Customer Reviews

Police Academy

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are a diehard Police fan, you are probably already familiar with the story behind this unusual snippet of the band's history. As the Police (at the time with Stewart Copeland, Sting, and Henry Padovani) were struggling to break onto the scene, the chance came to make some extra money helping out Mike Howlett with some demos and a Gong reunion at a concert festival. Henry was not needed for Mike already had a guitarist lined up: Andy Summers. As such this became the first time Sting, Andy, and Stewart performed together, and Andy would soon join the Police, setting the stage for the band's eventual worldwide success.

Therefore the live tracks on this album represent an important historical moment and are fascinating to listen to for that reason. "Three O'Clock Shot" is great as you can hear lyrics and music taking shape that would eventually become part of other Police songs, and it bristles with energy. "Visions of the Night" would later become a Police b-side. Most of the other tracks are Howlett compositions, and the difference is obvious--they aren't bad but they lack the vitality and freshness of the Sting tracks. A demo version of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a wonderful piece, although it feels completely out of place on the album.

Why three stars? Because as a Police fanatic, I want to hear the entire 5/28/77 performance, not just the songs included here. The booklet and notes are sparse, coming only from Mike Howlett's perspective. And while I do recommend this for Police fans, this is not really an album that would be of much interest or great value to anyone else.

This is a must if you are a fan of the Police. The re are a few gems on this cd. Three O'clock Shot had all the trademarks of the early Police tracks and was clearly the inspiration for Be My girl and O My God. Sting's vocals were fantastic on this one. Another highlight was the live version of Electron Romance (a Mike Howlett composition) featuring Sting on the bass. Andy Summers guitar work makes this version stand out. The 1976 version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was a testament to Sting's song writing skills, although the Police version is much more polished, the original shows you how far Sting and the Police had come in a few short years. New World Blues was also a captivating tune. The worst part of this cd was the recording quality otherwise it would get 5 stars.

This album contains previously unreleased tracks from a band that consisted of Gong member Mike Howlett and Sting, Andy Summers and Stuart Copland who later became The Police. The album is a mixture of Sting and Howlett compositions from the mid seventies. For Police fans, this has a song called 3 O'Clock Shot which shares the same intro as Be My Girl. This record also preserves the (hypnotic) first ever recording of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic which Sting composed on a porta-studio in 1976.

Anyone remember Mike Howlett?He was bassist for the band Gong until he left in 1977.Within that same timespan he just happen to bring together an unknown singer (we now) know as Sting together with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers to play on his demo.Strontium 90 was a short lived band but they did manage to perform at a large hippie festival in Paris in May,1977 where the three live tracks on this release was taped,"Three O'Clock Shot","Electron Romance" and "Lady Of Delight".The ONLY Police cut on here you're likely to recognize is "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".The only other decent tunes here are "Visions Of The Night" and "Towers Tumbled" because they do feature Sting's trademark vocals.I was pretty dissapointed with 'Police Academy' mostly for the reason is that it just SEEMS that it could've been so much better.On the upside,however if you happen to be a MAJOR Police nut,you may very well enjoy it.Nice cover,though.

I bought Strontium 90 the first day it was released back in July 1997. After I bought it I was alittle upset the fact that acouple of the LIVE tracks from the Japan import (TOCP-50242) was missing! "New World Blues-LIVE" and "Towers Tumbled-LIVE". A good friend of mine later on sent me those 2 missing tracks. The reason why I say its only Half an album because Mike Howlett should have released the entire LIVE performance and song rehearsals for those tracks and others. It should have been a two cd set. As a die-hard Police fan that would have made every Police Fan Happy! Its also very HARD to find LIVE 1977 Police shows. On May 28th 1977 the Police(Sting & Stewart Copeland) with Andy Summers and Mike Howlett performed LIVE in front of 6,000 Crazy French Hippies!

I have no idea what the LIVE setlist was that night but it should look alittle like this...

1. Visions Of the Night
2. Landlord
3. Lady of Delight
4. New World Blues
5. Towers Tumbled
6. Clouds in Venice
7. 3 O'clock Shot
8. Nothing Achieving
9. Fallout
10. Electron Romance
11. Dead End Job
12. Visions of the Night-Encore


That looks about right for the setlist as I made it up to look like....Mike Howlett did say the entire gig was recorded! Please Mike Howlett release this entire show for all of us Police fans!!! It doesn't matter how rough the sound quality is.

To the point: These are some raw, first recordings of what would later become The Police. You'll notice a lot of lyrics from these songs get changed and end up on other albums. A very nice example is the song 3 O'Clock Shot.... It has the guitar riff from Be My Girl-Sally and the lyrics of Oh My God, a glimpse into Sting's song writing! Another great treat is Sting solo playing a classical guitar and singing Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic with a touch of jazz style. Also, Notice the earliest version on Visions Of The Night. I was very happy to discover this great CD on Amazon.

I am a great and longtime fan of The Police and Sting. This album is my « best » album found in many years. Great to have - excellent to hear the group at the very beginning of their career !

I've been a Sting fan for as long as I can remember. This CD, is about the beginnings of the Police. According to the makers of the CD, this is one of their gigs before becoming The Police. It has them all, Andy, Stewart and Sting. The music is live and it is definately from analong recordings. 'Every Little Thing She Does' is way more mellow. It almost sounds like they are singing preschoolers to sleep. But still if you are into Sting and the Police, I'd buy it. It shows their origin and the music is still great.

This CD is a must for fans of the Police or Sting. It has all the energy of their early albums, especially the songs New World Blues and 3 O'Clock Shot(which has the same intro as Be My Girl and some of the lyrics of Oh My God... why didn't the Police record this one! It is better that both those songs combined!) It also has the beautiful first recording of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because some of the songs and vocals by Mike Howlett are a bit weak and the last two live tracks are pretty rough. But all in all, I recommend it!