Reggatta De Blanc

The adoration for The Police continues to elude me. They're great musicians (and I'm not even counting out Sting himself here), but the record has occasional flits of greatness (seriously, even I enjoy "Message In a Bottle"), but never really nails it: some songs feel half-finished, and it switches between serious and almost-Offspring-level of jokey ("On Any Other Day"). I will say, I never noticed their post-punk tracks before, but those aren't the ones that usually play. Favorite tracks: "Message In a Bottle", "Deathwish", "No Time This Time"

Official Police Fan club, member number 606 and stayed up late to watch them on Old Grey Whistle test. Great days! Every track on this is a classic- they were huge at the time but time moves on, although it still makes me turn up the volume. Listening back now Stewart Copeland's drumming is particularly noteworthy, the vibe with bass and Sting's vocals were so influencial. I can't believe this has only just made it to the list. Shame on you Robert.

fuck the police... but not THESE police. Who knew that their non-hits were so... quirky?? An enjoyable time. Sting knows how to sing and how to structure a song. Not sure if the album lives up to its promise of "White Reggae", but maybe the white reggae was the friends we made along the way. It's a high 3 for me, but I've been giving out too many 4s lately, so a 3 it shall be.

Let's be real: true black reggae is fucking boring. There's a reason you only hear it in seedy bars in Thailand that cater to cooked westerners: if you listen to reggae with a clear head you notice very, very quickly that there is ZERO variation in tempo, chords, themes, etc. If you've heard 30 seconds of real reggae, you've heard it all. Not exaggerating there. Is what The Police did appropriation? Probably... but who cares. It's not like The Police took their kazillion dollars out of some starving Jamaican's mouth. True reggae sucks too much to have ever been pop chart big. People idolise the IDEA of Bob Marley, not his music. Reggae only became palatable on a large scale once The Police mixed it with new wave. And that's worth noting: they mixed it with something as shit as new wave to improve it. 2/5 because message in a bottle is a legitimately good song.

Somebody call the police...to tell then this album is shit.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to welcome you to the Second Annual Roast of The Police! Last year, we “honored” The Police’s 1983 record, “Synchronicity” with a track by track takedown. Our guest of honor this year is 1979’s “Regatta de Blanc”, the album that spawned a genre that is still going strong nearly 45 years later…“White Reggae”. Seriously, folks, where would all the dreadlocked trustafarians that follow Phish be without this record? ...OK, enough about Phish, let’s get on with the show! -90 seconds in and *I’m* getting ready to send an SOS to the world. Please, someone…anyone…put an end to this. -Imagine being so entitled that the British colonization of Jamaica wasn’t enough for you…you need to appropriate the music of their people, a citizenry that your country had already marginalized for centuries, and make your own “white” version of it. To top it off, you do it as a band called “The Police”. -I guess when people call The Police a “punk” band they’re referring to tracks like “It’s Alright for You”, which is about as punk as eating a bowl of muesli for breakfast and heading off to your accounting job at Halliburton. -Yes, please “Bring on the Night”, because I can’t stand another minute of this record this morning. -I’m going to reboot the Death Wish movie franchise, but this time, Charles Bronson’s character will be spurred to commit violent acts of vigilante justice after being forced to listen to The Police’s entire discography. -“Some may say” you shouldn’t affect a Jamaican accent when you’re the palest white person on earth. Sting, clearly, isn’t one of them. -Speaking of complete bullshit, here’s “On Any Other Day”… (It’s great, some of these jokes write themselves) -I’m sorry the Bed is Too Big now, Sting, but no one forced you to buy a California King mattress. -If not having a raincoat is the only thing keeping Sting from coming over, I’m going to start praying for rain. -“I only stare this way at you”…”I’ll be watching you”…if there was a spate of unsolved Peeping Tom incidents in England in the late 70’s, this man, Gordon “Sting” Sumner, should be the primary suspect. -“Ain’t nobody got No Time This Time for that.” Well, that was fun wasn’t it? I’m glad you could join us and we look forward to seeing you again next… …one second, folks… …I’ve just been informed by our producers that, sadly, this will be our final Roast of The Police. I’m being told that there “just isn’t enough material” to cover and that, like the clam chowder we served tonight, “the soup is just too thin” when it comes to this band. So with that in mind, I’d like thank you for your time and for joining us here at the Friar’s Club tonight. In closing, I’d like to leave you with two very important messages: Firstly, ACAB. …and second, BOOM! ROASTED!

I hadn’t heard this album in ages and wow it hasn’t aged a bit. Really great album.

Brilliant at the time.

Obviously I knew "Message in the bottle" and "Walking on the moon" so I was expecting kinda two hit wonder album. But the rest is just not pleasant. I just wonder why The Police was/is popular? And why Sting even considered himself as singer?

4.1 - Lots of energy, lots of snap. For just three guys, they create a ton of sound. They're also incredibly tight - there's not a missed note or beat in the recording. I love the dreamy reggae-infelected interplay of bass and guitar on "Bring On the Night" as well as the trippy guitar sonics on "Walking On the Moon."

the police's reggatta de blanc has one of their greatest and well known songs, "message in a bottle" and... not much else. i couldn't get much into it. this album has an interesting fusion of new wave and reggae, which definitely set the police apart. i like some reggae and some new wave, but not this combination.

I liked The Police a lot in the 80s and I saw them during the Synchronicity tour. I haven't listened to them very much since then, but when I hear any of their songs in recent years, I am increasingly impressed with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland as musicians. Love the complexity they bring to their craft. It's hard for me to separate all the public image stuff around Sting from the music he was part of with this band and in later years, but when I set that aside and just listen to the work, I usually like it. His voice sometimes is a bit much for me, but ignoring what I might think of his public persona I do hear some great stuff from him from time to time. He's also put out some music as a solo artist that doesn't interest me, but that's probably something I'd say of any musician who has recorded so many albums over decades. This is a solid album even today and very much brings me back to some fun memories.

Punchy. I love the Police but early Police most of all, just so raw yet clear. I listened to this album recently because I remember buying it as a kid and ... really not getting into it right away. Often a sign of a deep album for me, and yeah - there's so much I love about it now. They were such a *band* on this album: Stewart Copeland's ridiculous precision especially on the hi hat; Andy Summers' best album - weird/odd yet tasteful chords, shimmering chorus on songs like "Walking On The Moon" and the (I think) underrated bass lines from Sting. Not a ton of hits here but that might be why I ended up liking it more as the years went on. Songwriting noticably tails off a bit near the end but it's still not enough for me to knock it down, I love it... 9/10 5 stars

I didn’t have to listen to this to know it’s a 5. Every song is crafted amazingly. Even the songs I don’t know incredibly well are still so good sounding. Iconic album.

The Police are one of the greatest bands of all time. Three piece that Copeland and Summers filled out to sound amazing. Sting is "a hell" of a songwriter. He was throwing out hits for fun in this period. Message in a Bottle is one of the greatest songs of all time and I never tire of hearing it. I remember this as being a bit patchy but with some real songs. Listening to it again in the middle of this exercise, I realise the difference between good bands and a great band. I've been a bit mean on the 5 stars and wouldn't have given this at the start of listening but this is is as good an album as anything else on this list.

The quintessential Police album, my childhood was surrounded by these songs and I did not like them one bit. My next door neighbor's older brother admitted that he was a huge Police fan (early 90s) and my friend & I mocked him for this constantly. Joke's on me, as usual.

These guys are TIGHT. 3 guys who compliment each other really well. Every part is so perfectly precise. I don't normally care much for reggae but I love how they mix it in with rock and pop stuff. Cool subtle use of guitar effects like delay & chorus. Drumming is so good.

Spiky and quirky new-wave elements reggaefied through the nascent trustafarian vocals of everyone's favorite tantric prick. A friend in college used to try to convince me this was a masterpiece - it's certainly enjoyably weird, not derivative at all, and probably their most interesting album as the tension between post-punk, reggae and sophisticated '80s pop is the tightest here. But.... Greatest Hits, if you must. It's fucking Sting after all

I'm shocked that this album is so... unpleasant? I expected something different. Sometimes Sting sings out of tune, ugh. The rest of the music is good. Only 2 songs were good, the rest were so-so.

A regrettable experience. Torture to my young ears. A real abortion of melody and lyrics that should have never seen the light of day. A festering wound in the back of your eye.

Awful.

Lovely punky pop reggae. Of course covering topics like depression, isolation, prostitution, suicide. I don’t think we’ll ever get a band like The Police ever again.

This band has no bad albums

Such a good album front to back

What an excellent group of musicians and strong group of songs, including a few I’ve never heard before. Two absolute bangers: Message In a Bottle, Walking on the Moon. The only “bad” song is “On Any Other Day” with the poorly aged line about his son being gay. Observation: The beginning of “Bring on the Night” sounds like “edge of seventeen”.

Love this album. No sophomore slump here. Kickass opening track that sucks you in as you sing along. Bring on the Night, Bed’s too Big, It’s alright for you are also standouts. Great blend of reggae vibes and excellent rock and roll.

Good album! Obviously we got the hits but there's loads of stuff I've never heard, and there's some interesting tracks there too! Saved songs: Does Everyone Stare, Bring On The Night, The Bed's Too Big Without You

Love the reggae rock vibes

the blend of reggae and 80’s rock is awesome. definitely coming back to this one

Classic! Really great album. Rock is fun

Really liked it. Great musicians. And you gotta love Sting

My favourite Police album by far. As far as I'm concerned, this reggae of the white album is one of those rare beasts where each track is a masterpiece in its own right. Message in a Bottle is album's most famous track, yes, but the album is full of unique moments. Whether it's that unique sound of Walking on the Moon or The Bed's Too Big Without You, or that opera singer I can hear in the background in Does Everyone Stare, this album is the result of the hard work of three very competent musicians striving very hard to avoid their era's common "rock" sound. They were highly successful in this endeavour of theirs. P.S. I used to love the album's back cover, featuring the back of the trio's heads (basically, the opposite of the front cover's photo). We don't get to experience these things in this age of streaming.

Song for song, this is probably my favorite Police album. I love their crisp yet atmospheric sound, with nice separation of the instruments. That's the beauty of a trio I guess. Their songs have these amazing internal dynamics, both in in terms of their structures, and the interplay of the parts. I especially enjoy the drumming and percussion of Stewart Copeland, but I also love Sting's melodic basslines, and the way Andy Summers is able to use his guitar to support everything with such subtle texture without overdoing anything. There are some fun rockers here, but I think it's the more subdued tracks that I gravitate towards, especially "Walking On The Moon."

I was 10 years old when Synchronicity came out. I was enthralled and The Police were my first favorite band. Once I got a Walkman for a gift, I acquired the entire Police catalogue ASAP. Regatta De Blanc was never among my favorite, but when I'm in a certain mood, it's perfect. The litmus test is the first song Message in a Bottle. Play the album, if it sounds like same old classic rock radio, put on something else. If. this song makes you queazy with it's awesomeness then proceed. If Message In A Bottle with Stewart's impeccably tight and characteristic drumming, Sting's mesmerizing bass and vocals, and Andy's sensuous guitar accents doesn't move you... Move on, cause that's all you're gonna get here.

awesome

God

Honestly a great album top to bottom, didn't expect to jive with all of the non-hits this way

A modern pop classic. 7 stars.

police, tout comme Sting Solo, est intemporel. Pas beaucoup d'artistes de ces années pourraient sortir un albums aujourd'hui et quand même être un mega hits. je pense que police est une exception à cela. 5+

Used to put this CD on in my basement as a 5-8 year old while hitting balls off the tee :,)

Amazing music.

Any Police album could be here. They are all good. This one has always been one of my favorites.

My second favourite Police album.

I Should've listened to them earlier fuck. Great fucking drums and grooves, great bass lines and tone. Overall great album, can't think I was missing out.

Iconic gibt nit mehr zu sagen

Banger

p428. 1979. 4.5 stars Quality Brit New Wave. Definitive proof that Sting can knock out a tune with the best of them, and that Stewart Copeland was a surprisingly decent songwriter. Half a point deducted for Sting's annoying cod-Caribbean vocals.

Best album ever!

Top five favorite of mine already!!

Classic, this album cannot go under 5/5

KAMI OF, OF THE CRESCENT MOON

Some may say, that something is wrong with me! Ok.

Bought this album aged 11 years soon after its release. I still have the album in my loft somewhere and love it as much today, 44 years later, as the day I bought it and first listened to it.

Message in a bottle and Walking on the moon? Sublime - it ought to be a solid 5 star album, but then it also has some fillers (though on third play, I'm getting to like them too). I was a big Police fan and they produced alot of brilliant stuff, but suffered fron inconsistency. This really good and growing on me.

Very cool sound especially for the time. Elements of reggae, pop, rock. Very cool harmonies. Big sound for a trio. Unique tracks and nice preamble to the 80s. Vox were exceptional. 4.5/5

DOUBLE TROUBLE BABYYYYYY this is yet another banger Play Walking on the Moon for my funeral pls 5*, perfection

Recognised more of this than I expected - good one Police

Innovative for its time, this album is awesome. Does every track hit it out of the park? No. Are those tracks better than half the albums on this 1001 list? Yes. This album has aged well, but should be judged on the merits of when it was released.

- Stewart fucking Copeland!!!!!! - mMn beste Platte von the Police - Absolutes Prog- und Crossover Gewitter aber in seiner exzentrik und lebendigkeit auch irgendwie einheitlich - So viele gute Ideen, so viele tolle Einflüsse - Textlich nicht immer absolut aifm Punkt, ist aber auch irgendwie egal - 4,75/5

The Police liefert einfach immer! - zwischen '78 und '83 haben Sting, Stewart Copeland und Andy Summers konstant jedes Jahr ein großartiges Album nach dem Nächsten rausgehauen (so auch hier) - enthält zwei der besten Songs aller Zeiten (Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon) - macht aber auch sonst einfach Spaß! - kreativ und abwechslungsreich (teils atmosphärisch, teils schneller und treibender) - Krank guter Sound Rating: 4,75/5

My favorite power trio. My favorite Police album (ok, maybe equally with Synchronicity). With that out of the way, it was refreshing as I hadn't listened to the full album in at least 10 years, probably before Spotify. I was reminded why this was in such regular listening rotation when I fully appreciated it in my college years, a good 12 years after it came out. I barely was able to appreciate the hits when it first came out. They had the essence of the time's punk energy while instilling a great mix of reggae syncopation and melodic complexity, but also having a super tight sound. Sting's lyrics, Stewart's brilliant drumming, and Andy's (truly underappreciated) stellar playing - watch anything he's done live--they just had a magic mix. Message in a Bottle is such an all around good, rocking song with smart lyrics. Walking On the Moon is a great exploration of minimalism and space (I did tire of it easily in the early days of listening to it and tended to skip over it frequently, but it was wonderful hearing it in the full album context again). To me, It's Alright for You and Deathwish are just evergreen rocking tunes. Bring on the Night and Bed's Too Big Without You are probably my true favorite songs on the album. Regatta De Blanc is just a fun rocker that you sing along with the scatting. And then there are the more quirky more "filler" songs: Does everyone Stare, Any Other Day, Contact. I still love them. Fight me. Rounding out the album is the frenzy called No Time This Time, one of my most favorite lyrics: If I could I'd stop the whole world down I'd bring it to it's knees I'd stop it spinning it round But as it is I'm climbing an endless wall Just brilliant.

Not a bad song on here. I had only been familiar with their singles but I liked pretty much every song. I had never realized that the Police had a reggae sound, but it's pretty obvious once it's pointed out

About perfect. So little of post-punk and new wave really moves the dial for me, but the Police really brought something new into pop.

I prefer this Police album to others because the hit(s) are epic and less commercial than their future hits – they made pop radio come to them vs the other way around. The arrangements are exquisite and “all noises are created by the Police”, as the credits state. Each member is an outstanding musician with a very distinctive sound – if you compare the guitar and drums on the reggae-flavoured songs to those on the more banal UB40 LP we just heard, they’re in a different league. The album feels a bit schizophrenic with Sting’s reggae bumping up against Copeland’s punk-inspired tracks, and there’s more than one throw-away tune, but I’m impressed enough by the unique sound that this trio puts out it’s still a 5 in my books.

This is a great album with several excellent songs. It's three lads playing well together and is the last album done before Sting's ego became the fourth Cop.

POLICIAAA

man patiko, zjbs, toks lengvas rokelis

Another absolute classic

After Outlandos d'Amour, which included the breakout hit Roxanne, The Police, it was going to be hard for a follow-up album to gain respect. Reggatta de Blanc has always struggled for the respect it deserves. More polished than its predecessor, with significantly better production, Reggatta is packed with impressive songs including the amazing leadoff Message In a Bottle, It's Alright for You, the atmospheric Walking on the Moon and Bring on the Night, Bed's Too Big Without You, and the title track. While the next album, Zenyatta Mondatta, is even better and was more popular, Reggatta de Blanc is an incredible display of song craft and musicianship, while capturing the New Wave zeitgeist of pivotal late 1970s.

One of my favorite albums from high school, still as good as I thought back then

I really enjoyed it on my first listen, and on my second listen, I found my appreciation for the album growing. The interplay between the drums, bass, guitar, and vocals is so esoteric and interesting throughout—there’s a counterpoint to everything that I think is actually fairly rare to hear in pop music like this. While I do find Sting’s “Jamaican accent” a tad cringey, he is a charismatic vocalist who complements the music perfectly. Of course, a lot attention is (deservedly) given to Sting—whose melodic basslines are often the highlight of a song, as in “Walking on the Moon”—but this doesn’t give enough credit to Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, who are incredible musicians just as crucial to the success and sound of The Police. In fact, Copeland’s drums are the star of this album. So erratic yet controlled, the fills are perfectly placed, and his tom work is so tight and exciting. I was expecting myself to like this album, but I wasn’t anticipating giving it a 5/5 rating! This will definitely be revisited many times over.

Good

Besser als das erste Album. Variantenreicher und ein größeres musikalisches Spektrum.

always jotful

Police is cool!

Creative and calming

I was thinking about how this album screams junior high to me… but then thinking about it more started thinking that all of The Police’s oeuvre seem anchored to that period of my life. I guess that makes sense, because the entirety of The Police’s output was from 1978-1983. This major change to the musical scene served as part of the soundtrack to the major life changes I was experiencing. Then I knew The Police’s hits, but didn’t own any of their albums until the end of their career - Synchronicity - released as it was when I finally started having my own budget to buy music. I wonder if I had had access to unlimited streaming if I would have listened to the rest of this exceptional album? Or would I just be focused of the couple of hits that forced themselves into my consciousness? Oh yeah… what about the album? Reggatta de Blanc is a fantastic album. The Police are firing on all cylinders here, and I am glad to finally hear this. Truly deserving of its place on this list!

I've never listened to this one but it sure sounds like The Police. Very fun.

I don’t believe that I ever listened to this album, but I did recognize a couple of tracks beyond the singles. I enjoy the sound of The Police, so it was easy to enjoy this album.

I was frustrated as a student in the 80s when I couldn't afford to buy all the Police albums that preceded Synchronicity. The best I could do was get the greatest hits collection when it came out. So this was a delayed pleasure to go back and listen to this album today. It is one of my least known albums of the Police, but I have really loved listening it today, with my appreciation growing with each listen to songs I wasn't familiar with.

As great an album as when I first heard it in 1979.

Cool. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

Evergreen & lifelong companion

Raw, energetic young band. Great album with good range of song styles

A classic.

Amo a Sting y a The Police. Maravilla de álbum.

The Police exploded onto the music scene during my freshman year of college, and dominated the airwaves over 5 albums in just under 5 years. I have all their albums on vinyl, all bought when current. They brought a different sound, new and exciting. People would stop by my dorm and ask “what is that?” When it was playing in those first couple of weeks. Of course, soon everybody knew. Looking back through the lens of 45 years, it is easy to forget just how unique this sound was at the time. The Police were one of the drivers bringing New Wave to the masses at the end of the 70’s. It is interesting that Regatta de Blanc is the first Police album to show up here. It is actually the lowest charting (US) of the 5 releases, only making it to #25. It is a really solid album, but doesn’t have as many standout songs as their other records, but doesn’t have any real low points. It is probably my 2nd favorite of the 5 releases, only a hair below the debut. They really lean into the “White Reggae” thing here, as evidenced by the album title, but still includes a couple of straight rockers, “It’s alright for you” and “no time this time” which are both excellent. It’s a great album that has stood the test of time. Hugely successful, influential…. 5/5

One of my fave bands!

De carriere van the Police was relatief kort, maar ze hebben wel 5 goede albums afgeleverd. Onze snoblijst heeft zich hier wel keurig aan het ongeschreven maximum van 2 per artiest gehouden, al had ik het zelf niet erg gevonden als alle albums van the Police er in stonden. Op elk album staan namelijk wel een paar pareltjes van nummers. En zelfs de nummers die niet zo bekend zijn, zitten muzikaal uitstekend in elkaar. Ik kan dit op elk moment van de dag wel opzetten en dan luister ik met veel plezier naar de baslijntjes van Sting en het ska gitaartje. Hangt tussen een 4 en een 5 in, maar aangezien er slechts 2 albums van the Police in staan, druk ik lekker af op een 5.

Thought I'd kinda hate this because I find their hits annoying but the deeper cuts are great, dripping with grumpy old man irony, and thankfully some songs not sung by Sting and his weird asf semi-Caribbean accents

Very good

The Best !

My fav Police album. Nuff said.

Muy bueno

A favorite of mine. The musicianship is tight, all the instruments stand out in the mix, the songs are good (even if not all hits), and "On Any Other Day" is just a good time.

So much sound for a three piece band. And they are tight! Stewart Copeland has serious drumming chops - he is one of the best and his crazy but precise rhythms really take this album to the next level. The album as a whole is quirky but totally fun and enjoyable.

ILL SEND A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE!!!! i named my car after the police :).

Bought back so many good memories. I loved this!

Great album! The Police were so creative and innovative! I enjoyed listening to the album when I was younger and still enjoy listening to it now.

A favorite of many many decades. It was nice to get a reminder and prompt to listen to the whole thing from beginning to end again. My personal anecdote for the band is that after they broke up I eventually became a huge fan of Stuart Copeland and really didn't give as*** about sting. For s**** and giggles I'm going to look up the guitar players post police history to see what he ended up going on to do.