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BAISTOPHE

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We'd like to thank everyone for preventing us of dead links. For the moment, we are note able to re-up them.

Feel free to keep on preventing us of those dead links. We will update them when we (I and Jeb-E-Diah) have more time to (understand : from september). Some of them will be partially or completely repacked considering albums which would have been issued thereafter and surely with new and improved artworks.

Stay tuned !







Tuesday, April 5, 2011

THE POLICE (ABO#417)

THE POLICE
DEMOLITION MEN


It took me quite some time to finally do this one. The thing is, the Police don't have that many albums which - with the pre-existing compilations - kept me from doing this one before.

A few days ago, I was asked by a friend of mine to do a compilation that, while displaying most of the band's hits would also be an introduction to more obscure tracks in their repertoire.

Initially, I wanted not to include "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Breath You Take" but changed my mind when listening to said tunes. Others didn't have that chance, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Spirits in the Material World" or "Wrapped Around Your Fingers" all got shafted.

Getting rid of those songs obviously opened slots for more surprising material such as the two instrumentals ("Reggatta de Blanc" and "Behind My Camel") or overlooked tracks such as "Driven to Tears", "Truth Hits Everybody", "Darkness" and a few more.

Also, I chose not to order the track-list in a chronological order which wasn't as easy as the Police have known quite a radical evolution throughout their short career. Anyway, I hope the transitions are as smooth as possible and that you'll enjoy how the whole disc unfolds.

A taste of what you'll get:



Driven to Tears
(from Zenyattà Mondatta, 1980)

An infectious funk number which, at the time, strayed from the "Reggae Pop Rock with a touch of Jazz" the Police had so talentfully crafted.




Synchronicity II
(from Synchronicity, 1983)
The closest the Police ever got to Progressive Rock, this exquisite track has a very nice Arena feel to it, no wonder it became one of the landmarks of the band's last two tours.




So Lonely
(from Outlandos d'Amour, 1978)
The Police still retained the nervousness of their punk roots on their debut album, So Lonely is just that: a great Reggae Rock number with just enough Punk energy to spice it up.


(all these samples are at 128kbps, the compilation is at 320kbps)


My THE POLICE list:
1 - Synchronicity (1983)
2 - Zenyattà Mondatta (1980)

3 - Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
4 - Ghost in the Machine (1981)

5 - Reggatta de Blanc (1979)



RIYL:
Talking Heads, Squeeze, XTC, Dada

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, I love your blog site, and have downloaded quite a few (20-30) baistophes. But here I totally disagree with your top list !!!
Snchronicity is their most commercial effort, even though some of the songs are quite good anyway. On the other side, Regatta is often considered as their master piece, still punk but already into reggae/ska.
My own top list would be:
1-Regatta / 2-Zenyatta / 3-Outlandos / 4- Ghost / 5-Synchronicity

But thank you anyway for your astounding work !

jeb-e-diah said...

Thanks.

About my list, as all these albums are awfully close in quality, it hasn't been an easy one to make.

Synchronicity was the second album by The Police I discovered when it was released but it was the first one that made me like their music, that's probably why it holds a special place in my heart and, therefore, is at the top of the list but, as you can see from the tracklist, every Police album is mandatory.

Eye of Newt said...

There are definitely some tough choices that had to be made here, e.g., I would sacrifice "King of Pain" for "Secret Journey" or "Next to You", but excellent work!

Anonymous said...

I've got all the official Police albums so this is a really welcome addition. Love the tracklisting andawesome artwork.