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Product Details
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Track Listings
| 1. Synchronicity |
| 2. Walking In Your Footsteps |
| 3. O My God |
| 4. Mother |
| 5. Miss Gradenko |
| 6. Synchronicity II |
| 7. Every Breath You Take |
| 8. King Of Pain |
| 9. Wrapped Around Your Finger |
| 10. Tea In The Sahara |
| 11. Murder By Numbers |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Synchronicity is the last full-length studio recording from the Police, the final evolution of their sound, and the album that yielded their greatest success. It is a brilliant pop record, but it's something more, as well. The singles, particularly "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Wrapped Around Your Finger," while pure gems by themselves, are an integral part of the album's musical and lyrical texture. As the title indicates, the album's intellectual content is inspired by C.G. Jung's psychosocial connecting principle and it manifests lyrically in some of the most evocative imagery Sting has ever created. Musically, the band defines a sonic space with arrangements that are often spare to the point of transparency. The songs are constructed from delicate arpeggios and eerie washes of guitar, sinuous keyboard lines, solid, repetitive bass figures, and the signature Stewart Copeland drum sound, all topped by Sting's voice moving through a wide range of pitch and sentiment. Synchronicity is a collection that creates and sustains a mood in the sensitive listener, a feeling that remains after the last note has died away. A benchmark album from a tremendously influential band, it will stand the test of time as a genuine classic. --Al Massa
Product Description
Track Listings
1. Synchronicity
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II
7. Every Breath You Take
8. King Of Pain
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Tea In The Sahara
11. Murder By Numbers
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
How do I rate Synchronicity? I'd have to put it in perspective with the other 1,999 cds I've collected over the years. I have all 5 Police cds as combined on their Message in a Box set. I have all 6 Sting solo cds. It's Synchronicity that I keep coming back to. It's 17 years old now and I was just 10 1/2 when it came out. At the time I hated "Every Breath You Take" and "King of Pain", but what does a ten year old know! As I matured, I began to understand what Sting was saying. This is one of those rare albums where music and lyric combine and compliment each other. Psychologically this album never becomes dated or out of touch. It's as tough a disc as Peter Gabriel's 1992 cd "Us" or Jane Siberry's 1993 cd "When I Was a Boy." All 11 tracks on Synchronicity deal with the theme of love and relationships. The metaphorical take on nuclear war in "Walking in Your Footsteps", the mother-son emotional damage playing itself out in future relationships in "Mother", the stress of working and having a family leading to emtional turmoil on "Synchronicity II", the obsessiveness of stalking a loved one on "Every Breath You Take", the isolation and pain of being in a relationship on "King of Pain" and the psychological/emotional damage of the games we play in relationships on "Wrapped Around Your Finger." Few popular albums have ever achieved such depth in lyric and richness in sound as the Police did on Synchronicity. It's digitally remastered too to bring forth all the best elements of this disc. To be fair, all Police albums are at least good. Synchronicity avoids the repetitiveness of their first 3 discs and takes a step further than Ghost in the Machine. Sting as a solo artist hasn't been this lyrically provoking. The closest he's come is on 1991's Soul Cages disc in which the music kind of fell short. Synchronicity is a disc that our grandchildren will know about like Led Zeppelin's IV or Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Definitely worth having in your cd collection.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Bias - Synchronicity was the first rock album I ever received (alongside of VH 1984) and it blew me away then, as it still does now.
The biggest thing that hit me - after purchasing the CD years after I lost the tape - is how well the production fits the music. Everything is so lush, its like stepping into infinite sonic space while bumping into pieces of sound floating all around you. The depth of this album is amazing. It, like Peter Gabriel's _Security_, was made for CD.
The songs - To me the only throwaway is "Murder by Numbers" - the definitive version of that song was done by Zappa on the "Broadway the Hard Way" (with Sting at the helm, of course). I think Summers is too clean and sloppy for this song to work. I love the arpeggiated riffing by Summers on "Miss Gradenko", and I must be the one person that loves the swirling, arabesque "Mother" - primarily because when you break down the music, its turns out to be a very cleverly disguised 12-bar blues riff! Such is the majesty of this album.
The best songs for your hi-fi have to be "Walking in Your Footsteps" and "Synchronicity II". The former sparkles and tantalizes with strange percussive synth noises (why does everything on this album sound so different from every synth-pop band of the same time frame? Its still modern after almost 15 years). The latter, a grungy, daring escape into pure musical darkness, is the best performance of the Police's - and especially Andy Summers' - careers. The feedback "guitar solo" and the ripping 16-th note solo that fades in at the end of this track are utterly gripping.
The best part about this album though, if you are a gloomy gus like me, is the lyrical work by Sting. The images in "King of Pain" stick with you long after the music leaves your mind - "A skeleton choking on a crust of bread" is my favorite. You don't have to be some erudite Jungian analyst to appreciate the sense of lyrical foreboding in "Synchronicity II" - the polemic dedicated/dessicating the the suburbanite animal is bitter and acidic in its exactness and realism. What does old Nessie have to do with Dad and Grandmother screaming at the wall? I don't know, I still don't know, but the song still sends a shiver up my spine 15 years after I first heard it.
Its a bona fide classic, like Zeppelin IV. Unlike that album though, repetitive play and ultimately time doesn't diminish its power. If you love music you simply must own this album. It is the definitive rock statement of the 80s, and one of the best rock albums ever made.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Police don't need any introduction and I doubt this album does either. I had it on (very worn) vinyl for years but finally decided to upgrade to CD. In light of their recent announcement of a reunion tour, it may not be long before this becomes harder to find and/or more expensive than it is at the moment. It's great rock music delivered in the way only The Police know how but it's also classic 80s pop.
My favourite tunes are "Every Breath You Take", "Synchronicity II" (I absolutely loved the video!), "Tea In The Sahara" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" but it's a great CD all round. Even back then, it was easy to see that Sting would become the megastar that he eventually did. I hope the reunion works out. I'd pay good money to see these guys play live.
My favourite tunes are "Every Breath You Take", "Synchronicity II" (I absolutely loved the video!), "Tea In The Sahara" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" but it's a great CD all round. Even back then, it was easy to see that Sting would become the megastar that he eventually did. I hope the reunion works out. I'd pay good money to see these guys play live.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Still the best rock album of 1983 nearly 30 years on
The Police's fifth (and final) studio album Synchronicity was released in June of 1983.
Following the success of 1981's Ghost in the Machine, the pressure was on The Police to... Read more
Following the success of 1981's Ghost in the Machine, the pressure was on The Police to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Terrence J. Reardon
Murder By Numbers, No. 11
Police- Synchronicity. That big hit, that Song of the Year, "Every Breathe You Take." Don't get it twisted. It's not the ONLY highlight on this album. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Dequan Waters
Asynchronous
I am not sure if Synchronicity represents the Police's best work, but I will say that the last 6 songs on this album are some of their best: "Synchronicity II"; "Every Breath You... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Eugene Axe
The Music Holds Up Really Well - going on 30 Years
Synchronicity was inescapable in 1983 if you listened to the radio more than 15 minutes a week, especially "Every Breath You Take", which was probably the most over-played song in... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Glenn Gallagher
Most ambitious but least consistent Police album
'Synchronicity' continues the trends of 'Ghost In The Machine', both good and bad. It is more lyrically and musically ambitious than its predecessor, with an even greater emphasis... Read more
Published on December 27, 2009 by H. Jin
Great CD, better on SACD than ever, great to actually Hear it
another great example of why SACD sounds so good. I know almost all these
songs but never been able to hear the this clarity.
Stand out tracks.. Read more
songs but never been able to hear the this clarity.
Stand out tracks.. Read more
Published on January 26, 2009 by K. C Wilson
Brilliance by numbers
A fitting culmination for one of pop-rocks biggest triple threats, Syonchronicity seldom suffers from filler and portrays the group at their diverse and sophisticated best. Read more
Published on January 1, 2009 by IRate
Brilliance
Dark, painful, angry music here. And lyrics that match the mood, attached to the most brilliant melodies Sting ever strung together on one LP. Read more
Published on September 8, 2008 by Billy O
Howay the Lad
In the late 70's, early 80's, there was a monstrous black hole, completely devoid of talent, from which, every two years or so, 3 hit singles and a No. Read more
Published on April 5, 2008 by Paul Ess.
A Milestone Of The 1980's
This album is not only an important artistic step ahead for The Police but also for the time period in general. Read more
Published on March 6, 2008 by Andre S. Grindle
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