ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 9, 1993
By Steve Newton
Now here’s one band that deserves to have its recorded output compiled in one nifty boxed set. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the Police, the pioneering Anglo-American rock trio whose adventurous melding of pop styles and sheer musical talent made its members the most deserving, and ultimately the most successful, graduates of the late ’70s New Wave school.
How can you not dig tunes like “Roxanne”, “Message in a Bottle”, and “Synchronicity II”? I don’t think it’s humanly possible for a pop/rock fan to dislike those tunes.
As well as all the awesome tracks from the five Police albums the band cut before Sting went off by himself to be boring, you’ll find many B-sides, live versions, and unreleased oddities from the group’s illustrious nine-year career.
They’re all here on four easily accessible, compactly stored discs, with a thoroughly annotated, 65-page booklet thrown in for good measure.