Reviews (page 10 of 12)
A couple bangers. A lot of appropriation.
The Police are one of those bands whose good stuff is scattered throughout their career. The album has some good tunes, but it wasn't a core shaker for me.
I really don’t care much for the police. Great musicians though
So weird in the best way.
Not that great. It was mostly boring background music. But I guess it was listenable
Decent. The only song I already knew was "Message in a Bottle", which was by far the standout track on the album. As I said of the Bob Marley album, I just don't care for reggae - and this was close enough to it that it didn't do it for me
Another that I like but not life changing. If I had been there at the time maybe albums like this would hit different.
Much better than Synchronicity, which was borderline unbearable. There's a lot to like about the instrumentation from The Police, although with woke 2024 ears, there's a lot of pastiche that veers close to cultural appropriation of the reggae scene I think. Unfortunately, every song has Sting's vocals on, one of the most irritating sounds on the planet. They should play it outside off-licences to disperse teenage delinquents. Still, not bad.
Message In A Bottle is the only reason I rate this album 3 stars.
This is a pretty good album but it doesn't blow me away or anything. I was excited to get a Police album because I know their hits but have never really listened to a full studio album. So, I was interested to get a feel for their non-single, album tracks. I definitely liked their singles the most of any of the tracks on the album but found the vibe of the other songs kind of boring. It's the same genres but just less interesting/catchy. Overall, this one was very middling for me. Standout Tracks: Message In A Bottle, It's Alright For You, Walking on the Moon, Does Everyone Stare
Several classics on here. Some of the others weren’t my favorites. I love The Police, but I appreciate some of their other offerings more so.
Wooop wooop Das da sound of da poleeeees
It’s interesting that a bunch of British white guys decided to adopt such a Reggae sound, and even weirder that I never really noticed until now.
😐👍🏾
Nice to chill to. I felt the album started stronger and weakened with the last couple of songs. Fun fact - this album was released the day after I was born! Listens: 2 Fave Track: Walking On The Moon Rating: 3
It’s okay
'De klasse van The Police is van Stones-niveau' kopte de Volkskrant in 1979. Achteraf vind ik deze plaat dat niet helemaal waarmaken. Het is meer vulling rondom de hitjes, verder is het geluid nogal dun. Maar goed, de heren waren ook maar net bezig. Voor een recensie van een tijdgenoot (die bang is niet meer met zijn tijd mee te gaan), zie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m1rJV-zZ2Y
Ik had hier eigenlijk wel zin in. Maar de plaat doet mij weinig. Natuurlijk, Message in a Bottle is ijzersterk. Maar bij de rest wordt ik het meest geprikkeld door de toegankelijke ritmes. Net als eerder met U2 merk ik dat je ook teveel van het goede kan hebben. Ik zal vast af en toe met plezier een nummer van The Police opzetten. Maar een album is net teveel.
Had some bangers but most of the songs were mid
- Love the sound of this band - Some light reggae vibes on some songs? - I do prefer the non reggae songs - 3.5
3+
Didn’t love it - didn’t hate it. Some bangers, but I like the first Police album more.
listened 2x
I was already familiar with Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon (which is fantastic). The rest of the album is fine, but these two plus The Bed's Too Big Without You are the standout tracks.
I just can’t really get into The Police. I like them in moderation, but listening to an entire album can get old quickly. The same can be said for Sting’s vocals in specific as well.
started off strong, got quite annoying by the end overall meh Significant 33/100 Liked 16/100 Added 4/100 YNN
Inoffensive. Was hoping for more.
For a trio of white british lads, they were pretty funky, especially whichever one of them is strumming the bass. It's pretty post-punky so right up my alley, but not grabbing me completely. 'Message in a Bottle' is an all time classic though, just nothing else really comes close after that, and it's the first song...
Two or three good songs and a bunch of filler. Another band where the drop off from "great" to "dull" is a cliff edge, even within the same album. I am properly torn between three or four stars - wish there was the option of half-stars! On balance, just too many poor songs for a 4th star, but only just. Their run of 4 massive albums in (about) 5 years probably explains the lack of quality control - more important to just get the record out!
message in a bottle- apparently this is like THE song off this so. i like the bass. 5. its whatever. reggatta de blanc- what. 3. its alright for you- i cant do this anymore bring on the night-
Pretty good album - showing The Police's continued evolution from new wave darlings to arena rock icons 3.5 stars
There are a couple good songs on that album that have become classics. Personally, I don't feel the rest of the album was anything I'd really seek out in the future.
It's ok. Has some good songs and some hits but...meh.
A few great songs, but much felt like filler. On Any Other Day was bizarre, and sounded like it was more likely from early Blink-182 than one of the genre defining rock bands
I enjoy the unique sound and style of The Police and Sting’s vocals, and it’s cool to hear one of their early albums and how it all began. I was only familiar with one song from it. The album as a whole doesn’t necessarily grab me or speak to my soul but I like it nonetheless!
I only knew a couple of songs on this album. "Walking on the Moon" was my favourite track, but I also got a big kick out of "On Any Other Day". Kind of a funny song! Generally I don't listen to this kind of music much, but I think I liked it more than I expected.
Meh Sure, everyone of a certain age group knows The Police and there’s two well known songs on this album that give an instant connect. The only other song that made my ears twitch was ‘Everyone Stares’. I have to admit that I really wasn’t much into listening to albums until this past year. Truthfully, I was expecting more and found it rather disappointingly bla and in parts too annoyingly repetitive. Someone told me recently that Sting isn’t a nice guy in the being a giant arrogant dicktwat kinda person. That soured him for me.
Ich mag The Police eigentlich sehr gerne und "Message in a Bottle" ist einer meiner Lieblingssongs von ihnen (auch hier der beste Song des Albums m.M.n.). Aber ab der Hälfte wurde das Album doch etwas repetititv. Mir ist dadurch auch bewusst geworden, wie der Refrain fast immer nur aus dem mehrfach wiederholten Titel besteht - was zwar gerade live ganz toll ist, um schnell mitsingen zu können (looking at you, Powerwolf), aber über die Dauer eines gesamten Albums doch sehr zäh ist. Daher fühle ich für The Police dasselbe wie bei Powerwolf: immer wieder eingestreut sind es großartige Songs. Aber ab 5 am Stück stellt sich die Übersättigung ein. Ich bin aber gespannt, ob auch "Synchronicity" hier seinen Platz findet - das ist in meinen Augen deutlich besser!
There’s no denying that The Police wrote some great pop tunes. There were a few songs here that I don’t think I’d heard before and they didn’t stand out as much as the singles. I would listen to it again, though.
Super familiar with The Police especially Message in a Bottle. Listening to it on this album though I'm realizing its actually kind of a meh song. I think there are a lot of other better songs on this album so it's interesting to see Message in a Bottle be one of their popular ones. That aside, I think the album is OK. I see the importance it plays mixing Reggae but that's about it. Walking on the Moon is the stand out for me.
The mix of new wave and reggae is interesting, the bass guitar is omnipresent and very melodic; when the lead guitar is not playing dull reggae riffs it's actually interesting even though it sometimes a bit too low in the mix to my taste. The way Sting sings with Carribean-like inflexion is quite annoying, that's probably the worst part of their "white reggae" (with the cultural appropriation issue it draws; the title itself makes me uncomfortable). Whatever its flaws, it's clearly good quality pop music.
Before listening to this album, I only knew Message in a Bottle, Bring on the Night and Walking on the Moon. I consider Message in a Bottle a great song, the other two are good too. Hence, I expected to be more excited while listening to this album. Rock songs with repetition of always the same reggae elements do not do the trick.
3.5 mostly good not great
Decent
3.5/5, it's interesting but not quite doing it for me.
Message in a bottle är magiskt. Göttiga röster och sounds i övriga röster men inte helt fångad
Startade starkt, sämre mot slutet
Pretty decent, I like message in a bottle
Talent and creativity across the board but was best enjoyed during its moment in the sun. This may be one of their best and I really appreciate the original arrangements and individual talents. Just hard to see pulling out the Police to establish or recreate a mood in 2024. All in all though a fine album. Just dated now which happens to the best of them.
Pleasant listen Deathwish was my favourite track I hadn't heard before
not my favorite album
It’s the police. They have a certain brand they deliver
Always enjoy the Police
I like the Police, but the album is just ok.
Classic new-reggae pop memories. Not as amazing as I remember, but still a great album
Did not release Message in a Bottle was a 1970s song (even if just on the cusp).
It was decent
3.5 Not a bad album by any means, but also not every memorable. I don’t really see myself coming back to it because in my opinion, it’s an album mostly dominated by filler songs. It could be worse, though. Message In A Bottle and Walking On The Moon are great songs.
Reggatta De Blanc, The Police Message in a Bottle -- great song, well remembered Reggatta de Blanc -- title cut, another great one Bring on the Night -- good tune, beat, lyric Deathwish -- great intro, good beat Walking on the Moon -- famous tune Any Other Day -- upbeat amusing lyric The Bed's Too Big Without You -- Contact -- Does Everyone Stare -- cool inventive lyric, nice beat No Time This Time --
I liked this! All I’d heard from the police before this were ‘Every breath you take’ and ‘Roxanne’. My favourite was the opening track ‘Message in a bottle’.
Me gustó
Felt quite same-y with not much at all to differentiate the songs. A handful of nice little catchy tunes but I’m not crazy about it. 6/10
Like the high energy tracks and the bass especially but the more cooky(humorous) tracks don’t immediately click. I figure most of it will grow more on me though.
59/100 Based on this scale: 1 star - 0 to 19 2 stars - 20 to 39 3 stars - 40 to 59 4 stars - 60 to 79 5 stars - 80 to 100 As a drummer, I really wanted to give them four stars, just because Stewart Copeland is so good. Message in a Bottle, Reggatta De Blanc and Walking on the Moon are all quite good, but the rest of the album is too unremarkable for me to justify four stars, so they get a a strong three.
Stewart Copeland's drumming is outstanding! While I couldn't connect with all of the songs they were at least all musically interesting and well executed but there are better Police albums. A solid 3/5.
Some good songs but some average and boring material
Might be the first time I've ever listened to a Police song that wasn't a radio hit. Pretty good stuff
The only Police album that I've listened to in its entirety is Synchronicity, which I reviewed exactly a week ago. I was only familiar with "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On the Moon" from this album. I went in to this album knowing that The Police's earlier work was influenced by reggae, so I was excited to hear something from them that was different from Synchronicity (which I love, by the way). This album had some good moments, but I wasn't that impressed by it. "Message In A Bottle" is fantastic, and has some great guitar playing, the title track had some vocals from Sting that I enjoyed and more good guitar playing from Andy Summers, and "Deathwish" had a groovy bass line and tight drumming from Stewart Copeland. The other songs on the album were just okay. I don't think The Police sound great when they're relying on reggae and punk; those songs were frankly pretty boring, and did nothing to showcase how talented these guys are. This album wasn't bad, and I understand its significance in the history of rock music, but these three are capable of so much more.
pretty crazy that this was the first album recommended. I have been really liking message in a bottle recently and is the vibe. ANyway. AAAAAAAAAAAA
רוק סבבה שיר אחד היה ממש טוב, איפשהו באמצע, אבל סהכ די בינוני
Pretty middle of the road. This was better than Synchronicity though.
Message in a Bottle is good, the rest are alright. I don’t like that many songs by The Police although there are a few bangers (e.g., Every little thing she does is magic) 6/10
To quote my friend Joe, “Good, but I don’t care.” 3.5/5
Think that’s the first time I’ve heard the Police album all the way through
Decent
Have heard the first two police albums and think I like this one slightly more. Still not my favorite but easy listening. Rating: 2.8
3.5
Solid if you like them. I don't. Drummer was good.
Viel me hier en daar helaas eigenlijk wat tegen.
first listen decent album
Message in a Bottle is the highlight. Otherwise kind of average
3/5 - Not a bad album but not great either
Decent album though musically it seemed a bit too uniform. 3/5.
Message in a bottle is a 10/5. Honestly the first half was SO good but the second couldn’t grasp me in the same way… 3.5
I honestly couldn’t give any real reason, but I’ve always disliked Sting a bit. He just seems a bit dodgy. This is honestly based on nothing at all, and I have no idea where this stems from, but it means I’ve never really given him or The Police much of a change. That changes today! Songs I already knew: Message In A Bottle, Walking On The Moon Favourites: Message In A Bottle, Walking On The Moon I enjoyed this more than I expected. It has a bit of a ska/reggae vibe at times, which I always forget to expect. The baselines are admittedly nice, despite Sting remaining dodgy. I’m still undecided on his voice, and doubt I’ll be rushing out to buy more of his music, but this was admittedly a pleasant listen. Side note though, I first heard Walking On The Moon when The Simpson parodied it.
It's alright, high 2
Some great shining moments but I felt the urge to skip a lot of these.
The hits are good, but they did some weird shit in between
Weird. But not weird enough. Didn't grip me.
Starts off strong with the first two songs and then kind of tails off...It was alright.
Solid album, I don't have much to say about it. 3 stars Favourite songs: - It's Alright For You - Does Everyone Stare - No Time This Time
My parents are big Sting fans, so I was ready for an album by The Police. The big hits were ones I already knew and grew up listening to and just for nostalgia’s sake those are still my favorites from the album. I appreciate what they were going for on the album with the combination of new wave and reggae and I think they succeeded in blending the sounds together, but I’m not a huge fan of either genre.
When I was little my cousin had this album and insisted on playing it over and over. He also had a Kool and the Gang album, so his taste was dubious at best. I always enjoyed the two hits and drifted over the rest of the material. Having not heard this in 40 years, it was a pleasant musical journey. The band are tighter than I realised back then. The same two tracks still stand out, but I also enjoyed the laid back vibe of the whole package. It's not a great album, but it's not half bad.
Maybe not as strong as the other 2 in their first 3 albums, but still good. S/o Copeland (3.5/5)
Más allá de las canciones más conocidas, todas sonaban medio parecidas.
Definitely unique for its time. It gets pretty repetitive and old quickly, though. Digging the drums.
It’s ok, heard most of it. Wouldn’t rush back or repeat.
Big highs and low lows - overall I did enjoy this album, but wouldn't consider it MUST LISTEN.
I don't really understand the love for The Police. Message in a Bottle does get stuck in my head though.
Great album. Went by really fast.
Message in a Bottle- 4.1/5 Reggatta de blanc- 3.3/5 It's Alright for You- 3.6/5 Bring On the Night- 3.4/5 Deathwish- 3.3/5 Walking on the Moon- 3.7/5 On Any Other Day- 4/5 The Bed's Too Big Without You- 3.4/5 Contact- 3.5/5 Does Everyone Stare- 3.7/5 No Time This Time- 3.4/5 Total- 3.6/5
Orkar inte motivera.
Svag trea. Lyssnat mycket på deras best of och det finns en anledning till att bara Message in a bottle och Walking on the moon kvalificerar sig där. Ett par bra låtar till, men rätt svajig kvalitet i övrigt. 3-4 bra låtar dras ned av ett par rätt kassa.
I'm not sure I've ever had so much trouble having an opinion about anything. The musicianship is competent and the music isn't bad necessarily, but it just doesn't elicit any feeling in me whatsoever, which I guess is a complaint? Is art bad if it makes you feel like an emotionless robot?
Good solid album! Better on vinyl
The weird caribbean-inspired singing actually grew on me a bit. The 2 hits Message In A Bottle and Walking On The Moon were amazing of course. I dug the 'punky' tracks Any Other Day and No Time This Time and It's Alright For You but actually the rest of the record kind of felt like a waste of tape. Not bad just not interesting. Maybe I expected more?
Not bad but not my cup of tea.
Solid album. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Wow this is like proper old British rock .. kinda fun but not my vibe
Police er sgu fint. Ikke min favorit men solidt, stor 3er
Ha ha, know this and think it is too evocative of middle school but, ok, here i go......
Ayayayaya
Pretty solid, the guitar in particular is crazy on nearly every song. I think my favorite song was contact, because it also had some fun wordplay 😜
"Message in a bottle" and "walking on the moon" are great tracks but the rest of the album is pretty forgettable. Still alright
The Police has never really been my jam. This album didn't do anything to make me think different.
Ok, not my cup of tea, but message in a bottle is a classic
Assez disparate mais étonnant et cool, les morceaux les plus connus que j'ai pas mal écouté m'ont saoulé à force mais il y a 3 très bonnes découvertes : - Bring on the night ❤ - Deathwish - Does everyone stare ❤ Le reste est moins bien C'est pas vraiment un album concept ou quoi, juste une "compile" Donc l'album en soit est moyen mais certains morceaux excellents
The hits on this are great, regular tracks not so much.
c simple tout ce qui devait sortir de cet album est devenu un hit
Never been my favorite. Sting’s super high vocals aren’t the most pleasant. I liked Sting’s later solo stuff better.
Some great tunes added to beach playlist. Some misses that almost seemed to touch on Zappa at times. Felt musically consistent but not thematically.
Ehh it's fine. Not a huge fan of The Police. Some good songs but most is kinda blah. White boy reggae.
not bad
kinda boring. On Any Other Day was fun tho
solid 7, enjoyed it for the most part
Album had one great song, a couple good ones, and the rest were alright. The best song was "Message in a Bottle" and the worst was "On Another Day" Pretty good rock album.
Wacky stuff
Pretty good, feels like it inspired future rock in a lot of ways. Side note: homophobia :( Fav song- No Time This Time
Some awesome tracks on here
A couple of standout tracks bump this up, otherwise the album sits a comfortable "pretty alright vibe" throughout.
Ez 2 besides Message in a Bottle. They insist upon themselves.
message in a bottle only
A mixed bag but there's some classics. 3.5
Not particularly my cup of tea, but very great musicianship that perfectly fits the genre at the time makes it a worthwhile listen.
Some songs are pretty good some are meh
I had high hopes for this album. There are some good songs but overall every song seems quite similar. Each song sounds like a Police song I've heard before but I definitely haven't heard some of these deeper cuts on this record. I was also hoping for some tastier drum parts from Stewart Copeland after hearing so much about him, but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention.
Fine. Some good ones some bad ones. Some really really dumb lyrics on the deeper cuts.
Took a few attempts to listen to this. It starts and finishes quite strong but felt a bit boring to listen all the way through. Probably won’t be revisiting
Man, I just don't get The Police. On paper, they seem like they're right up my alley. I love reggae, I love post-punk. The musicality is undeniable. But I can't imagine ever just wanting to put on a Police album. First time listening to this one. Message in a Bottle is a great song I guess, but it's one of those songs that's so completely burned into my brain that it's hard to listen to it objectively. The songs I'd never heard fared a little better. I dug On Any Other Day because it sounds like a Weird Al parody of a Police song.
I (begrudgingly) liked this more than I thought I would!
Outside of message in a bottle, wasn't feeling it.
Meh
Ok - couple of heavy hitters, lots of dogs
Message in a bottle is such a banger it immediately makes the album a 10/10, but every song after is worse On any other Day is either really great or fucking terrible A Fleetwood mac song started playing after the album ended and I was about to rave about this album closing strong until I recognized it, but no it was all downhill after song one.
I’m lukewarm on this band. I liked a few songs on this album, but could take or leave the rest.
Singles are obviously solid hits, but also liked Brin On The Night. Not a huge fan of the album as a whole, some songs on it feel rushed and frankly are not my cup of tea. Very happy I listened to its entirety, though, I feel like I gained something today.
Liked it a lot first listen, liked it a little less on second listen of liked songs. Still good, I’m biased towards white reggae. Fav song deathwish
80s vibes
998
C+ Message in a Bottle 4 Reggatta de Blanc 3 It's Alright for You 2 Bring On the Night 4 Deathwish 2 Walking on the Moon 4 On Any Other Day 2 The Bed's Too Big Without You 3 Contact 2 Does Everyone Stare 3 No Time This Time 3 This guy Nikos Casivant has been chatting up The Police for years. He forget to mention that every non-Sting song is mid af. At least the Sting songs are good.
This for me epitomizes how hard it is to put out a great album. The Police in peak flow... two great songs (Message In A Bottle & Walking On The Moon). And still most of the tracks are just a bit middling.
Weeding the back garden listening to and enjoying The Police really makes a guy realise they are no longer a young man.
This goes harder than I imagined it would. Message In a Bottle is great. Drums sounded brilliant throughout. Not sure about the reggae but at least they owned it with the name of the album
Loved "On any Other Day"
Alright album, enjoyed the hits that I recognized but the rest of the album was okay. Maybe not enough of a police fan yet.
Reggatta de Blanc offers the first true stirrings of the potential The Police had when it comes to their turn at world domination. Straddling the worlds of reggae and new wave (not a new prospect), the trio showcase different approaches to instrumentation and songwriting that would soon flesh out and materialize in eventual outings. While not their best album, it is a sign of bigger things to come. Favorites: Message in a Bottle, Reggatta de Blanc, Bring on the Night, Walking on the Moon, On Any Other Day, This Bed's Too Big Without You, Does Everyone Stare.
pretty cool topics covered in the songs- including mental health. My favorite of the album- message in a bottle, contact, does everyone stare, and no time this time
Ik heb een totaal ongefundeerd vooroordeel tegen deze lui en Sting in het bijzonder, maar ik moet toch toegeven dat dit een prima plaatje was. 3 dun aangezette sterretjes dan maar... bah!
Cool!
Bring on the night is toch een heerlijk nummer.
30th August 2023 Listened during morning mainly with Dusty on the bed. Seb in the evening, steak at the falcon. Sting mixes reggae and world music beats into conventional rock and roll to great effect. 3.5 if I could.
On Any Other Day & Does Everyone Stare best songs, Message in a Bottle you've heard a million times... several others were a big swing and a miss.
Album decente-bom. 3 stars
Starts strong, drags by the end.
Lots of repetition Mid 3/5
-The first song that played was "Message in A Bottle" I was surprise that I have heard this song before. -"Its Alright For You"- fun light rock and roll m catchy sing along hook, up beat. - "Walking on the Moon" got a little more soulful I like it for the evening time right now -"Contact" made me pay attention again and I turned it up a little -Overall a good clean rock pop album to listen to while working on stuff. Probably better in the daytime mood.
Enjoyed the album and will definitely listen to it again
You know "The Police" aren't a real band, right? They were conjured up by A&E records to cash in on the new wave craze but literally no band wanted to sign on, so they had to get three guys from marketing to record whatever they thought new wave was. One of them did a weird Carribean accent for the vocals, it was a whole thing. Anyway turns out they've got some serious chops. Like, they can play. The police have always been a singles band in my eyes, but listening to their instrumental stuff has me impressed. It just gets increasingly less impressive as the album continues. By the time I hit Does Everyone Stare, I am often asking what the hell is going on. What an album. What a group.
Okay, not my favorite. The Policecwere still doing a lot of mock reggae.
3.5
I didn’t give this the attention it deserved, but 1 1/2 rounds in the car as background while I chatted with Leo makes me confident that it’s a solid three. I hope to return to it on some future day and listen more closely.
A little inconsistent, if I'm honest. Does not compare favorably with e.g. Synchronicity. A few tracks are awesome though: Bed's Too Big, Walking on the Moon, and of course Message.
Regatta de blanc and message in a bottle pretty good tunes, I think there's definitely better reggae style albums but it's OK 5/10
The drummer did the music for Spyro The Dragon
first impression: nice vibe, have heard it before, second song is a bit weird overall: simple lyrics, nice vibes
good stuff, reggae vibes, few big hits, a bit uneven
some bangers. some sting. regretta for the most part
Message In A Bottle is obviously a classic, Walking On The Moon also good, but not a huge fan of the Police when they get too reggae. On the plus side, this is mostly less creepy than our previous Police album, but I think the places where it gets full on white reggae are a bit much for me. 3/5, Message In A Bottle elevates it.
Influential. Some harder listening. I liked it.
Some well known songs on this album. Not fantastic but a good listen. Message in a Bottle is the best song on the album
Never was the biggest fan of Sting's voice, but listening to the whole album changed my mind a good amount. The guitar and bass in Deathwish is awesome I really enjoyed the pop/rock/reggae combo of this album. It is really demonstrated on Walking on the Moon. But then On Any Other Day comes on and weirds me out. I normally like songs like these but this one did not work on this album. The album went downhill after this and took it from a 4 to a 3 for me. No Time This Time sounded like it was going to save it with the nice guitar, but then Stings annoying voice came back.
Obviously know Message in a Bottle and love it. Some of these songs sound pretty improvisational, but that may just be me. Love Walking on the Moon Hate On Any Other Day I like Contact but the lyrics just are so silly to me. Sting is strange. Highs and lows throughout. 2.5 but I'll round out because Walking On the Moon rocks.
Gordon's pulsing bass guitar, Andy's jangling guitar and Stuart's throbbing. snapping drums pulse and jangle and throb and snap excellently throughout the record. I've only ever really listened to the singles, so it was nice to sit down and hear the album tracks too for a change. 3 / 5 stars.
Message in a bottle 👌
Aside from message in a bottle this album was pretty bland which surprises me. For how many hits the police have and how big they were, I thought they’d have stronger albums than a one hit wonder, soft cell type band.
Egentligen bara singlarna som sticker ut.
I’m just not a fan of The Police. Entertaining enough, but I could live without it.
"Message In A Bottle" is a certified all time banger. The rest of the album falls a little flat though.
Good album with some big hits but I didn't love every song.
Good
huhuhu it didn't grab me
Started off great but kind of tailed off
3-4. Two outstanding songs, rest is mediocre.
AJ: Sting’s funny. They’re so good. Fuckin a.
Track notes: 1- Classic song, never realized the guitar harmonies were so oddly dissonant at the beginning, really adds a lot of character to the mix. Gets stuck in your head easily. 2- This one is okay, kind of forgettable with the wailing going on. Not all that interesting IMO. 3- Reminiscent of their punkier stuff, with a good hook. Some of the B parts are a little post-punk adjacent, which is a cool touch. 6- Great reggae-style track. Bass groove is steady, ambient synth warble effects make for good psychedelic ear candy, and the drumming is stellar. 7-Lol at the intro sample on this. Actually fits well with the subsequent, kinda deadpan vocal delivery. This one feels new wavey to me.
He’s such a dick but this is pretty solid.
The singles are fantastic, songs for the ages, but the rest of the album is just rhythmic filler. Surprising that one of the greatest rock bands ever could write so many blah songs as well as those masterpieces.
Idk
Really tight and together, but where are they going?? Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon are hits for a reason
Mye kult, mye halvt. 3,5 stjerner
It's got some bangers for sure. But I really struggle to get past his silly singing voice.
Highlights: "Message in a Bottle," "Bring on the Night," "The Bed's Too Big Without You," "Walking on the Moon" The hits are the hits on this one; the album is super uneven, and you can hear a surprising amount of awkward prog influence on here. But that also seems like a secret to this band's success: they weren't just jumping on the ska train fairly early on, but synthesizing some jazz and pop ideas, and doing it well.
Besides message in a bottle it's pretty forgettable
Slightly underwhelming besides the 2 classics in this album.
Message in a Bottle and his forgettable friends.
I prefer their later stuff.
Distinctive vocals from sting, really unique guitar tone from Somers, great drumming from Copeland. I can’t say I loved anything outside of Message in a Bottle, though. Very inventive and influential music, no doubt, but I’ve never gone through a Police kick.
Sind natürlich Klassiker drauf, aber die songs waren mir schon zu ähnlich und nicht kreativ genug
Was okay - I quite liked the vibe of this. Nearly a 4.
Decent listen, shame how weak the last third of it is. Low 3*
One of those bands whose sound has always seemed omnipresent, yet I'm sure I've never listened to an entire album. It's a good, tight sound, but it doesn't particularly excite me.
The Police are good at what they do, and Message in a Bottle is prob the best track. But overall I find their general output somewhat uninspired. Just feels, for a lack of a better word, dated.
Police heeft gewoon paar bangertjes, maar de rest valt echt weg. Absoluut geen vervelende muziek ofzo, maar het registreert niet helemaal denk ik. Doe mij maar every breath you take of every little thing she does is magic
The Police probeert 1 nummer zonder delay of reverb te maken challenge (impossible) Vond het best meevallen, de laatste paar nummers werden wel wat gekker
Some bangers, some pretty mediocre stuff. Average.
I wasn't listening too intently but it didn't do much for me after the first song.
This one and the first one are my favs of theirs.
Un début tonitruant avec des sirènes et des girophares dans tous les sens mais la bande à Sting une fois sur place ne trouvera pas la moindre trace de la cargaison de coke destinée aux nasaux de l'abruti Robert.
I kind of dig the syncopation but confess the album overall failed to ignite and became a little repetitive. Despite Sting's comments to the contrary, I think perhaps Synchronicity might just be their best and their peak - right before the band broke up.
Message in a bottle is a classic, the second half of Regatta bopped. Didn't especially care for the majority
As at least one reviewer already stated, one of the most striking things about this album is just how weird some of the non-single tracks are. The Police seem to me to be a new wave band first and a white reggae or ‘ reggatta de blanc’ band second. All band members shine throughout and though the lyrics can get off base sometimes (and a bit obsessive no surprise), the album works well as a whole even though it’s lead single tracks stand above the rest. Overall, midrange for me.
Top performances and production on this album. There are a few fantastic songs and quite a bit of middling tunes.
ok.
A solid new wave record with some reggae influence. I liked the album but it did not blow me away by any means. Some of the songs like the hit "Message In A Bottle", "It's Alright For You", "Walking On The Moon", "Contact" and "Does Everyone Stare" were really good but then there were tracks like "Deathwish" and "On Any Other Day" that I was not a fan of. I really didn't like some of the vocal effects and inflections they tried on songs like "No Time This Time" and "Deathwish". I don't really have strong feelings about this album. A decent 7/10 because it failed to leave me with any strong feelings. I would say I enjoyed more of it than I disliked it but it was just kind of meh overall.
Saattoipa olla ensimmäinen kerta koskaan kun kuuntelin Poliisin yksittäistä levyä? Soitanta on kyllä vimosen päälle komiaa, mutta joku Stingin äänessä pykii vastaan. Ei tarttis huutaa? Niukasti kolmonen ja toisena päivänä saattais kakkoseksikin taipua.
3.5
"Oh, I love Message in a Bottle, I hope the rest of this album sounds like that" I say as I am hit in the face with a bunch of songs that sound like alternate takes on the DuckTales theme song. The Police and Queen are the royalty of having some of the best singles you've ever heard in your life, but the rest of their songs being silly lasagna music. I don't know what that means either, but you get what I'm saying. Sadly this album doesn't contain any songs in which Sting has a conversation with a brontosaurus, so I can't go any higher than a 3/5. Glad they fixed that in their later albums.
Bien. Message In A Bottle.
I do not see what other people see in The Police. This album is generally pretty okay, but certain moments (On Any Other Day and No Time This Time) are ROTTEN Favorite Tracks: Message In A Bottle, Bring On The Night 2.5-3/5
It’s evident they were ska influenced on this record. Message in a Bottle is simply a classic and the vibes of the record as a whole are very chill…that’s something to be proud of. Sting and the boys have crafted some decent rock n roll here.
I've been known to traditionally not be a huge Sting or The Police fan. I mean, their music isn't terrible, and it is quite catchy, but I just never really jived with any of their stuff much. Message in a Bottle is a jam though! Actually, the only song I knew on today's record was Message in a Bottle. The Police sound a lot like UB40 (reggae mixed with pop rock). Actually, today's album cover (Reggatta de Blanc) translates to "white reggae" which is basically what this is. Maybe that is part of why I don't really care for The Police. The fact that reggae should be left to the Jamaicans (Bob Marley and Peter Tosh for example are both amazing artists). I just feel like Sting is trying too hard to be Jamaican (even mimicing their accent). Sting's larger than life ego isn't lost there either. On the album cover, for example, Sting's head has to be the biggest. Sonically, the band is tight. The drum work on this record is phenomenal, and the bass grooves are funky as hell! Amid the feel good reggae beats, there is some darkness though. In an interview one time, Sting said that The Bed's too Big Without You is a song about his ex girlfriend who killed herself. Overall, not a bad listen, but not something I gravitate towards. Listening to a full album did nothing to change my mind on the band. If anything, it introduced me to some of their quirkier songs (On Any Other Day for example). Favourite songs: Message in a Bottle, Bring on the Night, It's Alright for You Least favorite songs: Does Everyone Stare, On Any Other Day, Contact 3/5
sort of fun but mostly just background music
EH
Enjoyed it but wasnt my favourite
The album really lives up to it's name - white reggae. Before this I would never have thought that The Police was a reggae band, but this album definitely begs to differ. It effortlessly straddles the line between post-punk, new-wave and reggae rock. Best: Message In A Bottle Worst: Contact
Weird week for this list. Seems like only yesterday we got our first album from the The Police, but it was actually four days ago. Here we are, round two of, hopefully, not too many more. I said it before, I'll say it again: these guys are overrated. Doesn't mean they're bad; in fact, they are quite good. But if we're considering the competition (see Echo & the Bunnymen album we had yesterday, released the following year) they had in the UK, I guess I can start to see why people would think Sting is a godsend. "Message in a Bottle" goes stupid hard, one of my absolute favorites from them. These guys have the hitmaking ability, no doubt. But this one's not got too much for me. Definitely not as enjoyable as Synchronicity, but still decent. Favorite tracks: Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon. Album art: Photo of the lads, blue filtered. I only saved two songs in my playlist, and they were both already in my iTunes library from the greatest hits album, so I won't even see this in the playlist which I think is pretty funny. 3/5
For each album by The Police, it's more or less the same drill. The major singles are legendary, but the deep cuts are... well... very very *deep* sometimes. This one is no exception, even though I readily admit that "Bring On The Night", " On Any Other Day" and "This Bed's Too Big Without You" are good songs. Conversely, the instrumental title track, "Deathwish" or the last tunes closing the proceedings are sort of a borefest to me. And in between you have "It's Alright For You", not so bad but very derivative of former rhythm'n'blues hits, oddly enough. I'm not familiar with *everything* the Police has released, yet I feel like this album is indeed the one to select for those sorts of lists compared to the others, even though it only has two super-famous singles, "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon". The debut *Outlandos D'Amour* has three of them, it's true: "Roxanne", "So Lonely" and "Can't Stand Losing You". Unfortunately it also has very awkward stuff such as "Hole In My Life", " Born In The 50s", "Be My Girl" or "Masoko Tanga", so I guess it's not an "ideal" candidate either. And no, don't get me started on *Synchronicity*. As much as I like "Every Breath You Take", that last album, often quoted in best-of lists, leers too much towards the sort of eighties pop Sting would soon release for his solo career. And here another story begins, I guess... To be honest with you, I have a "greatest hits" collection from The Police at home, and I'm perfectly happy with it. With their mixing of post-punk and reggae, coupled with great performances and Sting's songwriting at its best, The Police had every card in their game to help them become a legendary band. But sometimes, legendary bands are better for the singles format than they are for the one of albums. That's life. Number of albums left to review: 574 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 205 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 99 (including this one--it's a 8/10 LP for purposes that are more general than the ones of this list--but when it comes to "essential" albums, it's only a 3/5 one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 126
Classic Police. Nice to hear an album with some hits, but also some different sounds and a different singer than Sting (or Mr Sting). Didn’t hear him let out a little tummy squeak though.
I've always said that The Police really do new wave in their own way, and this second album, which helped launch them into stardom, really shows that fact off. The ways in which they saw that white reggae could fuse with punk and new wave (and before new wave was even really a thing) was a fascinating and well-received discovery that really led them to standing out from the crowd. This probably wouldn't be my first choice album of The Police to include in this project, but it is very likely among their most influential and defining moments for them in setting their unique tone. And who can say no to immediately coming out of the gate with "Message in a Bottle" as an album opener?
liked some, didn’t like some 3.5
My unconscious dislike of Sting and The Police (with a few exceptions) is pretty much confirmed by this album. I feel as though every song has moments I really like, but then really irritating vocals and white reggae (which is just plain embarrassing at points) rear their heads, and repeat ad nauseam. The opening track and Bring on the Night are very enjoyable. The rest, however, is not. 13/04/23
Starts with a classic. It was hard to keep up after that. Not a bad driving album.
Combing the usual sound I know as The Police and the sound before I knew them as The Police. Definitely progressive new wave.
The Police also nochmal. Die Platte kommt nicht recht in die Gänge, wenn man mit konventionellen Pop-Erwartungen rangeht und kriegte mich erst beim vorletzten Song. Eher Musik für Musiker, insgesamt solide hörenswert. Im Übrigen ist da noch das bekannte Message In A Bottle drauf, was einfach mal ein geiler Song ist.
It's a good album. Like The Weather Report the other day, and Jacob's bass, this album lives and dies by Stewart Copeland's amazing drumming. Propulsive, rigid but off kilter, sharp and beautiful. You can see the marked difference between these exciting, jittery songs and the shoes off new age bollocks that defined Sting post 1985, and know that without that drumming, Sting is adequate at best.
Good solid new wave album, well deserving of its place on the list. Message in a bottle the stand out song. On any other day the low point.
Didn't hate this anywhere near as much as I expected to. Aside from the cringe in the opening song it was actually pretty punky.
reminder of my youth a good album to start my journey. The tracks released as singles are fabulous. The album tracks a little bit samey. Copelands drum beats too fast for me in some of their songs sounds like they are rushing to finish the song and makes the lyrics indistinct.
The spiky new wave is largely good, you know the singles. Less said about Sting's fake Jamaican accent the better. On Any Other Day is terrible
Great singles, and some reasonably good album tracks.
I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. Other than message in a bottle, which is great, nothing else really stood out to me
Brisk paced.. Definitely popular back in the day.
Es repetitivo, pero nunca llega a ser tedioso. Al menos no es muy difícil saber que canción escuchas, pues no hay mucha diversidad en la letra fuera de repetir el titulo 30 veces por pieza. A pesar de esto, es completamente disfrutable. No siento la necesidad de saltar alguna canción y, personalmente, me gustó mucho
Not so interesting, a couple nice ones tho
Pretty fun album. Never listened to much Police before. Knew the 2 most popular tracks. Theyre pretty good. Can't pin down his accent though. Album ended kinda flatly. Just a fade out? But entertaining throughout
I Like The Police so I was glad this showed up. It's fine but they have better albums I'd even go so far as to say that Zenyatta Mondata, Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity are all better and I'll be lucky if even one more of those is on the list. Best tracks: Message in a Bottle, It's Alright For You, Walking on the Moon. Stewart Copeland of course is amazing on the drums.
A serviceable Police LP – gives away the ghost by letting its best track ('Bottle' by a long shot) up front, with not much achieving that high bar for the rest of the runtime. That being said, even a ho-hum Police album is a solid listen, as Sting and co. pilot their way through the standard mix of chorus-drenched guitar + unconventional rhythms to great effect.
Some great instrumentation, but Sting’s vocal style I never seemed to warm towards. Title track is probably the standout for me.
I hate the police! The band is sort of ok though. Message in a bottle is one of my least favorite individual tracks ever put to sound, but the deeper cuts here are ok. Overall not a huge fan of the Reggae-rock thing.
I did not like white people doing Reggae Favorite Song: Message in a Bottle
Not a fan
I’d be embarrassed by this record if I were a member of this band. After the obvious hit single starts the album, it quickly devolves into what I can only generously call buffoonery. From the cocaine anthem title track, to the super self-conscious, dub inflected, white boy reggae that borders on the fringe of ska, to the preposterously silly punky bits toward the end, it’s all just kinda dumb. And isn’t Sting supposed to be Mr Enlightened Modern Man?! There’s a song here where they put finding out your usually okay son is gay on par with being bitten by a dog. Not a great look and not so far in our pasts. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the assholes who would get in fist fights with each other during interviews are actually assholes.
Yea, it’s white guy reggae. And very repetitive.
cool music. the lyrics on "On any other day" had me laughing lol. gets repetitive very soon imo. "Message In A Bottle" is soooo good.
I went into this album bias, Sting irritates me. This was my first time listening to a full album by The Police. I like a couple of tracks, especially “Reggatta de Blanc” and “Bring on the Night,” and I can appreciate the musicianship. But Sting still irritates me. I’d enjoy this album more if it were instrumental.
This is just a really funny line from the wikipedia: "In 2014, Spin cited it as one of the major moments in the history of white reggae" The wikipedia also specifies how songwriting was a struggle at times during this album and honestly, listening to On Any Other Day? I get it. The album started out fairly strong but the last half is dragging badly. Message in a Bottle is a banger but as an album I just didn't dig this. The last half feels really phoned in to me.
New Wave music sucks...I can't say it enough times. Message In A Bottle is a terrible song, it highlights everything that is awful about the Police. Bring On The Night, is super ska influenced which normally pisses me off, but as far as Police songs go, it's pretty alright. Walking On The Moon sucks too...the hits are the worst songs on the album. You aren't Jamaican, quit singing like that! I spoke too soon, On Any Other Day is far worse, one of the worst songs I've ever heard.
I don't know what to say.... I feel neutral about this album, but I don't think I'll listen to it ever again.
Listens: 2 Standout Tracks: Bring On The Night Do people actually like The Police? This album was extra boring, and extra repetitive to boot. No less than 20 "Sendin' out an SOS" at the end of Message In A Bottle. Between that and the constant track fade-outs... This album is meh. If you take away the singles, what are you left with? Not much.
I’ve always found the Police to be a bit corny. Listening to this today, that opinion still checks out.
I wasn't a huge fan and it didn't stock out to me
Man these guys grate after a while. Stings vocals genuinely get annoying. 2.5/5
I’ve never sat down with the Police, aside from hearing the hits on the radio. I already had Synchronicity and enjoyed it more than expected. Did not enjoy this one nearly as much.
Hmmm, I don't wish to bee too waspish, but I'm going to have to find the insect repellent, Mr Sting! Anyway, all together now, lads..."Massage in a brothel!" (14-year-old boy humour...).
Not my jam at all Viele songs sind fast gut aber gefallen mir schlussendlich doch nicht. Manche fühlen sich unfertig an und manchmal ist die Identität des Albums schwer zu erkennen. Bsp: „on any other day“ Fav: message in the bottle
I've never cared for Sting or The Police. This album does nothing to change my opinion. "Message In A Bottle" is solid but everything was kind of forgettable.
nwm nawet mnie nie zainteresowalo jakos batdzo
XTC’s “Black Sea” but with less imagination and clever lyrics.
Tässä oli ihan kivaa kamaa ja sitten oli ei niin kivaa kamaa. Lauleskelu, monotonista tai semmoista ei niin vetoavaa poikamaista ja yhdistettynä vielä reggaeen. Ei jatkoon siltä saralta. Tai sitten pitäis keskittyä enemmän, jotain huumorikulmaa nuista voisi löytää. Miellyttävintä oli jostain syystä bassoraidat, juutuin kuuntelemaan niitä. Päräyttävää basson peukuttelua.
The only good Police song is So Lonely, which is not on this record. Booooooooo.
Why did I need to listen to this? 3/10
2.5
It was okay
The white reggae fast rock vibes were surely groundbreaking back then. If you take away the hits there are some unusual songs and structures but it all sounds dated when relistening this today. The musicians are great, though.
Y’all mind if a white boy speaks a little Jamaican?
It's alright. Some catchy songs.
Album #122, The Police, Regatta de Blanc ⭐⭐ I’ve never really given The Police a fair shake. I’m only really familiar with the big singles, which I actually quite like. But they’ve never been a band I’ve had much interest in, even though they come from a period of music that I usually love. That late 80s intersection of new wave, post-punk and alternative rock tends to produce a lot of music that really clicks with me. This, unfortunately, didn’t. I feel like I just don’t get this album. There’s a lot about it that doesn’t work for me, but the main issue is that almost every song feels like it’s stuck in second gear. I don’t know whether that’s down to the performances, the songwriting, or a combination of both, but everything feels like it’s building towards something that never arrives. There’s no real payoff. There’s no euphoric chorus. No huge crescendo. No moment where a song suddenly takes flight. Most of the tracks have a decent groove and there were definitely moments where I found myself nodding along, but they rarely develop beyond that. They just sort of circle the same idea for three or four minutes and then end. For me, the combination of reggae and rock is where the problem lies. I love reggae. I love rock. But I don’t think the two are helping each other here. The reggae elements seem to strangle the energy of the rock songs, while the rock elements stop the reggae grooves from really settling into themselves. Both styles end up constraining each other. To my ears, it’s a failed experiment. I know plenty of people would disagree, but it just doesn’t work for me. That’s not to say there aren’t positives. Stuart Copeland is fantastic throughout. The drumming is easily my favourite aspect of the album. There are also some lovely guitar textures scattered across the record. Sting, on the other hand, doesn’t do much for me as a vocalist. I also find a lot of his lyrics pretty silly. Then there are a couple of tracks that I actively disliked. On Any Other Day, which is actually one of the more straightforward rock songs on the album, there’s a vocal performance that sounds like a Frank Zappa parody. I’m assuming it’s Stewart Copeland. Maybe it’s intentionally goofy, maybe that’s the joke, but I thought it was dreadful. So yeah, this is a brutal two stars from me. I didn’t hate every second of it. There are moments of good musicianship and a handful of decent grooves, but the songs themselves just don’t go anywhere interesting enough for me. I know The Police have other albums on this list, and I’m hoping one of those clicks a bit more than this one did, because based on Regatta de Blanc alone, I don’t really have much desire to seek out more of their music.
The two songs you already know are good. The rest exists on a scale from dull to awful
I am really disappointed with this album. Starting off with the great Message in A Bottle, and then… nothing until Walking on The Moon. And then nothing again. Bring on The Night and The Bed’s too Big are okay, but the rest are simply not good songs.
enjoyed "Bring on the night" because it reminds me of Slow kids at play and "Does everyone stare" is pretty funny. Overall, not a fan of this album, to me it's quite boring and repetitive
I'm going to hold off saying I'm not a fan of The Police full stop, but I didn't enjoy this album, even the 'classics'. It has that 80s sound where there are 'gaps' in the music, almost sparse, which is a real killer of atmosphere. The guitar sound is thin and jangly and the (deliberate) production to emphasise the same doesn't help. Add to that, Sting's voice isn't my favourite. It feels counter-intuitive, but two stars
fuck the police
I was bored by this album.
"Message in a Bottle" is an absolute classic and it is always going to give me pure nostalgia for playing Guitar Hero II. Aside from that massive hit, the guitar solo on "No Time This Time" was really good, and "On Any Other Day" was pretty enjoyable as well. That track especially reminded me of the whole wave of ska and reggae rock that was to come much later. I’m sure they sounded completely unique and groundbreaking for their time in 1979, but for me, white people doing reggae is best left to bands like 311 and Sublime. The whole record just leans a bit too heavily into those repetitive, hollow reggae riddims that get old quickly. Stewart Copeland's drumming is fantastic, but the overall vibe just does not hold my interest outside of the big singles.
Some really great songs, weighed against some songs where the fake Jamaican accent Sting does it really pronounced. I think generally the "white reggae" concept put a sour taste in my mouth and the album wasn't good enough for me to get past it. Favourite song: Message in a Bottle Least: No Time This Time
There are musical elements here that are intriguing, but the vocal effects kill me.
2.5 watered down raggea by white men.
I don’t care for the police.
Drummer killed it! Songs were just alright.
2.25 - I'm not a huge Police guy, although I have seen Sting live at a music festival. At times this is good, other times I don't like the reggae sound that creeps in.