ALBUMS: Synchronicity
MVC RATING: 4.0/$$$
This was supposed to be done, alphabetically, a dozen or so posts ago. But given the state of my record collection, it didn’t surprise me that I missed it. Records strewn here and there, flying discs to avoid, vinyl in wrong jackets. About what I expected would happen as I near the end of this 678-record countdown.
But it gives me a chance to compare back to back Sting’s solo LP and the Police band’s ultimate recording: Synchronicity has more energy for sure.
But not sure I can get down with the Captain Beefheart caterwauling on a chunk of side 1. It’s funny that on the same album, the Police put out the most popular, melodic, and lyrical song of virtually all time — Every Breath You Take — alongside its most experimental.
Side 2, on the other hand, is the Police at their best. Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain and Tea in Sahara are good if not great songs in the Police reggae-tinged style.
So, except for the Ice-Cream-for-Crow shenanigans on Side 1, we have a fine album. (Although Tea in the Sahara foreshadows, the somber Sting solo album, which I pointed out in that review can be tedious.)