Customer Reviews

Live

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a huge Police fan and have many of their shows on bootlegs and I have to say that these two shows are ok, not bad but certainly not great. The Boston show is the better of the two in my opinion. The Atlanta show from '83 is a very standard show from the Syncronicity tour. The Boston show seems to have more energy and the songs are extended a bit (like Bed's too Big without you, So Lonely and Roxanne) to show the band's amazing playing abilities. Since these are the only live Police discs I would get it if you are a fan of the band but try and get a few other live shows if you can. A couple that I higly recommend that are not too hard to find are the July 31, 1982 show from Sting's hometown in Newcastle. This is a great show from the Ghost in the Machine tour and they play everything and the energy from the band is great. The other show to try and get is the February 1979 show from Hatfield, UK. This is a great show and was the first significant live performance that showcased the band's talents. Try EBAY for these shows, they have them listed pretty frequently. Also get the Police Live on VHS as songs from these two shows are on that tape.

Yeah, so to clarify, Disc 1 is an early show of theirs, from about '79 or so, so it's pretty much got stuff from the first two albums. And the second show is a gig from the high-tech, mega-popular Synchronicity tour.

Let us now give props where props are due. Props 1: my understanding is, these are both full sets, not pieced together as the best takes from multiple nights. That gives each concert an element of cohesion and groundedness that a lot of supposedly flaw-free live releases lack. So what if Andy Summers misses a note or Sting's voice cracks on a high pitch? It just adds to the charm.

Props 2: they are both excellent for what they are. Disc 1 is raw, hard-edged, imperfect and gritty. For lovers of the early Police and their energetic performances, it's exactly what you want. Disc 2 is a pop masterpiece. With the tempo turned up on basically everything, the songs lead seamlessly into another with an extremely high-pitched, exuberant audience cheering every step of the way. After hearing this, the Synchronicity studio tracks seem kinda boring by comparison, which is saying something.

Anyway, most of this has all been said before. Reason I'm writing this review, then, is that for some reason, the '83 show gets a lot of hate among reviewers and fans alike, and I don't really understand why. Perhaps it's a bit of "they've sold out" bitterness, but if so, it's undeniable that few bands in history "sold out" with more flair than the Police did.

In short, get this record, whether you go in for just one of the shows or both. It's terrific.

Apparently,there must be simply SO many 'new' releases put out at any given time,one obviously cannot keep track of EVERY one.As a result,I've only recently become aware of this live Police archive 2-CD title.Sound quality here could be a bit better,but it'll do.Disc one is from a 1979 live radio broadcast direct from the Orpheum Theater in Boston.I remember hearing this on a special late night radio show,don't believe that I taped it,or other wise,I wouldn't be so thrilled to finally land a copy of this disc.Better tunes are "So Lonely",the well written "Walking On The Moon","Message In A Bottle",their very first smash hit "Roxanne","Can't Stand Losing You" and "Born In The 50's".Disc two comes from a major gig in Atlanta in 1983 off their 'Synchronicity' tour.Most memorable cuts here are the awesome "Synchronicity II","De Do Do Do,De Da Da Da","Wrapped Around Your Finger",Sting's signature song "King Of Pain","Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "Every Breath You Take".A must-have for most Police fans.I was fortunate enough to catch The Police on the second leg of their 'Synchronicity' tour,as I never thought it would be their last.I've spoken with a couple of HUGE old school Police fans and they tell me they want NOTHING to do with this 2-CD release,that they're simply tired of seeing Sting out on solo tours and they feel somewhat betrayed that The Police will likely never reunite.Have to wonder how many others feel the same way.

It is hard to believe that a band can become a Hall of Fame band with just five studio albums to their name, but the Police are such a band. This is an honor that the Police are most worthy of. The Police were sort of an off-shoot of the Punk Rock movement of the late 1970s. The band would eventually encompass other influences - namely Classic Rock, Reggae, Jazz, Dance, and even Folk. For the most part, it is fair to say there was a Punk Rock and Reggae influence on the band for their first two albums" - "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta de Blanc". Both of these albums were terrific efforts - mostly because The Police used applied their unique style to a formula that worked. The Police would soon transform their sound to a more Classic Rock sound. With each successive album ("Zenyatta Mondatta", "Ghost in the Machine", and "Synchronicity"), the Police would continue to grow as a band and incorporate a variety of genres into their sound. When the Police would disband in 1986, they did not have a live album in their portfolio - despite the fact they had emerged as one of the great live bands of all-time. It would be nearly a decade later when the Police would release their first live collection - 1995's "The Police - Live!". Despite some negative criticism, this collection is worthy of the Police's Hall of Fame career as well as prove to be worth the long wait.

"The Police - Live!" is a very unique live collection. It consists of two concerts - one from 1979 and one from 1983. Each concert is on a separate disc. The concerts show a great reflection of the Police's career. The November, 1979 concert, recorded in Boston at the Orpheum Theater and broadcast on WBCN radio showcases the Police's early Punk Rock and Reggae roots. This concert has much more of a "raw" edge, but you can also tell that the Police were performing in a more intimate setting. By 1983, the Police had progressed their sound and had much more of a Rock edge. The November, 1983 concert was recorded at Atlanta's Omni Arena and this concert definitely has more of an Arena Rock feel. The 1983 concert showcases a good amount of material from the "Synchronicity" album (this was the tour in support of that album), while the 1979 concert is drawn from the band's first two albums.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the sound. It is important to remember that a live album will never have the audio standards of a studio album. This CD set was recorded in ADD format - meaning an Analog tape recorder was used during initial recording and a Digital tape recorder used during mixing/editing and for mastering. Overall, I think the album was well mixed and well engineered. Compared to many live albums, I consider this album to be one of the better sound qualities.

Here are eleven things to look for on this collection:

1-The 1979 Boston Concert contains all of the tracks from the Police's debut album with the exception of the instrumental track, "Masoko Tanga". This includes rare performances of "Peanuts", "Born in the 50s", and "Be My Girl/Sally".

2-Despite the fact that "Reggata De Blanc" was the newer album, there is less material played at the Boston concert. "Message in a Bottle", "Walking On the Moon", "Bring on the Night", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" are the only songs that are represented. The instrumental "Reggata De Blanc" is played as part of "Can't Stand Losing You" - a tradition the Police have done throughout their careers.

3-The Boston concert plays two early singles not found on albums - "Fall Out" and "Landlord".

4-Sting has said he had been battling laryngitis at the time of the Boston concert, but for the most part you can't tell it. The only exception seems to happen during "Peanuts" - where it definitely sounded like he was having some issues with his voice.

5-The 1983 Atlanta Concert contains eight songs from "Synchronicity", including a rare performance of the Andy Summers tune - "O My God". Unfortunately the albums "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost in the Machine" end up being the big losers in this collection as only three songs total are found on the two CD set.

6-I love the segue from "Synchronicity I" into "Synchronicity II" at the Atlanta concert. The segue seemed almost natural. Both performances showed the Police at the top of their game.

7-The best song on the two disc set is found on the Omni performance with "King of Pain". I've always considered this a great song - and this live version is even better.

8-The Police "wrap-up" the Omni concert with two songs from their first album - the traditional extended jam of "Can't Stand Losing You" (featuring "Regatta De Blanc") followed by "So Lonely".

9-The Omni performance has the Police using outside singers. I had mixed feelings about this because I always liked the fact the Police would make "every sound" on their recordings. Yet, the outside vocalists add a new dimension to the band.

10-One thing that is great about the Police is how they improvise during their live performances as well as create new arrangements of their songs. Both concerts showcase how well the Police has been able to do these things.

11-For the most part, both concerts appear to preserve the order of the songs and give the feeling of being at the 1979 and 1983 performances respectively. It's hard to tell whether these are "complete" shows. Usually with live CDs, some songs are not included when recorded from the show.

Overall this is an outstanding collection. The two concerts really contrast the early days and the latter days of the band - with both performances being outstanding. It is a live album that is truly worthy of a Hall of Fame band.

Length:: 3:28 Mins

I own more live albums then I will ever bother to count and this set is exactly what I want out of any such set. Rather than being cobbled together from several concerts in a short time frame and then having the instruments and/or vocals overdubbed to sound less "live" (WTF?) as so many bands do, The Police gave us a true live album -blemishes and all- consisting of two very different concerts from two very different eras of the band's career. This highlights the extreme musical growth of the band in a relatively short time and proves that they could harness some serious energy playing live. Anybody unhappy with the sound obviously is not a fan of live music and should stick to studio recordings because this is as good as a genuine live album gets (aside from a slight sound problem during the first verse of "Next to You"). There can be no argument.

The sampling of songs is spot-on on both discs; the first representing the band's early years aspiring to harness the energy of punk rock and reggae, the second showing the band at it's creative peak. Both are wonderful documents of where the band was at musically at the time and both absolutely rock. Sting's voice sounds killer and his typically solid bass-playing is on full display. He works the crowd and occasionally ad-libs during songs, adding some flavor to the proceedings. Andy Summers' guitar playing is the missing link between the firey punk attitude of Mick Jones and The Edge's soundscaping virtuosity; at times allowing his solos to devolve into distorted feedback that would make Greg Ginn (Black Flag) smile and other times letting subtle arpeggios and the ambience of his guitar effects work their magic -sometimes in the same song. It only takes two words to sum up Stewart Copeland: drummer's drummer.

This is easily one of my favorite live albums and if you share my enthusiasm for concert recordings and The Police then this is a no-brainer. All it wants is to be next to you.

The sound quality of these live renditions by the legendary British band The Police are not top notch, which is why I take off one star off of them. However, the material is all top of the line and a very nice display of the band's live performances in their early days (disc 1) and their final tour (disc 2), as well as a fairly comprehensive compilation of their music. On this end, I'd probably recommend their "Message in a Box", which sums up their entire production and a few B-sides and live tracks in a very nice 4-disc box with a colorful and insightful booklet.

I had the pleasure of seing the Police live four times, each time while they were touring a new album. The shows were incredible, mainly because Sting and the boys were born performers. They really thrived when in front of an audience, more so than when they were in the studio. Personally, I think they reached their peak when touring Zenyatta Mondatta. They had mastered their ska-rock style to perfection. Even though you knew "So Lonely" and "Can't Stand Losing You" were coming up, they were always fresh and different. These CDs give you early Police, touring the first two albums and pre-breakup Police touring their last album. I would be lying if I said they were equal CDs. The first CD is better, much more pure and honest. I am not going to blast the Police for selling out, even though they kind of did. However, the Atlanta concert was jammed full with bandwagon fans that owned exactly one Police album, Synchronicity. Sting tries to draw the loyal crowd responses that he was used to getting from core fans, but they were not there. The boys still put in a good show, but not as good as the Boston gig. To be honest, if you want to hear the greatest recorded Police concert, it was one done in Melbourne Australia in 1981 and recorded by an Aussie station. To this day it is one of the greatest concerts I have ever heard.

It had been discussed for years, and in 1995 (apparently after the success of the rare live recordings found on the 4-disc boxset "Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings") a live album by The Police was released. The album, produced by Andy Summers, is a two-disc set - a very wise move, considering how vastly different the two CDs sound. Disc one is a 1979 performance in Boston that was broadcast over the radio; disc two is a 1983 performance in Atlanta during the "Synchronicity" tour.

It is the concensus of both the fans and the critics that the reason to purchase this set is for the first disc, recorded around the release of "Reggatta de Blanc". I completely disagree. To me, disc one, though more ferocious than disc two, sounds almost off-puttingly pretentious (albeit good-naturedly so). Sting seems to be trying almost too hard, and his ego is put on display more than a few times (in the opening of "Walking on the Moon", he announces, "This is from MY new record."). Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers' performances are quite lacking, and all in all the first disc comes across as being very dull, with the exception of a stellar version of "The Bed's Too Big Without You".

Disc two is my favorite, and definitely the highlight of the album. It was recorded during the peak of the band's popularity, and the material they had to work with was of much greater quality than that which they play on disc one (although many of the songs are repeated). Also, there's something exhilarating about hearing the huge crowd all-out roar during the performances. There are excellent performances of a number of songs, like the fast-paced, energetic opener, "Synchronicity I"; the dreamy bounce of "Tea in the Sahara"; the nasty-sounding and powerful "Don't Stand So Close to Me"; and high-voltage performances of "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely", both of which have some simply exemplary instrumental sections. "Can't Stand Losing You"'s is especially interesting. Prior to the release of "Reggatta de Blanc", the band would burst into a rolling chant during the middle of "Can't Stand Losing You" whenever it was performed live. That section was removed verbatim and recorded as the title track for "Reggatta de Blanc".

Disc two is the exact opposite of disc one. Sting is fine and well aware of the immense power he has over the audience, but his heart is definitely not in his singing, and at times his voice sounds hoarse from a little too much use. On the other hand, Summers and Copeland are just fantastic. Summers' playing is gorgeous and fluctuates between being fierce and being ethereal and moody; Copeland's is fast-paced, tough, and exotic. Still, as others have pointed out, the second disc has its flaws. Chief amongst those are the annoying and completely unnecessary backup singers, who I believe returned for Sting's first solo live recording, 1986's delightful "Bring on the Night". Here, however, they seem to be simply a product of Sting's laziness.

All in all, how much one enjoys "Live!" will depend on whether you're more a fan of the band's more fast-paced, punky material (their earlier work) or their more brilliant, ethereal and new wave stuff (their later work). I am more a fan of the latter, which is perhaps why I loved disc two, but doubt that disc one will ever get much play from myself. I would say that for the Police fan this set is definitely worth purchasing (and by all means, purchase the remastered version; the remastering job is utterly superb), but for anyone else I would highly recommend purchasing their studio albums first.

If you have this album and their box set "Message in a box", then you have everything that The Police have ever put out. There will be no need to buy any of their individual albums. This 2 cd set showcases The Police live in concert .. the first disc in 1979 and the 2nd in 1983. Disc 2 contains all their most popular stuff from the Synchronicity album, so may appeal to fans more than disc one. Also as one other reviewer has stated, Sting's singing is certainly not up to par on disc one, as he does state to the audience that he is suffering from laryngitis, but considering that, it is amazing that he does manage to sing as well as he does. But for real Police fans, and especially those who want everything from this band, then this is a must have. And also I have to rebuke something that a previous reviewer stated, the 1979 concert was not recorded at the Arles Arena in the South of France in August, but at the Orpheum in Boston in November. And to prove that, listen to the end of track three, where Sting says to the audience that "This is the first time I have been to Boston..."

Not bad but not great. Useful to familiarize with the tunes esp. if this group is new to you but no real drive or excitement where they could use it. Synchronicity II pales in comparison to the studio recording. Most of the other tracks are just plain dull. They don't cut loose and let the music rock - I guess the concerts weren't that thrilling either. Makes the cover photo somewhat misleading. My real rating is 2 and 1/2 stars.