SpenniesThe Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
July 18th 2006 02:26
THE POLICE
Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
A & M Records
Produced by The Police & Nigel Gray
Link to Amazon w/ audio samples
This is the third studio outing for The Police, and is considered to be one of their best, spawning the hits "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", and also attaining a Grammy for the instrumental "Behind My Camel." Contrary to it's success however, the band has always publicly cited that they were unhappy with it, having completed the album at 4am before starting their second world tour the very next day. Perhaps they felt it was rushed - the fact that there are three instrumentals across the 11 tracks maybe due to a lack of lyrics.
Whatever the case, Zenyatta Mondatta is a great album - and like much of The Police's early work, is fairly minimalistic in it's approach. For the most part, the arrangements are just basic guitar, bass and drums, and the sound is still influenced by reggae, pop, a dash of ska, and a bit of a punk feel. There are also a few political/socially themed songs such as the sombre "Driven To Tears" which deals with poverty and guilt, and "Bombs Away", a very upbeat number about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
I remember when I first heard this record, I was quite surprised to hear an abundance (for the Police) of straight-up boppy ska. "Canary in a Coalmine" and "Man in a Suitcase" are both great catchy songs, the former being quite a bit faster in tempo, each track displaying the brilliant falsetto vocal harmonies present throughout most of the bands catalogue which has given them such an immediately indentifiable sound over the years. A "trademark" if you will.
The singles on offer were huge hits, and most people will be familiar with them. "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is an awesome song (despite the offbeat/controversial subject matter of a teacher resisting the advances of a student), hands down. It features a very slow and atmospheric introduction that builds up to one of their best chorus' (in my opinion), it's so simple but so great at the same time. This song and the other single "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" are perfect examples of Sting's ability to write excellent pop melodies and hooks.
As mentioned previously, the album also delves into instrumental territory, which does a good job of bringing guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland into the foray to show us that they are indeed quite clever with their instruments. I think they fit in with the record's consistency, but occasionally it sounds a little tired and I find myself reaching for the skip button. Perhaps it becomes a bit drawn out...
If you're a fan of The Police, then I would imagine you would already own Zenyatta Mondatta. If you've ever liked anything they've done before, I definitely recommend this as a good starting point as it contains everything The Police are renowned for and also paints a neat portrait of the band while they were still young and fresh, but very comfortable with each other and the chemistry the three-piece shared. A classic that can probably be picked up cheap these days.
Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
A & M Records
Produced by The Police & Nigel Gray
Link to Amazon w/ audio samples
Whatever the case, Zenyatta Mondatta is a great album - and like much of The Police's early work, is fairly minimalistic in it's approach. For the most part, the arrangements are just basic guitar, bass and drums, and the sound is still influenced by reggae, pop, a dash of ska, and a bit of a punk feel. There are also a few political/socially themed songs such as the sombre "Driven To Tears" which deals with poverty and guilt, and "Bombs Away", a very upbeat number about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
I remember when I first heard this record, I was quite surprised to hear an abundance (for the Police) of straight-up boppy ska. "Canary in a Coalmine" and "Man in a Suitcase" are both great catchy songs, the former being quite a bit faster in tempo, each track displaying the brilliant falsetto vocal harmonies present throughout most of the bands catalogue which has given them such an immediately indentifiable sound over the years. A "trademark" if you will.
The Police live circa 1980
The singles on offer were huge hits, and most people will be familiar with them. "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is an awesome song (despite the offbeat/controversial subject matter of a teacher resisting the advances of a student), hands down. It features a very slow and atmospheric introduction that builds up to one of their best chorus' (in my opinion), it's so simple but so great at the same time. This song and the other single "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" are perfect examples of Sting's ability to write excellent pop melodies and hooks.
As mentioned previously, the album also delves into instrumental territory, which does a good job of bringing guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland into the foray to show us that they are indeed quite clever with their instruments. I think they fit in with the record's consistency, but occasionally it sounds a little tired and I find myself reaching for the skip button. Perhaps it becomes a bit drawn out...
If you're a fan of The Police, then I would imagine you would already own Zenyatta Mondatta. If you've ever liked anything they've done before, I definitely recommend this as a good starting point as it contains everything The Police are renowned for and also paints a neat portrait of the band while they were still young and fresh, but very comfortable with each other and the chemistry the three-piece shared. A classic that can probably be picked up cheap these days.
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Comment by Shani
Lol, Matt loves Sting.
Comment by Luke
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