For all those unaware, The Police’s Greatest Hits has just been reissued on vinyl in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original release. Remastered at Abbey Road and cut at ‘half-speed’ for ultimate sound quality, the set contains two heavyweight black LPs with expanded artwork and packaging in a bespoke gatefold sleeve, which enhances the original artwork.

A multi-platinum selling global smash on CD, it was originally released in 1992 and with only a limited run of vinyl originally made available, it became a much sought-after set amongst fans, whilst the CD version simultaneously proved to be the perfect introduction to one of the most unique bands of all time.

The definitive compilation of The Police, remastered at Abbey Road Studios, features 16 tracks, eight U.S. Top 20 hits, 14 U.K. Top 20 hits and five U.K. number one singles including “Message In A Bottle,” “Walking On The Moon,” “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” and “Every Breath You Take,” which also hit No. 1 in the U.S.

The Police are one of the best-selling bands of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide. A dynamic three-piece comprising of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion), the trio is one of the most iconic bands to emerge from the original British ‘new wave’ of the late 1970s.

They became a global touring phenomenon throughout the early 1980s and are a multi-award winning group with two Brit Awards, six Grammys® and an MTV Video Music Award to date. In 2003, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Side A:
1. Roxanne
2. Can’t Stand Losing You
3. So Lonely
4. Message In A Bottle

Firstly, I defy you not to put this album on and track after track sing along and even flash yourself back to the exact time in life when you were originally enjoying each and every one of these gems of musical history!

The first side of this luxurious double vinyl set opens on a song about a man who falls in love with a prostitute, and which was also their first major-label release (no, I don’t count the indie released Fall Out the year before), Roxanne, and then brings us the impassioned Can’t Stand Losing You (about a teenager who commits suicide when he loses his girlfriend), the sardonic broken-heart song So Lonely, rounding out on a song about a guy stranded on a remote island, the infamous Message In A Bottle.

Side B:
5. Walking On The Moon
6. The Bed’s Too Big Without You
7. Don’t Stand So Close To Me
8. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

Flipping the first vinyl over, and next up is, for me, about taking giant risks whilst walking on thin ice, the pop-hop rhythm of Walking On The Moon, then comes the moody, yet graceful reggae-hued The Bed’s Too Big Without You, Don’t Stand So Close To Me (about teacher who lusts after one of his students), with the second side closing on De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da; an articulate song about being inarticulate, it is about the way politicians, priests, entertainers, and others in power use words to manipulate people.

Side C:
1. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
2. Invisible Sun
3. Spirits In The Material World
4. Synchronicity II

Swapping the vinyl over on the turntable, up first on the third side is about someone who has trouble professing his love for a woman, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and that is followed by the wholly underrated Invisible Sun (a song about the violence and turmoil in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s), and then comes a song based on the writings of Hungarian author and philosopher Arthur Koestler, the ethereal Spirits In The Material World, the third side rounding out on the absolute apocalyptic-tinged belter Synchronicity II (a term Psychologist Carl Jung created related to the theory that even seemingly coincidental events are connected through their meaning).

Side D:
5. Every Breath You Take
6. King Of Pain
7. Wrapped Around Your Finger
8. Tea In The Sahara

Flipping the second vinyl over, first out the speakers is the number one song of 1983, the stalkerish Every Breath You Take and that is backed by a track Sting wrote at a very low point in his life, both personally and professionally, and thus her called himself the King Of Pain, and that is followed by a song about about being under the control of another person, Wrapped Around Your Finger, the fourth, and final of this magnificently remastered set coming to a close on the under-looked Tea In The Sahara (named after a chapter in the book The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles).

Recording only five studio albums (four of which made Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time), the band also produced an extraordinary number of commercial successes and critically-acclaimed hit singles. Their astonishing musical range and skillful musicianship, paired with Sting’s astute lyrics, successfully mixed punk, reggae, jazz and rock influences into a melting pot of ingenious songs that still stand the test of time today.

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