Customer Reviews

Ghost in Machine

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For me this is a far better album than "Zenyatta Mondatta." I even prefer it over "Synchronicity." Here the band is sour, relaxed, & robust. Some of their previous work seemed a little forced, but with these songs they appear to gel. I'll only focus on four of them. "Spirits In The Material World," is a cutting testament to the shallow material things that many view as essential to their momentary contentment. The reggae feel enlivens the somber mood. "Everything She Does Is Magic," is a spunky love song with a soaring bridge. "Invisible Sun," here Sting is at his sardonic best. His matter of fact voice blended well with Copeland's strong percussion & Summer's echoing chords. This is one of the few anti-war anthems I have ever liked. "Omegaman," is a good rocker with Andy Summer's standing out.

Ghost in the Machine was the first Police album I owned. After 25yrs, it is still my favorite. The beginning of Secret Journey, with the building intro, would just blow my speakers apart when it kicked in!! Apparently, there was a jump in technology then, because this album seemed much more clearer and louder sounding than Zenyatta. After MTV started, the Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic video was on every hour. Sting, Andy, and Stewart seemed so "happy" in that video. That was part of the reason I got into them. They seemed to be having a great time making music and money. Ironically, years later, I learned that they were practically breaking up then! There were so many elements like group fighting, the dark songs, Sting's divorce, a different producer (Hugh) etc. Maybe the album should have been called "Demolition Band". Strangely, thats what makes Ghost in the Machine so much more unique to me. Despite all that, a great album was born, delivering excellent music to this day.

As a Professional musician and a long time fan of The Police, I'm getting a little sick and tired of all the reviews focusing almost entirely on the lyrics with their symbolism and their socio-political message, etc...

Apart from token lines like: "With airy but moody synths and keyboards...", there's simply no reference at all to Andy Summers' incredibly ingenious and unique guitar playing with all its different colours and textures, his imaginative use of rhythm as well as his unforgettable riffs.

No mention of Stewart Copeland's breath-taking playing. The drumming that influenced a whole generation...

Nor is there any mention of Sting. Yes, he is a master song-writer but what about his instruments? He would have to be one of the most underrated bass players in the history of good music. As a bass player I've always admired his warm sound and his thoughtful playing. He's supportive and mostly sparse without ever being boring and possesses tonnes of tasty-ness. And what can we say about his voice?! Simply an amazing voice. A rich, totally unique tone that's instantly recognizable, combined with beautiful melodic ingenuity. And, when informed by Sting's tremendous musicality, it makes for some of the most heart-felt singing in all of popular music.

It is not my intention to ignore lyrics or their meaning. I love good lyrics as much as anyone else and I am fully aware that for a song to be a 'good song', it has to have both great lyrics and great music working in harmony. All I'm simply saying is that to concentrate exclusively on lyrics (brilliant as they might be) and to ignore the musician's/producer's contributions to the overall creation of a song is to basically relegate music's role to simply background filler. Like a movie soundtrack or a boring one-bar-loop repeated ad-nauseam in a bad Rap song.

The members of The Police deserve much more than that.

The Police were predominantly a singles band; whilst every album contains at least several well-known singles or album tracks, each also has a certain amount of filler. Here's a test: remove the best 5 tracks from each album and see how the remainder sounds. In my opinion, 'Regatta' and 'Synchronicity' come off poorly with lots of filler, 'Outlandos' is OK, 'Zenyatta' is a creditable second, but the easy winner is 'Ghost'; I believe it has very little music that could be called filler.

A number of reviewers have panned the middle section of 'Ghost', but to my ears it lends the album a cohesive energy and groove lacking on the other albums. Sure, those middle tracks are a bit repetitive, but so is James Brown! It's the sound of the Police trying, with varying success, to add a bit of funk'n'groove and early eighties eurodance to their white reggae and pop/rock. There was a sense of burning ambition in many of the releases of that era and this is no exception. Yes, it can be a dark and sometimes sombre listen, perhaps in places its grasp exceeds its reach, but give me an exciting failure over a dull success any day. Also, of all of the Police's albums, 'Ghost' has matured best with age; twenty-plus years later it still sounds fresh and involving.

For me, a good album should be one that flows from start to finish without my attention wandering, where I feel no inclination to skip tracks, where each song is framed by the others and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. For me, 'Ghost' is one of those albums, and I never seem to tire of it.

I give Ghost in the Machine the nod over Zenyatta Mondatta and Synchronicity because of its wonderful unique tone and sound. Sting really takes over on Synchronicity, so this is the last record in which The Police, as a trio, (particularly Stewart Copeland) contribute to the creation of the music.

The synth work on GITM is outstanding. None of it sounds dated, which is atypical of 80's rock music. The synths sound gorgous, warm, dark, and evocative. The first three tracks heavily feature synths, beginning with the angry opening Spirits in the Material World, followed by the joyous/sad Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, and continued into the dark, throbbing Invisible Sun. The first three tracks almost seem self-contained and should be listened to in the order they are presented. They fit together perfectly.

Then the record takes a nosedive. Hungry For You, Demolition Man, and Too Much Information are the weakest tracks and they are bunched together (I suppose better that, than interspersed). The fundamental problem with these tracks is that Sting tries to be funky. Bad choice. Sting is not funky, never has been, never will be. Instead of groovy, he comes off dull, repetitive, and silly.

Even though this is the best Police record, I still tend to skip these tracks. It may seem illogical that I would rate this record so highly, and yet asmit that there is a significant weak spot here to be avoided. But, the fact is that even if you cut out the bad spot, what remains is a wonderful rich selection of music. And even though it isn't a full album's worth, the fact is that neither Zenyatta Mondatta nor Synchronicity devlivered a full album's worth of perfection.

Once you get past Too Much information, the rest is gold. Rehumanize Yourself does have one anoying flaw: the noisy sax solo. I blame Sting for this. In his attempt to infuse horns that remind us of violence he put something into the mix that just doesn't blend, and the overall effect is somewhat grating. One World is one of the best Police jams. Stewart Copeland really shines on drums.

The closing tracks Secret Journey and Darkness are a fantastic finish. I almost think of Secret Journey/Darkness as one song, much like Spirits in the Material World/Every Little Thing She Does is Magic/Invisible Sun blend together at the beginning of the record. One could even take it one step further and notice that Hungry For You/Demolition Man/Too Much Information also blend together (it just happens that they are much weaker than the rest of the record).

I can't help loving the way this record opens and closes. I am more than able to forgive it for falling flat in the middle. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic was a megahit for The Police and I suppose if I had to pick one song from Ghost in the Machine for my mix tape, that would be the one. But, I would rather listen to Spirits/Every/Invisible in order, skip to Rehumanize Yourself, and then close the album with One World/Secret/Darkness. When I hear Secret Journey/Darkness I always get the sensation of entering into a dark tunnel or (I know it sounds silly) the beginning of the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland when your car passes through the tunnel with the laser beams and begins climbing. This music gives me that strong emotional/physical sensation of being pulled into something intriguing, mysterious, and dark. I love it.

One thing I forgot to mention is that The Police are, as usual, a great band and a joy to listen to. The album is unique in their cannon because the synths play such a strong role, they bring a 4th sound to the overall presentation. Unlike Zenyatta Mondatta which was mostly just Vocal, Bass, Guitar, and Drums, Ghost in The Machine is a much fuller sound. I don't necesarily think it is a better sound, but on this particular record, it works fabulously.

The Police are known for their dark, repetitive, and catchy songs. "Ghost In The Machine" is no exception. The album starts and ends better than just about any other album that I can think of. It opens with 3 recognizable hits, including one of their best known songs, "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." The next four songs are pretty good, with even more catchy lyrics. The last four songs, though not major hits, are great and make this album one that you won't forget. In fact, I liked "Omegaman" and "Secret Journey" almost as much as I did the first three songs.

With the strength of some of the catchiest music ever made and dark, but well done vocals, The Police have made another great album. What really impressed me about The Police is that you never hear about them having great musicianship. But they do, and you'll know what I mean when you hear these songs. I recommend anybody to get "Ghost In The Machine."

"Ghost In The Machine" ranks alongside "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Synchronicity" as the three best albums by the phenomenally brilliant band that were The Police. By this one they had moved largely away from their "white reggae" style, towards a more complex produced sound that would peak on the also excellent "Synchronicity".

As usual with Sting, Summers and Copeland, there is a broad range of styles here, both musically and lyrically. "Spirits In The Material World" and others such as "Secret Journey" show Sting's already well-established interest in spiritual matters. Other songs such as the big hit "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" are more straightforward love songs. A political theme runs through the album with "Invisible Sun" being about the troubles in Northern Ireland at the time, and "Rehumanize Yourself" making a damning reference to a far right political party.

The musical sophistication, intelligence, high energy and creative imagination of this band was incredible. With this album they expanded their sound to include more keyboards, saxophone and layers of sound in general. Masterful.

With their penultimate studio album, the Police moved more towards political consciousness, emphasizing the human spirit and soul over soulless corporate machinery--hence Ghost In The Machine. However, in some songs, I detect the prelude to "Synchronicity" in quick-paced songs like "Rehumanize Yourself" and "Omegaman", with its racing guitars and drums. Only one song recalls the style of their old days.

With the steady keyboard notes forming the rhythm of the verses, the single "Spirits In The Material World" deplores the moral and spiritual crisis in the world, with no hope for legally trying to change the world. The materialist-oriented 80's does give pause, making one wonder, "Where does the answer lie?/Living from day to day/If it's something we can't buy/There must be another way."

The Police scored their fourth UK #1 with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." Itself a big hit in the US, it's a catchy tune exploring that painful shyness a man feels towards a woman he admires. The shyness and distance is evoked in his line about standing with her under a big enough umbrella, but he becoming wet, climaxing in the all-time classic fears: "I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day/And ask her if she'll marry me in some old fashioned way/But my silent fears have gripped me/long before I reach the phone/long before my tongue has tripped/Must I always be alone?"

With grim keyboards rising in volume, with Stewart Copeland's drums tapping out a steady beat, the moody "Invisible Sun" echoes the
hopelessness of an industrial life draining the spirit out of someone so that "I face the day with my head caved in/Looking like something that the cat brought in." Such a bleak future, and a bleak song, underscored by "And they're only gonna change this place/by killing everybody in the human race/And they would kill me for a cigarette/but I'm don't even wanna die just yet."

I'm not sure how effective singing in French is to a steady rhythmic Police sound is, but the majority of "Hungry For You" is sung that way. There is raw desire and savagery in the lyrics, particularly when he sings [translated]: "I must burn away this jealousy/you have ravaged my heart/and me, I've drank your blood."

"The doomsday weapon, "a walking disaster, arsenal of doom, the sort of thing they ban," is psychotically personified in the jamming "Demolition Man," with a brass section and pulsing bass. Sting later redid this for the futurist movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.

If Sting was singing about the 80's computer age leading to "Too much information running through my brain/Too much information driving me insane" would he make a 2000's remix of "Too Much Information" for the Internet Age? A catchy, jazzy song with a brass section.

Violence as a social norm...how sobering. "Rehumanize Yourself" makes a commentary on a policeman itching for violence, with a nod to the Beatles: "He'd like to have a gun just to keep him warm" and the unfulfilling purpose of making machines for a larger company and not working for one's own good and spiritual well-being.

Western political and sociologically-centered bias is tackled in the funky reggae of "One World (Not Three)," referring to the now-antiquated concept of the First World being capitalist countries, the Second World being communist countries, and Third World being the underdeveloped ones. Sting says in warning of a possible nuclear or environmental catastrophe, "We can all sink or we all float/'Cos we're all in the same big boat/One world is enough/For all of us."

There are mythological subtexts, of the hero's journey in "Secret Journey" and the meeting with a blind holy man/guru, whose words of wisdom include: "You will see light in the darkness/You will make some sense of this/And when you've made your secret journey/You will find the love you miss....And when you've made your secret journey/You will be a holy man."

With airy but moody synths and keyboards, "Darkness" shows how it's easier to dream of lofty ideals, but when one is out there, the flaws begin to show, and it makes on frustrated enough to wish "I wish I never woke up this morning."

Probably the most sciopolitically conscious and sobering album the Police have done, with a sound close to Synchronicity.

Those who thought The Police had peaked on 1980's ZENYATTA MONDATTA were proved wrong when their subsequent album, GHOST IN THE MACHINE, was released. It's a flawless blend of reggae, rock and new wave; it's also the group's darkest album. GHOST IN THE MACHINE is also the band's most focused release, with most of the songs revolving around politics or government; the biggest exception is the megahit single "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", an upbeat pop masterpiece ranking among the band's best compositions. Every song is magnificent; stand-outs include the singles "Spirits In The Material World" and "Invisible Sun"; the explosive "Omegaman"; the razor-edged, fast-paced "Rehumanize Yourself"; and the addictive "Hungry For You (J'Aurais Tojours Faim De Toi)". Sting's songwriting has rarely been better; Stewart Copeland's drums and Andy Summers' guitars are excellent. The band's jazz influence comes out on numerous songs, thanks to some great saxophone parts by Sting. As Police imitators began popping up, the group started shedding its reggae influence, as seen on GHOST IN THE MACHINE; but on their subsequent album, they tossed out their reggae-rock once and for all.

I still can't decide whether I like this album or Synchronicity better. Almost immediately after you slip this album into your CD Player and are greeted by the opening drumbeats to "Spirits in the Material World", you will hear the basic musical germ that would be taken to new levels on Synchronicity. But on Ghost in the Machine, the Police offer us a more unrefined version of their rapidly maturing musical talent.

On their previous album, Zenyatta Mondatta, the band's lyrics became more political and philosophical. For this album, the music evolved as well. Influences of reggae and jazz become even more noticable in Sting's songwriting, and he manages to incorporate them brilliantly into the stew of pop, punk, and hard rock that already made up the Police's signature sound. The result: an album of explosive rhythm and energy, both lyrically and musically. Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland are all in outstanding form. Here's a few thoughts on some of the songs to better illustrate:

-As I stated earlier, the first song reaches out and grabs you with the reggae beats of Copeland's drums. Stings lyrics are melodic, and a perfect rythmic complement to the music. But while being catchy, he also waxes philosophy at the same time ("There is no political solution/To our troubled evolution/Have no faith in constitution/There is no bloody revolution"). This style, started on Zenyatta Mondatta, becomes more mature here, and is repeated in many forms on this album.

-Probably the best known song on this album is "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." The bouncing drums and keyboards are almost enough to make you forget that Sting is singing about the personal torment of being unable to tell the woman he loves exactly how he feels ("Oh, I've tried before to tell her all the feelings I have for her in my heart..."). The same thing happens on the song "Too Much Information." Sting's lyrics and Copeland's music are a perfect match, even though you wouldn't think it. Sting appears to be singing about the torture of living in the information age and being connected to entirely too much news on several different media, but he sings about it over a horn and guitar-laden beat that sounds almost like club music.

-As their style changed, Andy Summers's guitar became less a solo instument, and more a rhythm instrument. But I consider "Demolition Man" one of his finest moments of musicianship. The high point here is definitely the long-winded guitar solo that the song finishes up with. Summers's guitar sounds wonderfully dirty, and yet he manages to make it sing. It's truly incredible, and it makes "Demolition Man" one of my favorite songs on the album.

-"One World (Not Three)" is a song that smacks of reggae. But in a good way. The stereo-fading and reverb of the vocals (especially at the end) gives it a very spooky quality. But again, it's done over music that Bob Marley probably would have written if he were still alive.

All in all, the Police manage to cram so much into just 45 minutes of music. As I said in my review of Synchroncity, Sting's glory days were with the Police, and not in his solo career at all. This is definitely one of the best albums to come from the 1980s, from one of the best bands in that time period.