In Praise Of...The Police "Regatta De Blanc"

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"Roxanne" or not, the first album was miserable. They couldn't even be bothered to finish their songs. But here, for their second album, they got it delightfully right. "White reggae" indeed.

http://www.ondarock.it/pietremiliari/cover/regatta.jpg

― There's a Tipsy Ghost on the edge of my couch (Bimble...), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Also, doesn't the guitar part sound like George Harrison midway through?

― There's a Tipsy Ghost on the edge of my couch (Bimble...), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:21 (eighteen years ago) link

"It's Alright For You", I mean.

― There's a Tipsy Ghost on the edge of my couch (Bimble...), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:21 (eighteen years ago) link

I just think both First and Second albums are great. I agree the songs on the first albums were a bit weird but always like the more Punk side of The Police.

But Still, Regatta de Blanc is a great album.

― Voodoo Child, Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:24 (eighteen years ago) link

Uh-huh, yup, count me in. New Wave space-punk-reggae classic.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:37 (eighteen years ago) link

TS: "Message In A Bottle" vs. "Don't Fear The Reaper"

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:43 (eighteen years ago) link

ee-YO-ee-YO-ee-YO-YO
ee-YO-ee-YO-ee-YO-YO
ee-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YAY-YO-ee-YAY-YO
ee-YAY-YO-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-ee-YAY
ee-YAY-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-ee-YAY-YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Bring on the Night + Walking on the Moon. The Finest.

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Saturday, 24 September 2005 05:58 (eighteen years ago) link

By far their best album.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Saturday, 24 September 2005 11:46 (eighteen years ago) link

I can't enjoy the goofy Copeland tracks in any way. For that one reason, I always find myself skipping through most of the album. Sting's tracks are so far superior, and it is a shame that he ever had to defer to a former prog rock drummer who thought he was a punk. Even more so than the first album, it is this one that I feel is half baked.
And I will never comprehend why it is the subsequent album that so many fans and reviewers felt was lesser, cause it was on Zenyatta Mondatta that Sting finally revealed his capability at composing intelligent pop classics.

― baht habit, Saturday, 24 September 2005 11:58 (eighteen years ago) link

more like STING MASTURBATING TO BLACK HOES

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!, Saturday, 24 September 2005 12:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Praise, praise

― blunt (blunt), Saturday, 24 September 2005 12:34 (eighteen years ago) link

My favorite album of theirs by far, notably for "No Time This Time" and "Does Everyone Stare?".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 24 September 2005 12:38 (eighteen years ago) link

Thank you, ILX, for reminding me how classic this album is. "No Time This Time" and "It's Alright for you" should be canonical Police tracks (in place of "Spirits in the Material World" and ... um, I was about to delete "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" but I do love that business about the umbrella.

― Guayaquil (eephus), Saturday, 24 September 2005 13:01 (eighteen years ago) link

"Deathwish"!

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 24 September 2005 14:27 (eighteen years ago) link

The Police have no bad albums, which is why their boxed set is my favorite Police album.

But if I had to choose one individually, for me I think it's nearly a tie between this album and Synchronicity for my favorite, but Regatta de Blanc come out slightly on top simply due to its underexposure in comparison.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Saturday, 24 September 2005 21:09 (eighteen years ago) link

I tie this one with Ghost In The Machine. The Police are my first musical love.
That came out wrong but remains true.

― blunt (blunt), Sunday, 25 September 2005 00:34 (eighteen years ago) link

I love Synchronicity, but don't listen to it very often. Haven't tried Ghost...and I fear Zenyatta Mondatta (dee doo doo do de dah dah dah? Come on! And as if I haven't heard Don't Stand So Close To Me 50 billion times already!)

― Bimble The Nimble, Jumped Over A Thimble! (Bimble...), Sunday, 25 September 2005 06:21 (eighteen years ago) link

oh man, don't fear ZM. There is much more to it than just the two hit singles....Driven To Tears kicks ass, When The World Is Running Down You Make The Best Of What's Still Around just flat out grooves (even my most punkass indie pal is forced to admit that when that one comes on the radio in the car, the windows come down, the system comes up and the ride is then made ideal...), Voices Inside My Head is a funk jam that is relentless, as is the cool as cool can be of slow jam Shadows In The Rain, Canary In A Coal Mine is great upbeat ska influenced fun, and the two singles even sound stellar when surrounded by this great fun...so don't fear,....one should never fear.

And do not fear Ghosts and Spirits as well ... Heh Heh

― baht habit, Sunday, 25 September 2005 10:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Truth be told, Andy Summers sucks. But his guitar tone makes the band -- esp. on Zenyatta...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 25 September 2005 14:09 (eighteen years ago) link

Andy without the Police is just kind of gormy shapeless wuzz, but with the Police he gives the music space and dimension. If you think in the end that the best thing about them is how they sound, and I do think that, then Andy's a big part of it.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 25 September 2005 14:40 (eighteen years ago) link

this is a good record, but I think the first is underrated

― Dominique (dleone), Sunday, 25 September 2005 17:21 (eighteen years ago) link

Summers has done some great recordings of late. His last cd Earth + Sky was better than most of the crap that was released in 2003 (and that definitely includes Sting's Sacred Love). I would hardly describe his compositions as shapeless. Perhaps Summers'music is a little too demanding for certain ears to appreciate. Perhaps it is more appropriate for you to make the claim that it is beyond your comprehension. But be sure to keep that "gormy shapeless wuzz" description for the simple shit that so many of you keep touting as a reason to love music.

― baht habit, Sunday, 25 September 2005 18:02 (eighteen years ago) link

haha, easy hoss. I was mostly talking about his stuff from the '80s with Fripp, which is all the solo Summers I ever bothered with, excepting a few soundtrack bits here and there. And which I actually don't mind, gormy and shapeless though they are. He's a skilled fella, and I can believe he's done good work of a certain kind, I just prefer him yoked to the short muscley songforms of the Police, is all.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 25 September 2005 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,590 for "my power is beyond your understanding". (0.11 seconds)

http://www.he-man.org/cartoon/cmotu-pop/universe/skeletor-battle-axe-b.jpg

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:25 (eighteen years ago) link

nine months pass...

I just got this recently, curiousity just overcoming my conviction that Outlandos was probably the only record of theirs worth having. I made the right choice - this is a good record, and even if it never quite gets around to kicking ass on the level of its predecessor (there's no "Truth Hits Everybody" or "Next To You"), it also avoids dipping into the incredible lows of "Born in the 50s," which makes it much easier to put on as a listening experience. And I come at the Police as a Klark Kent fan, so the inclusion of a Copeland song is a delight - not to mention "Contact," which sounds like Sting trying to do a Copeland impression. That's fun. My thoughts on Message in a Bottle being better documented on its own private thread, I'll close by saying that now I'm vaguely curious to check out Zenyatta Mondatta, so I fear I'm being converted one album at a time...

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:50 (seventeen years ago) link

My band started working on a cover of "Message In A Bottle" last night. So so so so classic.

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:55 (seventeen years ago) link

SENDING OUT AN ESS OHhhH ESSS... yeah, it's great. It's amazing how much flak it gets on that TS thread, but I'll grant that "Don't Fear The Reaper" is pretty brutal competition. I hope your band will use my dad's "broke my nose" lyrical variation!

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 14:07 (seventeen years ago) link

i put on Zenyatta Mondatta this weekend thinking i HATED the police and realized i couldn't stop listening to "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around" & "Voices Inside My Head". i musta had them on repeat for a few hours.

― MUCHO MACHO (jaxon), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 15:50 (seventeen years ago) link

You guys are right on time. I just pulled this out of my stacks on Sunday.

― I Don't Believe in Bacteria (Bimble...), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Yep, pret' much the Police's finest, and probably the only one with no outright bummers. (Never heard Ghost In The Machine but for the singles, which don't impress me much.) Title cut's my favourite instrumental of theirs. Great use of space/sparseness throughout. What's up with that weird operatic bit in (I think) "Does Everyone Stare?"

― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 16:51 (seventeen years ago) link

ten months pass...

Go see them live, folks, you won't be disappointed. Pay minimum price. See the wonder. Believe.

― Bimble, Saturday, 9 June 2007 06:21 (sixteen years ago) link

ee-YO-ee-YO-ee-YO-YO

OTM!

Did they do that one Bimble?

― Jon Lewis, Saturday, 9 June 2007 17:45 (sixteen years ago) link

Yes they fucking did!!! Not the whole thing, mind, but they inserted it into one of their other songs and I was like "no way that is like my favourite song" and I never thought they'd even touch that. Most of the setlist was really just about every single song they're known for. But yeah, after Sting sang that "ee Yo" bit the first time he said "that was fun, let's do that again" and I was like Fuck yeah!

― Bimble, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:55 (sixteen years ago) link

That's really surprising!

― Jon Lewis, Saturday, 9 June 2007 21:15 (sixteen years ago) link

They did "The Bed's Too Big Without You", too.

― Bimble, Saturday, 9 June 2007 22:20 (sixteen years ago) link

eight years pass...

crikey, this album's really good actually?

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Monday, 2 May 2016 19:02 (eight years ago) link

The guitar tone on 'Walking on the Moon' is just about perfect.

― Austin, Monday, 2 May 2016 19:24 (eight years ago) link

I prefer Synchronicity

― Turrican, Monday, 2 May 2016 19:36 (eight years ago) link

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