New love for Synchronicity

[georgygirl]

[quote]anyone agree that wrapped around your finger is a total police masterpiece?[/quote]

I agree with you Secret Journey

And also that today and here Synchronicity are happening to our lovely boys. They are together again preparing an incredible world live tour.

Hip Hip Hurra!

[smax]

i've found that i've got new appreciation for "Ghost in the Machine"; i never liked it years ago; all those horns and some bloke playing keyboards....pah! the only redeeming feature for me were the drums on "One World"; apparently done in one take!?!?! that one song is responsible for at least 3 of my mates who play drums professionally now...

but now "Omegaman" has flown into my top 5 police tunes.....

[hollo]

hungry for you is becoming one of my favourite tracks because i love the bass.
I think sting's bass is the most important part of the police, without it the songs wouldn't have their potency.

[Spec A!]

Wow, really? What forum are you on?

Sting's Bass parts are great, but there's no way that THEY are the reason for the potency- it's the drums man! THE DRUMS!

As for one take in recording a song- sometimes that's all you need. If you nail it right the first time and are happy with it, move on! I've done it many a times. Trust me there's plenty of screw ups, sticks hitting mics and stuff, but if you get it on one take, the first take, why redo?

[georgygirl]

To me the potency of The Police is the synchronicity between all its elements.

Anyway, one element that attracted me since the beginning is/was drum sound...

[DirtyMartini]

[quote="Spec A!"]Wow, really? What forum are you on?/quote]

HA!

Of course, it's all three of them. Without one them, it wouldn't be The Police. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. And anyway, like Spec A said, it's the drums, man! THE DRUMS!

[smax]

i take your point Spec A, about one takes; natch that's better than being dropped in or just chopping parts up, but i'd heard that that take for "one world" was stews' first listen to the track and so he was having fun with it and pushing it to see what he could get away with; and boy can you tell!

but gordo's bass in that tune is great too; a nice simple line which becomes a devil when you try and sing and play, you've got to be right on it and gordo is....

(everything said in anticipation of seeing and hearing it; isn't 'one world' on the set list?)

[hollo]

Sting's bass is fantastic especially on zenyatta. I can't understand the dislike for sting on this forum. We all like the police and he writes the songs, he sings the songs and he plays the bass. He's the main focal point of the police and if we like the police we should like him.

[Spec A!]

Let me clarify- I never said I dislike Sting (and I know you never said I did either). Sting is a great singer/songwriter, and an amazing bass player imho. I'd agree that the bass lines on Zenyatta are by far my fave (Man in a Suitcase, Shadows in the Rain, crap they are ALL good). I really have no ill will against Sting (or Andy), and yes I agree- all three is what makes The Police, The Police! But first and foremost I'm a Stewart fan, and this is his website. I'm not here to start a flame war on Sting cause whatever- they're back touring and pretty much everyone's unattainable dream on here has come true.

But Again- I'm always gonna shout "STEWART!" first and foremost. To me he is the main focal point of The Police. And I'm sure alot of that feeling has to do with being a drummer myself- that viewpoint will never change! So no worries, not trying to argue.

smax- I think I remember now reading an article on how he loved to capture that certain magic when you first play a song- One World being one of those times. That's cool stuff.

[hollo]

I just want to say that sting's solo work is poor in comparison to the police. Being in the police seemed to bring the best out of sting. I don't know what it is.

[DirtyMartini]

[quote="hollo"]Being in the police seemed to bring the best out of sting.[/quote]

Absolutely. I very much like Sting, and he has done some wonderful solo stuff -- but most of his most incredible work comes from having Andy and Stewart around to reign him in, pump him up, and kick his ass.

[jedsoon]

I remember outliner pens...

and Synchronicity, too!

[Wait and See]

I like Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain and Miss Gradenko. The lyrics for the first two are average, but I like the music. I think Miss Gradenko is Stewart's second best song after Darkness, although it's kind of obsolete now that the Soviet Union's gone. Great tune though.

Otherwise, I have to say I can basically do without the album. It has four songs that I think are among the weakest they ever did-- Walking in Your Footsteps, Mother, Tea in the Sahara, and Murder by Numbers. Synch I & II and O My God have average music, but cheesy/bleak/lecturing lyrics that I strongly dislike. As for EBYT, on a certain level artistically you can't argue with it, but it's the kind of song that could only be written by someone who's in a very dark pit in life...the kind of place most of us try to avoid getting into.

In short, I rarely listen to any of the songs from the album but the first three I mentioned, and occasionally EBYT.

Ironically, I think their earlier material has held up better over time than their later stuff. The first two albums are full of stuff that sounds new even now, and as you go through the last three, I think it gets progressively more dated sounding.

[nathanarizona]

From an interview with Michael Stipe not too long ago. I tend to agree with his sentiments...

Ingrid Sischy: Rather than going for that old-fashioned idea that art has to be timeless, it seems that you and the band wanted something that really feels like it represents the shape of now.

Michael Stipe: That's exactly right. Timelessness was something that seemed important to me in my early twenties, when we were making our first records. And I don't even know where that came from. Maybe it came from my art-school teachings.

IS: We inherit this idea that art's supposed to be timeless, which is really an impossible notion, since history is always being revised. For so long the goal of timelessness was how art was judged. The question was always "Will it last?" And I always felt the answer was, number one: Who knows what will last? How do we know if we'll last. And number two: With all the great art that I've ever seen in my life, part of what makes it so vibrant and alive is that in looking at it, you understand the moment in which it was made. So for me, the best stuff will show people in 50 years what we're going through now. It achieves that timelessness, but not out of some goal that it will last, but because of its ability to pin down how we feel right now.

MS: I know. My opinion has drastically changed. What it's about now is now. If you think about art and music or any creative medium as a conduit to the world we're moving through, what you want from it is something that helps you maneuver your way through. You want something that helps you realize who you are, what you think, and what opinions you hold in the right now.

[Secret Journey]

Three Words: Stewart's snare sound.