By the time The Police released their fifth (and what would turn out to be their final) album Synchronicity in 1983, the band was arguably the most popular and well-regarded band in the entire world. The trio of Sting (vocals/bass), Andy Summers (guitar/keys), and Stewart Copeland (drums) were fresh off recording 1981’s Ghost in the Machine, an incredibly dense and avant-garde approach to their reggae-influenced pop that had made them stars in the late 70’s. With Synchronicity the band opted to take a more subdued approach, trading in their lush arrangements for a straight-forward rock record. The results were indisputable– the album brought home three Grammy wins, sold eight million copies in the USA, and was a resounding success with critics.
But internally the band was already in the process of disintegrating. Recording at AIR Studios in Montserrat, all three band members were confined to separate rooms with Sting’s bass plugged in via DI in the control room, Copeland’s drums laid out in the dining room, and Summers’ recording in the actual studio. The purpose of this was twofold– as the band recorded most of the tracks live, it gave them more creative control over their individual parts and allowed them to capture a cleaner signal from each musician. But it was also done to keep the band from killing each other– tensions that would break up the band were at an all-time high, with Sting and Copeland actually coming to blows during the recording of “Every Breath You Take”, and confining them to separate spaces allowed producer Hugh Padgham to keep the mercurial personalities at a simmering boil instead of a tempest overflow.
With classic cuts like “Every Breath You Take”, “King of Pain”, and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, there’s something to be said for the corrosive circumstances playing a critical part in the band writing their magnum opus. It is the album that ended up as their final release, but a legendary one that cemented their name as one of rock’s all-time greats.
Standout Songs: “Every Breath You Take”, “King of Pain”, “Miss Gradenko”, “Synchronicity I”, “Wrapped Around Your Finger”
