The Police: Sting (vocals, keyboards, bass); Andy Summers (guitar); Stewart Copeland (drums).

Additional personnel: Jean Roussel (keyboards).

Recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat.

In the wake of ZENYATTA MONDATTA's massive success, the Police edged even further away from their earlier reggae leanings, but instead of moving into the mainstream, they continued experimenting with sophisticated textures and exotic rhythms. Sure, there's the archetypal hummable pop hit, which Sting manages to throw in with virtually every album (here it's the romantic, frothy "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,") but there's more darkness here, both musical and lyrical, than on any previous Police recording.

Sting picks up on the social-consciousness thread of ZENYATTA's "Driven to Tears" on several tunes here. From the bleak "Invisible Sun" to the rage-against-the-machine sentiments of "Too Much Information and "Rehumanize Yourself," the lyrics speak of the soul's inability to keep pace with advancing technology and all its pitfalls. It's not all gloom and doom, though, as the propulsive, funky "Demolition Man" and "Hungry for You" attest.

What the critics say...

Q (6/00, p.63) - Ranked #76 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...This is The Police at their peak...[with] their best pop songwriting and complex, often strange, muso rock....offering a smorgasbord of musical treats."
CMJ (1/5/04, p.10) - Ranked #7 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982".