Reggatta de Blanc

The Police

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GDJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #144,705 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of their best, seriously, very seriously indeed, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

'Ahhh, Grasshopper. The record cover is indeed a strange and misnamed thing: for verily it reveals more than it covers.' That's what my old Shaolin master used to say back at the monastery, and boy was he right. You only have to glance at the unsmiling faces of Messrs. Sumner, Summers and Copeland (shot in equally serious black-and-white) to realise that the contents of 'Regatta de Blanc' are going to be neither bright nor breezy.

The radio-friendly opener 'Message in a Bottle' throws you off for a while, but thankfully it's mainly pessimism from there on in. The core of this album is brilliant, dark songs like 'Bring on the Night', 'Does Everyone Stare', 'Deathwish', 'Contact' and 'The Bed's Too Big Without You'. The playing is sparse and Sting's voice as subdued as the music. Sandwiched around these are the classic 'Walking on the Moon, the goofy 'On Any Other Day' (which I quite like, but no-one else this side of Betelgeuse cares for) and the unremarkable 'It's Alright For You' and 'No Time This Time'. The title track is musically interesting and has the merit of not having too many lyrics to memorise (sing along, now: 'ee-yoh, ee-yeh, ee-yeh-yoh').

Mind you, even my old Shaolin monk couldn't tell me what the hell the album's title means (not to mention 'Zenyatta Mondatta' or 'Outlandos D'Amour'). I can just see it now on Letterman: 'TOP TEN REJECTED NAMES FOR THE POLICE'S FIRST THREE ALBUMS. No. 10: Achtung Der Chihuahua... No. 9: Eau d'Tourette... Anyway, this is an album that I feel deserves a wider audience (and maybe even an Amazon.com review?)

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their 2nd Best Album! One of My All-Time Favourites!, February 11, 2006

By	Frederick Baptist (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Reggatta De Blanc [Digipak] (Audio CD)

This digipak version of this great album is a real treat because they did a great job remastering this. The sound quality is very good and seems to have given the whole album a whole new lease of life; it's almost as if I'm listening to this for the first time.

Although many people like "Synchronicity" and probably first started being Police fans after that album, I was a fan from the early days when I first heard "Don't Stand So Close To Me" from the "Zenyatta Mondatta" album. The sounds I heard just blew me away; the uniqueness of the music and the fact that the band, almost zen-like, used like the Eastern artists do, no sound or silence as an important part of their music.

If you look at Eastern, Chinese or Japanese art, the space that is not painted on is just as important as the part that is painted. One could "over-paint" and destroy what would have been a great piece of art. Similarly in the music of the Police, you'll notice that the space or the parts without any music allows the tracks to breathe and the "spaci-ness" actually is a Police trademark and works very well for them; too many notes and it just wouldn't work.

Perfect examples of this are on "Walking On the Moon" and "The Bed's Too Big Without You." Contrast this with the more "busy" tracks like "Message In a Bottle" and "No Time This Time" and you'll see what I mean about like fine wine, letting the music breathe to attain maximum aural effect and The Police were masters at doing this.

From an overall great complete, coherent, flowing album perspective, this album is second only to "Zenyatta Mondatta" but miles ahead of "Synchronicity" which had great singles but sounds very disjointed as an overall album and truth be told had some pissed poor tracks like "Mother" and "Synchronicity 1" and if ever an album would have been better off with one less track, that one was it as "Murder By Numbers" although a great track on its own, should never have been on the album.

No weak tracks on this baby, though and given the great digipak packaging and the great remastered sound, this is the version that you should get. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Their best next to Zenyatta Mondatta (4.5 stars), October 19, 2006

By	John Alapick (Wilkes-Barre, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Reggatta De Blanc [Digipak] (Audio CD)

Although The Police's second album, Reggatta De Blanc, doesn't receive the recognition of their other albums, it is a very underrated release and their best album next to Zenyatta Mondatta. Sting's tenor and bass playing were in fine form, Stewart Copeland's drumming continued to be very creative, and Andy Summers' distinctive guitar work was more upfront than on their future releases. Even though none of the songs hit the U.S. Top 40, the melodic "Message in a Bottle" and the sparse "Walking on the Moon" have now become timeless classics and continue to receive steady rotation on classic rock radio. While these songs are top notch, several tracks like the power-pop of "It's Alright for You", the solemn piano-driven "Does Everyone Stare", and the driving instrumental title track are just as good. In fact, the best track on the album is the seldom played melancholy love song "The Bed's Too Big Without You." Other strong tracks include the reggae tracks "Deathwish" and "Bring on the Night", the frantic rocker "No Time This Time", and the humorous "On Any Other Day", which is the only Police track to feature a lead vocal from Copeland. All told, Reggatta De Blanc is a great album that would pave the way for the Police to become international superstars. Highly recommended.