The Police were a seminal late 1970s/early 1980s band. Fronted by bassist/vocalist Sting (who would go on to a successful solo career) and also featuring guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland (who would go on to compose music for multiple films, television shows, and video games as well as for the stage), the Police were well known for their new wave sound which fused punk, reggae, and jazz. Synchronicity, the group's final studio album, has the distinction of producing the only single to chart higher overall than everything from Michael Jackson's Thriller for the year 1983. I have two single-disc career retrospectives for the band in my collection. Which one is better?
Roxanne
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Can't Stand Losing You
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Message in a Bottle
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Walking on the Moon
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Invisible Sun
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Spirits in the Material World
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Every Breath You Take
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
King of Pain
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Don't Stand So Close to Me '86
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
Message in a Bottle (new classic rock mix)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
And the winner is: 1997 Columbia/Legacy remaster, with reservations. The
Singles compilation would be satisfactory were it not for the presence of the re-recorded "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" instead of the original - what the hell? No one buys a
greatest hits collection wanting to get re-recordings of the songs they love. It defeats the whole purpose of buying the collection when you don't get the actual hit versions of every song, and this kind of thing is infuriating and absolutely unacceptable. The
Classics disc rectifies this problem by including the 1986 version as an (inessential) bonus track, restoring the original to its rightful place in the running order.
That rant out of the way, which collection is the one worth buying? Despite the mastering job which should have been just a little bit quieter, the Classics disc has subjectively good sound quality and should be more than sufficient for the average listener. It should be noted that bass levels are markedly higher on the Classics disc as compared to Singles, and there is some minor audible loss of dynamics when comparing volume matched samples. This may not matter depending on how discerning one's ear is, but it is a consideration. Which bass levels are more correct is subject to debate, though a comparison of the Synchronicity era songs to their counterparts on the 1989 Mobile Fidelity audiophile CD release of said album suggests that the bass levels on the remaster are more accurate if the audiophile disc is taken as the standard. As I am mostly a casual Police fan, this is the route I am going to take here. That being said, if you don't care about "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the Singles disc is still a reasonable option as it still sounds good, just not as good overall as the later offering. Aside from an unnecessary remix of "Message in a Bottle," included on the 1995 disc as a second bonus track alongside the aforementioned re-recording, the track listings and track order are identical between the two.
