Track Listing

1. Roxanne
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Message in a Bottle
4. Walking on the Moon
5. Don't Stand So Close to Me
6. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
7. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
8. Invisible Sun
9. Spirits in the Material World
10. Every Breath You Take
11. King of Pain
12. Wrapped Around Your Finger
13. Don't Stand So Close to Me '86
14. Message in a Bottle [New Classic Rock Mix]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4215 in Music
• Brand: Police
• Released on: 2005-01-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
The Police, Every Breath You Take: The Classics

Customer Reviews

Every little thing they did was magic.
As is the point, this is a great collection for the casual fan. Basically this is just the old "Singles" album updated. The difference here is the inclusion of two versions of "Message In A Bottle" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me", neither of which I care about. I think any fan would much rather have two of many missing songs instead. A big plus to this collection is the remastering, and it's truly nice to hear. The biggest complaint would be that this is really just 12 songs, and again what we don't get. Truth be known, if I was getting my first or only Police disc, I'd get the "Greatest Hits" import. It has every track this does, plus "So Lonely", "Bed's Too Big Without You", "Synchronicity II", and "Tea In The Sahara". I guess it's just a matter of how big a Police fan you are.

The Best of the Police
This album was released this past year (2005) as a cheaper version of the Hybrid SACD Digipak album of the same title. It's in a jewel case, not a Digipak, and it offers the Police's biggest hits. Yes, there are notable omissions (Synchronicity II, So Lonely, Secret Journey, The Bed's Too Big Without You) but it's still a great disc to own. However, the Very Best of Sting and the Police has 18 tracks, but 9 of them are Sting solo songs, so this has more Police tracks. For more Police, check out their studio albums now on Digipak, or you can be daring and get the Message in a Box complete set. Until then, you need this if you like rock.

Classics, Indeed
The Police are a pretty good band, I think. Don't know how to describe them exactly, though. Sophisticated new wave, perhaps? They're a three piece rock group with fairly thoughtful lyrics, jangly guitar and drums, though catchy, often surprise you, even of repeated listens.

This compilation "Every Breath You Take: The Classics" has twelve of the band's most well known songs, remastered and sequenced in chronological order, with a two "bonus tracks" at the end. The most famous tracks, I think are probably "Roxanne", "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take". I'm sure you'll have heard quite a few of these tracks on the radio.

It's a good selection of their singles, though the overall running time is rather short. They could have added a few more tracks, I reckon, like the early hit "So Lonely", or the thoughtful "Driven to Tears" and the rocking "Synchronicity II". Ah well.

Here's a rundown of what's from which album of theirs. There's:

2 tracks from "Outlandos D'Amour" (1978)
2 tracks from "Regatta De Blanc" (1979)
2 tracks from "Zenyatta Mondatta" (1980)
3 tracks from "Ghost in the Machine" (1981)
3 tracks from "Synchronicity" (1983)

The first of the two "bonus tracks" is "Don't Stand So Close To Me '86", a remake of one of my favorite songs by the Police. With synth drums, a mellow voiced Sting and a slower, lower key chorus, you kind of get an idea of what the Police would have been like if they'd continued recording together. It's quite a good track, I think. The other track here is a remix of "Message in a Bottle". When I say "remix" I mean drastic remaster, which seems to be becoming a more and more fashionable thing to do to older music. The instruments have been tweaked and sweetened, a couple of volume levels adjusted. It sounds a lot cleaner and fuller in this version, the drums and the bass, the jangle of the guitar all have a lot more depth. Plus, it keeps the character of the original mix. It's one of the few remixes of this kind that I think sounds better than the original.

The booklet is reasonable, containing all the lyrics, and a couple of pics from the band ("Synchronicity" era, I think).

All in all, it's a pretty good compilation, and the casual fan should be pretty happy with it. If you're interested in more from the Police, check out the "Message in a Box" set, which has all the album tracks, singles and B-sides, plus a couple of rarities.