The Police (featuring Sting, search enjin..) - When did you get off the bus?

"Zenyatta Mondatta" was crap really, wasn't it?

God yes. "Canary in a coalmine" was as good as it got, but I'd rather play that album at 45rpm and pretend it was "get out of denver" by Eddie and the hot rods!

I'm a huge Syncronicity lover/apologist. But I can't take an ounce of solo Sting or Klark Kent or any of that bullshit.

I fell off halfway through Sting's solo career. Think he didn't really lose it until "Ten Summonary Tales". "Nothing Like The Sun" in particular is a great album.

Wby isn't "Gbost" an option? I'm willing to bet there would be a lot of takers...

For the record though, I never got off the bus.

"Ghost" I mean

I'm gradually working my way through their albums in order as I find them for cheapie cheapie prices, and yes, Ghost In The Machine is the first one where I go, ummmm, maybe I really should stop here. I had urges in that direction on Zenyatta but this is really pretty lame.

I love love love Klark Kent though.

Zenyatta.. had "Driven to Tears," so NO it wasn't crap.

I gave up right after Blue Turtles (which was actually alright, if you ask me).

Basically, if Zen didn't do it, Ghost woudn't.

Yeah, "Driven" good call, but it was the album I tool home, all pristine, played once, and put back on't shelf, where it still is (unless I got rid back in the day)

I still have that 2 10" album version of Regatta, somewhere. I think.

'took home' obv.

"Synchronicity", or rather just after "Every Breath You Take" was released as a single.

Synchronicity was alright, "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" should've been an option.

There are totally some great potential "get off the bus" polls out there.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" should've been an option.

YES. I enjoyed stuff off all 5 records, each one slightly less than the previous. And Alex in NYC otm. I seem to remember not outright hating Blue Turtles, but I was like 12 the last time I heard it, so...

yeah, I got off the bus at puberty

"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" should've been an option.

Thirded.

Well, that was so close to them splitting, you know...

Zenyatta mondatta was the final straw.
Though "Canary In The Coalmine" was the first Police song I really liked then.

I hope the Russians love their children enough to teach them to hate Sting's solo career.

Basically, if Zen didn't do it, Ghost woudn't.

This is incorrect. There are no saxophones on Zenyatta.

Can't say that about the debut, though.

Zenyatta was good to me. Driven To Tears, When The World is Running Down, Voices Inside My Head, Shadows in The Rain, and Don't Stand So Close To Me are all great tracks. Like Alex, I dropped off after the Blue Turtles.

sting is a twat but you can't deny how great those first 6 or 7 singles are.

I loved "Man in a Suitcase." That was on Zenyatta, right?

I remember I had to review Soul Cages for a local freebie weekly here in NYC called Perspectives, and my one-line review was:

"I wanted to hate it, but fell asleep instead."

Wow, you used to be able to put things down in a really biting, snappy way, with no intricate scenarios involving feces or decapitation?

"I wanted to put it down in a really biting, snappy way, with intricate scenarios involving feces or decapitation, but fell asleep instead."

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/blackplasticbag/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lyrics-by-sting.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i've seen that book, it's about 12 feet tall

wearing a Tintin jumper in your video = height of 80s decadence

Like Alex, I dropped off after the Blue Turtles.

"Nothing Like The Sun" is roughly the same, and IMO a better album than "Blue Turtles". "The Soul Cages" isn't too bad either if you get into it. When Sting became an AOR singer in the mid 90s, all hope was gone though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I wonder what the age distribution of these answers are. I'm guessing people under 30 weren't on the bus, and people over 30 were.

You know how, every so often, something you haven't thought about in the longest time will just sort of pop up out of nowhere, and all of a sudden you're like, "Hey... Wait a minute"? Well, that happened to me last week, when it occurred to me that I actually used to sort of be cool once.

I guess, like everybody else, I've gotten used to thinking of myself as, you know, one of those guys on VH1. Some vaguely "adult contemporary" artist like Billy Joel or Elton John or somebody. The sort of musician you'd find your dad listening to or hear really quietly in the background at the bank. I mean, "cool" is the last thing I'd normally think of myself as being.

Looking at it now, who would think that the composer of "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" used to be cool? Sounds crazy, huh? It seems ridiculous, but it's true. I was kind of hip, in a way, if you think about it.

Isn't that just so weird?

It hit me the other day, and it was like, "Whoa—that's so bizarre." I was sitting at one of my pianos, working out some chords for my forthcoming album The Tepid Heart, when the wife asked me to pick up some diet soda. Since the staff was off (it was a Sunday), and the kids were due home from football practice soon, I said sure and drove down to the cornershop.

When I got there, the kid behind the counter had a tape playing that sounded oddly familiar. It wasn't really my cup of tea—polyrhythmic and uptempo, with intense emotional energy and electrically amplified guitars instead of acoustic. And the kid was, to be honest, playing it a bit loud. But instead of being annoyed, I found it compelling in a weird sort of way. When I asked the kid who it was, he said he'd found it in a bag of stuff that used to belong to his older brother. "It's old, but I like it," he said. "It's kind of reggae, but it sounds punk, too."

Well, several weeks went by, but it kept nagging at me. Then, finally, last Thursday, I figured it out. I was in the den, watching some figure skating on TV and reading Parade. (Isn't it funny how these things always hit you at the oddest times?) Anyway, there was an article about a policewoman who volunteers teaching schoolchildren about pet safety, when suddenly, it clicked: That kid was listening to Outlandos d'Amour, the first record by my old band, The Police!

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Wow... I haven't thought about The Police in years." And neither had I, but you know what? It sounds nothing like what you'd expect after hearing "Fields Of Gold." At first, I thought, "Wait... Is this just my memory playing tricks on me? I mean, I recorded the love theme from The Three Musketeers with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, for Christ's sake. How cool could I possibly be?" But then I dusted off a bunch of the old LPs and, boy, was I amazed. Those records were actually pretty rockin'! You wouldn't think that kind of stuff would come from me, but, hey, the opening track, "Next To You"? Come on! And the rest of the album, too: "So Lonely," "Born In the '50s," and you've got to admit that "Sally Be My Girl" is one cool song. I was like, "Did I write this stuff? No way!"

Come to think of it, I did lots of cool things back then. Sure, now we all think of me as starring in duds like The Bride, but I was in Quadrophenia, too. Heck, I was even in Urgh! A Music War. Remember that one? I'd totally forgotten until now. Man, I used to watch that on USA Network's Night Flight back in the '80s, and I just thought it was so awesome. It had X and Devo back when they were really punk. Even the Go-Go's were hardcore in that show! Shit, man, things sure do change.

And it wasn't just the early years. The whole Police catalog was pretty cool. I mean, the chorus on that one song, what was it, "My wife has burned the scrambled eggs / The dog just bit my leg / My teenage daughter ran away / My fine young son has turned out gay"? That one actually had the mosh-pit kids slamming. Can you believe it? Teenagers, moshing to me of all people! Sure, nowadays, most people think of "(Don't Stand So) Close To Me" as a deodorant commercial, but at the time, it was pretty out there, what with the whole Nabokov-pedophilia thing.

I know the idea of me being cool doesn't seem to make sense (it didn't to me at first, either), but just listen to those albums. Even Synchronicity isn't bad, and I didn't start really laming out until "(Don't Stand So) Close To Me '86." Go figure, I guess.

Then again, Eric Clapton, of "Tears In Heaven" fame, really used to tear it up, too, come to think of it. Or, hell, just take Paul Westerberg. Now there's one to ponder.

Makes you wonder, you know? I mean, I guess it just really goes to show you.

"Did I write this stuff? No Way!" (If Sting were from So Cal, and had written Be My Girl Sally or Any Other Day).

They were actually really good on their reunion tour, and I only saw them on their second date. I bet after a few more shows they were even better. Was their recorded output perfect? Hell no. Still, I'll defend them to the death.

I never got off the bus. Though it took me a bloody long time to even get on it.