tracks on LP: Message In A Bottle | Reggatta de Blanc | It’s Alright For You | Bring On The Night | Deathwish | Walking On The Moon | On Any Other Day | The Bed’s Too Big Without You | Contact | Does Everyone Stare | No Time This Time
Record label: A&M AMLH 64792
Released: 05/10/79
Borrowed: 08/12/81 (Stephen Winter)
The Police | Reggatta de Blanc | (A&M) 1979 | IF people weren’t so busy establishing joyless divisions of rock aceptability, creating slums of fashion and credibility, then people wouldn’t hesitate to acknowledge that The Police are a great pop singles band.
‘Reggetta de Blanc’ clarifies their position with considerably more emphasis than their debut, ‘Outlandos d’Amour’. The most significant differences are that the second LP exploits their hits, shifts control from three to two of the group (at times developing into a duel between Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland), and perhaps because of this, often strips away the affectations of the most distinctive aspects of their style, revealing a mentality engrossed with ’60s rock ‘n roll.
Not that it makes The Police any less enjoyable, only that their brilliance is erratic over the length of an album, their ‘uniqueness’ superficial and very much dependent on vocalist/bassist/image/hitmaker Sting. But his talent lies in the charisma of that dry, strained voice and his luck in occasionally concocting a pop melody and hooking that ‘original’ sound — original if only because its origin is buried too deeply in peoples’ subconciousness to identify.
Ironically, very little of Sting’s personality managed to find its way into this (or the previous) album, whereas Stewart Copeland – obviously intent on stating some kind of jelly-bellied Police democracy – injects his own idiocy into it. Two of his three songs (“On Any Other Day” and “Does Everybody Stare”) are unfunny attempts at humour: the first a litany of domestic melodramas that could have been Soap out-takes; the second a contrived story of a misfit.
The Police | Reggatta de Blanc | (A&M) 1979
Copeland’s increasing dominance only shifts the power axis to the detriment of the band. His material stomps through the rudiments of traditional rock: a complete antipathy to what their best music suggests. Nevertheless he is still an integral Police-man because his joint compositions— “Deathwish”, based one a Bo Diddley beat, and “It’s Alright For You”, a pure ’50s/’60s headshaker —expose similar roots and fascinations. And whenever guitarist Andy Summers appears (rarely) by-gone techniques of shrill harmonics, sweat screaming and a mousey scratchiness are revived. Sting’s bass also delves into past phrasebooks, to extent that his lines on “No Time This Time” are straight from the old pop hit ‘Judy to Disguise’.
Lyrically there are similar traits, a lack of depth, freshness and insight. There isn’t anything as excellent as ‘Roxanne’ on this LP, and even ‘The Bed’s Too Big Without You’ — a companion piece to “Can’t Stand Losing You” — is merely a lame expression of remorse, whereas ‘Losing You’ was a gem of snubbed petulance.
The Police | Reggatta de Blanc | (A&M) 1979
Although Police music hardly withstands a critical stripping down, together the parts create great atmosphere. ‘Message In A Bottle’ you know about; ‘Deathwish’, a motoring madness song, succeeds because of its construction, the way two different rhythms are juxtaposed to create the impression of speed; ‘Bring On The Night’ and ‘Walking On The Moon’ are familiar Poice style, a mixture of dub, pop and rock.
Brought to you by the same team that made ‘Outlandos’, including a very similar sleeve design, the important development is that they know the potential of this LP, while nobody really understood what they had with the debut. Asa result the stylistic distinctiveness — Sting’s reggae voice, the dub rhythms — are louder and more forced an investment.
But if things continue the way they are then by the next album The Police will either be a rock roll revival band or Sting will have become a pitiful parody. Summers may have left. For all this, they can be an exciting band and, ‘Message’, there are another two great ‘singles’ on this album. Oh Yeah, Police please me. (NME, 29/09/79)
IF THERE is to be a face of ’79, it has to be Sting’s: not only has he starred in the most talked about film of the year, the trend – enhancing ‘Quadrophenia’, but he also fronts the band which has become the most successful new outfit on either side of the Atlantic.
Now, atter a series of three hit singles, the latest of which has hit the Top 10 with a bullet, comes the follow-up to the highly-acclaimed ‘Outlandos D’ Amour’ debut.
Here we have a powerhouse rock trio which increasingly summons the American market and inevitably, makes itself anonymous in the process.
Following on after the single ‘Message In A Bottle’, there’s the mis-spelt title track, a semi-enjoyable Santana-style instrumental romp, adequately guitar – fired and complete with shouting and pointing.
The next couple of numbers maintain the pace, ‘Bring On The Night’ dove-tailing into a reggae-matic cruise with atmospheric bass drum from Copeland, feedback and more of Sting’s trade-marked high-pitched plaintive whine.
But unbelievably, there’s no track of real substance on the side, with ‘Deathwish’ again showing a dearth of instrumental talent thinly spread over a well-worn series of tried and trusted riffs. Thus far, a profound lack of imagination and, whatever happened to that noble art of song-writing?
The Police | Reggatta de Blanc | (A&M) 1979
Overleaf there’s a continuation of the tactic of trying to make a little go a long way. ‘Walking On The Moon’ and ‘The Bed’s Too Big Without You’ are both based on good ideas which go no further than their titles.
Although the dub-style mix of ‘Bed’ makes it a good deal more interesting than most of its predecessors, it is Copeland’s ‘On Any Other Day’ which really bounces along with life and zest, its faster, flippant feel doing much to defuse the superficial tension aroused by the undernourished Sting compositions.
The drummer’s ‘Contact’ Is another warm, congenial number, boasting the first half-way decent lyrics of the album, though finishing too soon before the record’s two unprepossessing swan-songs. ‘Does Everyone Stare’ sounds like an Alan Price ‘Jarrow Song’ type novelty, while ‘No Time This Time’ is no more than a book-end.
So, an altogether disappointing successor to the almighty ‘Outlandos’ — no soulful ‘Roxanne’, no inspired ‘So Lonely’, plenty to take down in evidence against them. Next time they’re gonna have to do better. ++ (Record Mirror, 29/09/79)
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