Customer Reviews

The Police - LIVE - Ghost in the Machine

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recorded on the "Ghost in Machine" tour of 1982, this performance by the Police is not one of my favorites, but it is still a recording most diehard fans will want to own.

The cinematography leaves a lot to be desired -- particularly if you are a fan of Stewart or Andy as most of the focus is entirely on Sting, and Stewart is generally only shot from a camera behind his drumkit--no front views at all.

The Ghost tour featured the addition of a horn section to the onstage band, a decision that many fans would probably agree was not the best one. While they sound okay on the tracks from Ghost that featured a horn section, they sound very out-of-place when added to songs that never had need of them to begin with, such as "Bed's Too Big Without You." Part of the magic of the Police sound was always that Stewart, Andy and Sting had so much "space" to play within as a trio, so adding more musicians only tends to muddle their sound instead of improve it.

Still, Sting is in a fairly manic mode during this show and some performances definitely kick it up, including "Demolition Man" and "One World (Not Three)."

Yikes! The addition of the horn section to The Police sound was not the best idea Sting ever forced upon Stewart & Andy. I personally prefer the original power trio magic- and I suspect most fans would agree.

The direction is odd... a lot of strange camera angles that are not completely unwelcome, but with most of the 'standard' camera set-ups going unused, you have to wonder what the director was thinking. The coverage of Stewart makes him seem like a hired hand. Honestly, the horn section gets better treatment!

The band is not firing on all cylinders, but if you are a hard core fan like myself... you just have to check it out! The mix is a bit off during the beginning (Sting's Taurus pedals drown out Andy's guitar for a while!) but things level out. I couldn't get the Korean subtitles to turn off, but don't let that stop you. They are only present when Sting speaks in between songs. (Also note that a few parts of this were shown on the old VHS 'From Outlandos to Synchronicities.')

Having said all of this, the good outweighs the bad... but only if you are a die hard fan. You do get to check out 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' with Andy performing the piano part on his guitar. Interesting!

It's hard to find good "Ghost" material out there. This was most likely some kind of pay-per-view special in England, but the band sounds pretty tight. I was never too crazy about the horn section on this tour, but it's certainly interesting.

I was actually at a show from this tour and it seemed a lot better than represented here.

This is cool for a time capsule, and there are some okay performances of some songs, but they're undercut by the bad mix and iffy camera work.

Oh, and then those horns. Thank God THAT idea never took hold after this tour. Eeesh.

The only thing worse than the horns was Sting's foot-synth which he uses on a couple of songs. The effect, in a word: tragic. It sounds more like a car alarm than a good musical idea.

Far, far superior is the Synchronicity concert--buy that.

AND wait for "Police Around the World" to come out on DVD. That is the best document of early Police and has killer performances from all over the world.

Excellent performance, I especially liked how the last song (So Lonely) came out. One of the best live versions I've seen /heard of this song. Although the sound quality is not as good as that of the Synchronicity DVD, overall I think this is a much better performance (at least Sting's voice does not sound hoarse in this one).

The hair, the 80's stage clothes... Sting and The Police rocked the house. This performance captures them at their creative peak, and you can see a little tension between the band members. Complete with backup singers and sax player, Sting and the boys added some textures to their otherwise 3-man arrangements. Definitely a must for any Police fan out there.

This particular Police concert is definitely not the best available by a long shot. However, The Police on an OK/mediocre night are better than most bands on their best. There's a certain mode that Sting gets in (more prevalent during The Police days than in his current solo days) wherein he gets a tad too enthusiastic/angry/something or other and the performance suffers for it. This performance features him in that mode. He makes politcal statements, and even comes out rather emphatically against body mist. Additionally, he has saliva on either side of his mouth throughout the concert which he refuses to wipe off. It's most distracting when trying to enjoy the songs from a visual perspective, if that makes any sense. I'm forced to close my eyes for a good part of the show for that reason, and it's unfortunate.

Now, for the good points. Andy Summers is in fine form, as is Stewart Copeland. Summers' solos are excellent (as are his backing vocals, believe it or not), and some of Copeland's fills are truly exciting and add real punch to the arrangements. Sting's bass playing is very, very good as well, especially in "Demolition Man" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." The horn section employed for this tour proves to be a little awkward in songs like "The Bed's Too Big Without You" and a few others. However, it does add a unique and at times refreshing character to the arrangements, much as did the three female backup singers (including Tessa Niles, an Eric Clapton regular in succeeding years) they would use on the Synchronicity tour a short time later.

Songs like "Hungry For You" and "One World" are good to hear, as they are not regular features on live releases. The DVD is worth it for that reason alone, at least to hardcore fans. It is a good performance, but it does have significant distractions, the Sting saliva being at the top of the list. That being said, I still have to give it four stars because, darn it, these songs played by these musicians are just too good to totally pan because of a little spit, you know?

This DVD is good, but only because the Police have not released anything better. The sound is uneven (to say the least) in spots. For example, during Message in a Bottle, you can barely hear Andy's guitar as the sythns dominate. Also, Stewart Copeland is certainly not shown enough. There are portions of the disc where you can see all of Sting and Andy but only maybe a quick flash of Stewart's hands. You can see more of Stewart on Driven to Tears, but unfortunately, it seems like Stewart may have forgotten how to play the song for the first half of it. However, by the second of half of the song, Stewart really finds his groove, and makes this track probably the highlight of the disc. Unfortunately, the disc really does seem to focus almost exclusively on Sting for a disproportional amount of time. A lot of reviewers have made a big deal over the horns, but they really are not that prominent. There are portions where you cannot turn off the Korean subtitles (during the stage banter), but it is minimal and not very distracting.

First let me tell you that, It's been said that The Police is coming in August to play again in Mexico, but the first time was in 1980 when I saw a concert of The Police Live in the city of Mexico, playing the songs of their then latest album "Zenyatta Mondatta". The gig was a real spontaneous magical moment. Everybody were exited as the songs gone bye with the high driving energy of a ¡trio!: Stewart Copeland, a maravellous rhythmic drummer owner of a great technic; Andy Summers, a creative guitarist who's powerful cool chords where the perfect asset for the band's arrangements; and Gordon Summer (who is known better as "Sting") with an enigmatic personality, amaze for his bass lines that gave good melodies to the Rock Genre.

The big deal about this concert (the Ghost in the machine tour) is that, it is actually a good transitional musical stage for The Police Guys; it's a little strange gig for the way that sting performs in the stage while he's eating a pineapple or playing the taurus pedals out of time in the first track "Message In A Bottle" (the Taurus pedals' idea is good) or the adition of a keyboard next to Andy Summers' side that he almost never played, but overall the music is really fantastic and well played by the band. The horn section is a great asset for the support of the songs, and it's a more natural way to enrich the music of a Rock group. I really prefer to see The Police this way than in the last Atlanta's concert with less Rock and roll feel. I'm not a die hard fan, but at least in this concert their effort is more apreciated in songs like "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Spirits In The Material World" or "Invisible Sun", where we can realize about the difficulty to present and perform overdubbed studio material that It's not the same in a live situation. Great!... By the other side the perform of songs like "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "When The World Is Running Down..." or "The Do Do Do The Da Da Da" are amazing without forget the classic songs of their first and second albums like "Roxanne" or "Walking in the moon". So Good Luck!...

Any serious Police fan should definitely spring for this video. There is not a lot of video available from this tour and you will definitely enjoy it.

At first glance it appears this was a made-for-TV recording, probably broadcast in England at some point, which means the guys in the truck were not great audio mixers. This is very evident early on when Sting's pedals overpower the band to the point of annoyance. It seems that over the course of the show they eventually got the sound corrected and it gets better throughout.

This video will hold a prized spot in my collection. I'm younger than most Police fans, was introduced to them by an older brother, and I started idolizing them while my idiot friends were listening to Motley Crue, Twisted Sister and other 80's hair bands. That wasn't music to me. The first concert I ever saw was The Police on the Ghost in the Machine tour, exactly three weeks to the day after this video was shot, when I was 10 years old. This video features the same set list I saw and will always bring back a cherished memory for me. I didn't get to see them on the Synchronicity tour and I always thought I'd go to my grave never getting to see them perform live again. Fortunately I got to see them on the reunion tour in 2008. Another great memory.

Ghost in the Machine is my favorite Police album and I love the horns on those songs, but I agree with those who say they sound a bit out of place on the others. Oh well, it was a phase the band went through and this video captures that phase! I do remember the horns sounding A LOT better live. Also agree that Sting needs to fire his wardrobe designer. That is some craptastic 80's-ware he's got on and he'll never forgive himself for wearing it if he ever sees this video! Also Sting was practically foaming at the mouth throughout the show (someone said he was eating pineapple during the show to soothe his voice and this was the cause) but damn, wipe that stuff off your face, man!

All in all, you'll find this to be a great show, a great look back in time, even if the recording isn't perfect.