The Police Album: “Live! (Double CD Set)”

I am a huge Police fan and have many of their shows on bootlegs and I have to say that these two shows are ok, not bad but certainly not great. The Boston show is the better of the two in my opinion. The Atlanta show from '83 is a very standard show from the Syncronicity tour. The Boston show seems to have more energy and the songs are extended a bit (like Bed's too Big without you, So Lonely and Roxanne) to show the band's amazing playing abilities. Since these are the only live Police discs I would get it if you are a fan of the band but try and get a few other live shows if you can. A couple that I higly recommend that are not too hard to find are the July 31, 1982 show from Sting's hometown in Newcastle. This is a great show from the Ghost in the Machine tour and they play everything and the energy from the band is great. The other show to try and get is the February 1979 show from Hatfield, UK. This is a great show and was the first significant live performance that showcased the band's talents. Try EBAY for these shows, they have them listed pretty frequently. Also get the Police Live on VHS as songs from these two shows are on that tape.

It is hard to believe that a band can become a Hall of Fame band with just five studio albums to their name, but the Police are such a band. This is an honor that the Police are most worthy of. The Police were sort of an off-shoot of the Punk Rock movement of the late 1970s. The band would eventually encompass other influences - namely Classic Rock, Reggae, Jazz, Dance, and even Folk. For the most part, it is fair to say there was a Punk Rock and Reggae influence on the band for their first two albums" - "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta de Blanc". Both of these albums were terrific efforts - mostly because The Police used applied their unique style to a formula that worked. The Police would soon transform their sound to a more Classic Rock sound. With each successive album ("Zenyatta Mondatta", "Ghost in the Machine", and "Synchronicity"), the Police would continue to grow as a band and incorporate a variety of genres into their sound. When the Police would disband in 1986, they did not have a live album in their portfolio - despite the fact they had emerged as one of the great live bands of all-time. It would be nearly a decade later when the Police would release their first live collection - 1995's "The Police - Live!". Despite some negative criticism, this collection is worthy of the Police's Hall of Fame career as well as prove to be worth the long wait.

"The Police - Live!" is a very unique live collection. It consists of two concerts - one from 1979 and one from 1983. Each concert is on a separate disc. The concerts show a great reflection of the Police's career. The November, 1979 concert, recorded in Boston at the Orpheum Theater and broadcast on WBCN radio showcases the Police's early Punk Rock and Reggae roots. This concert has much more of a "raw" edge, but you can also tell that the Police were performing in a more intimate setting. By 1983, the Police had progressed their sound and had much more of a Rock edge. The November, 1983 concert was recorded at Atlanta's Omni Arena and this concert definitely has more of an Arena Rock feel. The 1983 concert showcases a good amount of material from the "Synchronicity" album (this was the tour in support of that album), while the 1979 concert is drawn from the band's first two albums.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the sound. It is important to remember that a live album will never have the audio standards of a studio album. This CD set was recorded in ADD format - meaning an Analog tape recorder was used during initial recording and a Digital tape recorder used during mixing/editing and for mastering. Overall, I think the album was well mixed and well engineered. Compared to many live albums, I consider this album to be one of the better sound qualities.

Here are eleven things to look for on this collection:

1-The 1979 Boston Concert contains all of the tracks from the Police's debut album with the exception of the instrumental track, "Masoko Tanga". This includes rare performances of "Peanuts", "Born in the 50s", and "Be My Girl/Sally".

2-Despite the fact that "Reggata De Blanc" was the newer album, there is less material played at the Boston concert. "Message in a Bottle", "Walking On the Moon", "Bring on the Night", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" are the only songs that are represented. The instrumental "Reggata De Blanc" is played as part of "Can't Stand Losing You" - a tradition the Police have done throughout their careers.

3-The Boston concert plays two early singles not found on albums - "Fall Out" and "Landlord".

4-Sting has said he had been battling laryngitis at the time of the Boston concert, but for the most part you can't tell it. The only exception seems to happen during "Peanuts" - where it definitely sounded like he was having some issues with his voice.

5-The 1983 Atlanta Concert contains eight songs from "Synchronicity", including a rare performance of the Andy Summers tune - "O My God". Unfortunately the albums "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost in the Machine" end up being the big losers in this collection as only three songs total are found on the two CD set.

6-I love the segue from "Synchronicity I" into "Synchronicity II" at the Atlanta concert. The segue seemed almost natural. Both performances showed the Police at the top of their game.

7-The best song on the two disc set is found on the Omni performance with "King of Pain". I've always considered this a great song - and this live version is even better.

8-The Police "wrap-up" the Omni concert with two songs from their first album - the traditional extended jam of "Can't Stand Losing You" (featuring "Regatta De Blanc") followed by "So Lonely".

9-The Omni performance has the Police using outside singers. I had mixed feelings about this because I always liked the fact the Police would make "every sound" on their recordings. Yet, the outside vocalists add a new dimension to the band.

10-One thing that is great about the Police is how they improvise during their live performances as well as create new arrangements of their songs. Both concerts showcase how well the Police has been able to do these things.

11-For the most part, both concerts appear to preserve the order of the songs and give the feeling of being at the 1979 and 1983 performances respectively. It's hard to tell whether these are "complete" shows. Usually with live CDs, some songs are not included when recorded from the show.

Overall this is an outstanding collection. The two concerts really contrast the early days and the latter days of the band - with both performances being outstanding. It is a live album that is truly worthy of a Hall of Fame band.

The sound quality of these live renditions by the legendary British band The Police are not top notch, which is why I take off one star off of them. However, the material is all top of the line and a very nice display of the band's live performances in their early days (disc 1) and their final tour (disc 2), as well as a fairly comprehensive compilation of their music. On this end, I'd probably recommend their "Message in a Box", which sums up their entire production and a few B-sides and live tracks in a very nice 4-disc box with a colorful and insightful booklet.

It had been discussed for years, and in 1995 (apparently after the success of the rare live recordings found on the 4-disc boxset "Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings") a live album by The Police was released. The album, produced by Andy Summers, is a two-disc set - a very wise move, considering how vastly different the two CDs sound. Disc one is a 1979 performance in Boston that was broadcast over the radio; disc two is a 1983 performance in Atlanta during the "Synchronicity" tour.

It is the concensus of both the fans and the critics that the reason to purchase this set is for the first disc, recorded around the release of "Reggatta de Blanc". I completely disagree. To me, disc one, though more ferocious than disc two, sounds almost off-puttingly pretentious (albeit good-naturedly so). Sting seems to be trying almost too hard, and his ego is put on display more than a few times (in the opening of "Walking on the Moon", he announces, "This is from MY new record."). Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers' performances are quite lacking, and all in all the first disc comes across as being very dull, with the exception of a stellar version of "The Bed's Too Big Without You".

Disc two is my favorite, and definitely the highlight of the album. It was recorded during the peak of the band's popularity, and the material they had to work with was of much greater quality than that which they play on disc one (although many of the songs are repeated). Also, there's something exhilarating about hearing the huge crowd all-out roar during the performances. There are excellent performances of a number of songs, like the fast-paced, energetic opener, "Synchronicity I"; the dreamy bounce of "Tea in the Sahara"; the nasty-sounding and powerful "Don't Stand So Close to Me"; and high-voltage performances of "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely", both of which have some simply exemplary instrumental sections. "Can't Stand Losing You"'s is especially interesting. Prior to the release of "Reggatta de Blanc", the band would burst into a rolling chant during the middle of "Can't Stand Losing You" whenever it was performed live. That section was removed verbatim and recorded as the title track for "Reggatta de Blanc".

Disc two is the exact opposite of disc one. Sting is fine and well aware of the immense power he has over the audience, but his heart is definitely not in his singing, and at times his voice sounds hoarse from a little too much use. On the other hand, Summers and Copeland are just fantastic. Summers' playing is gorgeous and fluctuates between being fierce and being ethereal and moody; Copeland's is fast-paced, tough, and exotic. Still, as others have pointed out, the second disc has its flaws. Chief amongst those are the annoying and completely unnecessary backup singers, who I believe returned for Sting's first solo live recording, 1986's delightful "Bring on the Night". Here, however, they seem to be simply a product of Sting's laziness.

All in all, how much one enjoys "Live!" will depend on whether you're more a fan of the band's more fast-paced, punky material (their earlier work) or their more brilliant, ethereal and new wave stuff (their later work). I am more a fan of the latter, which is perhaps why I loved disc two, but doubt that disc one will ever get much play from myself. I would say that for the Police fan this set is definitely worth purchasing (and by all means, purchase the remastered version; the remastering job is utterly superb), but for anyone else I would highly recommend purchasing their studio albums first.

Not bad but not great. Useful to familiarize with the tunes esp. if this group is new to you but no real drive or excitement where they could use it. Synchronicity II pales in comparison to the studio recording. Most of the other tracks are just plain dull. They don't cut loose and let the music rock - I guess the concerts weren't that thrilling either. Makes the cover photo somewhat misleading. My real rating is 2 and 1/2 stars.