1979. I've retained a certain fondness for them notwithstanding Sting has made me cringe far too often over the past 25 years, but they're not a band I listen to all that often nowadays. It really should have been a tough task narrowing it down to just the five songs from their various studio albums, but in fact it was the opposite. Actually finding five decent LP track that have stood the test of time was the problem. So much so, I didn't put in five:-

mp3 : The Police - Bring On The Night
mp3 : The Police - Next To You
mp3 : The Police - Secret Journey

The band recorded a total of 54 songs across 5 studio LPs, of which 15 were released as singles in the UK (I'm including the re-recorded The Bed's Too Big Without You as a single, although you could only but it as part of an expensive special six-pack of singles that still went Top 20 on release).

Believe me, if A&M Records thought that all 54 songs were capable of being hit singles, they would have released them. There really are some stinkers among the remaining 39 non-singles, so much so that I almost abandoned this posting mid-listening. But instead, I just went with the only three songs I can give pass marks to....

Its easier to do this thing chronologically.

From Outlandos d'Amour, there's just the one track - Next To You the song which opened the LP. Hard to believe now, but the band were seen as part of the New Wave movement that was sweeping the UK in 78 and 79 and while it is far closer to pop than anything remotely punk, I think this really is one of the few tracks that has dated not too badly thanks to the catchy chorus and the driving energy provided by the drums of Stewart Copeland.

From Regatta de Blanc, there's Bring On The Night. This is one of the few album tracks on which all members of the band really do gel brilliantly, and must have been a contender for a possible single.

From Zenyatta Mondatta, there's nothing. Its an album that was made when the band were conquering the world and thought they were untouchable. And it shows. It is an appalling piece of work that really should have been rejected by the label as sub-standard. But of course it sold millions of copies across the globe which in the end was all the major labels are interested in. The industry was collectively so far up the band's backside at this point in time that a Grammy for best rock instrumental was awarded in 1982 to Behind My Camel, a track that was only included as there weren't enough proper songs, and which was even given a joke title (as in what if you find behind a camel - an enormous pile of shit...)

From Ghost In The Machine you'll find Secret Journey, a track released as a single in the USA instead of Invisible Sun. The band filled this album with horns and synths and it was a million miles away from the stuff they had been recording an playing live just three years earlier. For the most part it has dated appallingly.

And from the final album Synchronicity, there's not one sonf that's made the cut as it is, in my humble opinion, an album that is mind-numbingly dull and dreary.

So you may ask why are the band included in the series if I couldn't pick five - the simple answer is that everyone of us remembers the first time, and as I said earlier, this lot were my first live experience. And if it had been dreadful, I might have not remained such a big fan of music....

I'll be back with the full five from another favourite act next Friday.