The Police - Synchronicity (1983, A&M Records); A Great Album Deserves and Gets a Great Anniversary Box Set

 

Courtesy of The Police

Listening to Synchronicity by The Police from their newly released 40th anniversary box set, I was immediately struck by how excellent this album was, and still is. The first CD in the box contains the original remastered album plus the B-side, "Murder By Numbers," that arguably should have been on the original LP. The great songs come at you one after another and they're almost as familiar to fans as the Beatles catalog. For example, just look at the lineup of songs from Side 2: "Every Breath You Take" is followed by "King Of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger,"  and "Tea In The Sahara." With all but two songs on Synchronicity credited only to Sting, any consideration of Sting's best work should include this album alongside his solo work. 

Synchronicity was the fifth and final album released by The Police before the three principle musicians went their separate ways. For the purpose of this article, I am talking about the 6 CD version of Synchronicity 40 - Super Deluxe Box Set. There are a number of other iterations of the box set either on CD or vinyl. See The Police website or your retailer of choice for the full details. 

CDs 2, 3 and 4 offer a veritable treasure trove of rarities including B-sides, unused tracks, alternate takes, outtakes and demos. I used to be all about unreleased bonus tracks, but these days I am of the mind that I only need to hear them once or twice and I'm good. What I consider the main attraction is what's offered on CDs 5 and 6. And that is a live concert recorded on September 10, 1983 at the Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, California. The set list from this show not only includes the great songs from Synchronicity, but also Police favorites from all through their career. The tight nineteen song set plays almost like a live greatest hits, and I would say that it alone is worth the price of admission. If they made an iteration that just contained CDs 1, 5 and 6, I'd buy it in a minute. As it is, this deluxe set comes with an elaborate book and all sorts of Police ephemera. 

Synchronicity was a huge success with sales totaling over 15 million copies. The single, "Every Breath You Take," was similarly successful, with Spotify currently showing over 2 billion streams. In 1983, having a hit single with a video running in high rotation on MTV was a very big deal indeed. You can watch that video below, but remember that Sting used to warn audiences that this was not a love song and that people shouldn't play it at their weddings. 

Watch the original MTV video of "Every Breath You Take" (1983):

1983 LP Release



40th Anniversary Releases 

A 2CD Deluxe reissue will also be available, featuring the same track list as detailed on CD1 and CD2 of the boxset above.

The reissue will also be available as a Digital Box Set, available on all DSPs and will mirror the 6CD track list above.

4LP Super Deluxe Edition (Limited Edition)

2LP Deluxe (Coloured Double Vinyl, D2C Exclusive) 

1LP Picture Disc (Alternate Sequence, Limited Edition)

  • Artwork CD
  • Artwork Picture Disc
  • Packshot 2CD
  • Packshot 2LP
  • Packshot 4LP
  • Packshot 2CD


CD Running Order (via The Police Website):

CD1 is the original album including ‘Murder By Numbers’, all remastered directly from the original source tapes

CD2 features 18 tracks containing all original 7” / 12” B-sides plus 11 exclusive non-album bonus tracks, available on CD for the first time

CD3 and CD4 contains previously unreleased alternate takes of all the Synchronicity songs

CD4 also features unreleased Police songs including an early version of Andy Summers’ 1982 track ‘Goodbye Tomorrow’ (later renamed ‘Someone To Talk To’); a demo of a Stewart Copeland penned song ‘I’m Blind’ which later resurfaced as the renamed ‘Brothers on Wheels’ for Copeland’s acclaimed soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Rumblefish’; an unreleased first take of ‘Truth Hits Everybody’ (originally from the 1978 debut Outlandos d’Amour’); and rare covers of the Eddie Cochran song ‘Three Steps To Heaven’ and ‘Rock and Roll Music’ by Chuck Berry

CD5 and CD6 features 19 live recordings – all previously unreleased – captured on 10th September 1983 at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, USA

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