Classic band that will never go away..
The year was 1981 and the Police were on top of the world, musically and lyrically. The album is remembered most for the most beautiful pop song of them all..."every little thing she does is magic..". It still sounds so fresh and cheerful
in 2002. Other high points are "Spirits in the material world", "Invisible Sun" and the most clever of clever guitar riffs in "Omegaman". "Secret Journey" is testing and tuneful (echos of the "message in a bottle" guitar sound). For me some of the songs are lacking something.."Rehumanise yourself" and "Demolition man " just don't do anything for me. However on a very bright note , it finishes with the wonderfully gloomy
"Darkness"
...ah..the great '80's!
The Dark Underbelly of The 80s
Where Zenyatta Mondatta introduced us to a few songs from the newly-socially-conscious Sting, Ghost In The Machine makes a statement throughout almost the entire album. As the title suggests, Ghost takes a look, thematically, at man's place in the world and amongst technology. But don't forget, there are hits. And good ones. The band recorded this and Synchronicity at AIR studios in Montserrat and the Caribbean feel is so thick, you might think about wearing a tank top while listening. It also introduces the band to Hugh Padgham who would go onto produce Synchronicity.
The Police come at us full force with their political views with the top 40 single, "Spirits In The Material World." It's a return to the early reggae feel with a pop hook. Finally, a political statement you can dance to. One of my all-time favorite Sting-penned songs is "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." It's really the only departure from the political/technological theme of Ghost, yet it drips with a Caribbean sauce that compliments the rock-meets-pop feel of being dumbstruck by love. "Do I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days since we first met?/It's a big enough umbrella, but it's always me that ends up getting wet" are such poignant lyrics, Sting uses them no less than three more times in songs throughout his career.
We return the to problems of the world with a look at life in Northern Ireland in "Invisible Sun." The dark synth and steady tom beats convey the desperation and conflict.
McCartney spoke French to "Michelle," so Sting turns to his translation dictionary for the upbeat "Hungry For You." Do yourself a favor and look online for the English translation. Great lyrics.
"Demolition Man." The lyrics speak for themselves. "I'm a walking nightmare an arsenal of doom/I kill conversation as I walk into the room/I'm a three line whip I'm the sort of thing they ban/I'm a walking disaster I'm a demolition man." The band adds a horn section to punctuate the driving bass line and singing guitar of the song.
The horns return to open and carry "Too Much Information," which could thematically be the title track to the album. This time the machine is man overflowing with knowledge. A fun, poppy rhythm and melody contrast the politically charged lyrics of "Rehumanize Yourself." A call for man to stop and take a look at our lives.
If we need to look at ourselves in "Rehumanize," Sting wants us to look at each other in "One World (Not Three)." An anthemic, catchy tune, "One World" is another return to reggae with help from the horn section to remind us that "We're all in the same big boat" and the warning: "It may seem a million miles away but it gets a little closer everyday."
We head to the future in "Omegaman." It's driving drums and racing guitar solo tells the story of a man trying to escape his life. Not exactly, Charlton Heston, but still a one-man army.
One of my favorite tracks is the dark and mysterious "Secret Journey." It's the story of searching, but for what? The answer lies in the quest itself. A little contrived, yes, but a great tune, anyway. The album ends on the sleepy "Darkness," a study in the fear to try. The dry Copeland-penned tune makes you want to claw out of your own funk rather than fall into the "Darkness."
Ghost In The Machine sets up the 80s perfectly. It's a slice out of the early part of the decade that shows you where we were headed and what we could do to keep from destroying ourselves. Many of the ideas and suggestions helped to wake up many people to what was going on in the world. Sting wasn't the first rock activist, but he was certainly heard through this album.
guybunda and the infidel don't get good music.
some sad cases like "guybunda" and "the infidel" or whatever their lame made up names are have no clue of the impact of the police.especially an album like ghost in the machine.the infidel sounds like a racist and probably doesnt like sting cause he's white.pity.i would take the worst police album any day over the over-rated bob marley.pot-head.oh and guybunda sounds like a small minded shmuck.he probably only knows the police songs from the radio and is too busy buying 50 cent cds rather than take in the incredible sounds of the police.the police took reggae and jazz and made it coolest.way to go sting and co.poor saps like guybunda and infidel should take another listen and not talk soo much.-----later
The most politically conscious album by the Police
With their penultimate studio album, the Police moved more towards political consciousness, emphasizing the human spirit and soul over soulless corporate machinery--hence Ghost In The Machine. However, in some songs, I detect the prelude to "Synchronicity" in quick-paced songs like "Rehumanize Yourself" and "Omegaman", with its racing guitars and drums. Only one song recalls the style of their old days.With the steady keyboard notes forming the rhythm of the verses, the single "Spirits In The Material World" deplores the moral and spiritual crisis in the world, with no hope for legally trying to change the world. The materialist-oriented 80's does give pause, making one wonder, "Where does the answer lie?/Living from day to day/If it's something we can't buy/There must be another way."
The Police scored their fourth UK #1 with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." Itself a big hit in the US, it's a catchy tune exploring that painful shyness a man feels towards a woman he admires. The shyness and distance is evoked in his line about standing with her under a big enough umbrella, but he becoming wet, climaxing in the all-time classic fears: "I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day/And ask her if she'll marry me in some old fashioned way/But my silent fears have gripped me/long before I reach the phone/long before my tongue has tripped/Must I always be alone?"
With grim keyboards rising in volume, with Stewart Copeland's drums tapping out a steady beat, the moody "Invisible Sun" echoes the
hopelessness of an industrial life draining the spirit out of someone so that "I face the day with my head caved in/Looking like something that the cat brought in." Such a bleak future, and a bleak song, underscored by "And they're only gonna change this place/by killing everybody in the human race/And they would kill me for a cigarette/but I'm don't even wanna die just yet."
I'm not sure how effective singing in French is to a steady rhythmic Police sound is, but the majority of "Hungry For You" is sung that way. There is raw desire and savagery in the lyrics, particularly when he sings [translated]: "I must burn away this jealousy/you have ravaged my heart/and me, I've drank your blood."
"The doomsday weapon, "a walking disaster, arsenal of doom, the sort of thing they ban," is psychotically personified in the jamming "Demolition Man," with a brass section and pulsing bass. Sting later redid this for the futurist movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.
If Sting was singing about the 80's computer age leading to "Too much information running through my brain/Too much information driving me insane" would he make a 2000's remix of "Too Much Information" for the Internet Age? A catchy, jazzy song with a brass section.
Violence as a social norm...how sobering. "Rehumanize Yourself" makes a commentary on a policeman itching for violence, with a nod to the Beatles: "He'd like to have a gun just to keep him warm" and the unfulfilling purpose of making machines for a larger company and not working for one's own good and spiritual well-being.
Western political and sociologically-centered bias is tackled in the funky reggae of "One World (Not Three)," referring to the now-antiquated concept of the First World being capitalist countries, the Second World being communist countries, and Third World being the underdeveloped ones. Sting says in warning of a possible nuclear or environmental catastrophe, "We can all sink or we all float/'Cos we're all in the same big boat/One world is enough/For all of us."
There are mythological subtexts, of the hero's journey in "Secret Journey" and the meeting with a blind holy man/guru, whose words of wisdom include: "You will see light in the darkness/You will make some sense of this/And when you've made your secret journey/You will find the love you miss....And when you've made your secret journey/You will be a holy man."
With airy but moody synths and keyboards, "Darkness" shows how it's easier to dream of lofty ideals, but when one is out there, the flaws begin to show, and it makes on frustrated enough to wish "I wish I never woke up this morning."
Probably the most sciopolitically conscious and sobering album the Police have done, with a sound close to Synchronicity.
Very dark...
"Ghost In The Machine", the penultimate studio album from The Police is the most interesting recording they ever did, and arguably the most consistent. Unlike on other albums where there could be a mix of instrumental jams and novelty tracks as well as their signature reggae infused rock, "Ghost..." is very focused and musically more consistent than the others.
The sound is very different here than on previous albums. The making of this record coincided with Sting starting out on the saxophone so there's little bits of that thrown in (almost incongruously) as well as a heavy emphasis on synth and keyboard. This entails a sonic density never present before on other albums. Another thing that will strike you upon listening to this album is that it's just generally faster. The tempo doesn't slow down until Copeland's contribution, the last track, "Darkness".
The mood is very sombre, even darker than Synchonicity. Songs like "Spirits In The Material World" and "Invisible Sun" (two singles) set a dark mood for the rest of the album. In this way, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" seems rather out of place with its perky carribean feel. Other highlights include "Secret Journey" which is beautifully atmospheric and "J'Aurais Toujours Faim De Toi", where Sting shows off his rather woeful French accent.
I would like to point out that Mr. Banned gave Britney Spears' albums, Jessica Simpson's album and an American trance compilation 5 stars, and gave a Rolling Stone's album, some Police albums, some Led Zeppelin albums and nearly every Beatles album 1 star, i.e. he wouldn't know music if it kicked him up the a$$.
Dark, somber, and thematically unified as no previous album by the Police, Ghost in the Machine deals almost exclusively with the negative effects of modern political and technological culture. The only departure from this focus is "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," a perfect pop song and radio hit. Elsewhere, the album treats such issues as the hope underlying resistance to oppression, the dismissal of most of the nonindustrialized world, the daily bombardment of words and images that overload the senses, and the frequent recourse to violence for personal or political expression. The songs are presented in what are, for the Police, unusually dense, layered arrangements. Andy Summers's guitar lines are even more ethereal than usual, with Sting's bass parts bobbing in a mix seasoned with keyboards and sax and propelled by Stewart Copeland's unmistakable, idiosyncratic drumming. While Synchronicity gave the Police their greatest success with hits and videos, Ghost in the Machine is the band's best recording. --Albert Massa
