The Police on CD

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by street legal, Oct 24, 2005.

  1. mkat71

    mkat71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    San Rafael, CA
    Hello...

    I don't know if this has been answered before or not, but regarding the Japan Pony Canyon CD issues of the first two Police albums, do the D25 reissues from 1988 have identical peak values to the earlier D32 issues from 1986?

    Thanks!
     
  2. As far as I know, the D25, D32 and D33 (Gold CD) releases all share the same masterings.
     
    ricks likes this.
  3. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    Timely that this thread resurrects. I was just asking @c-eling about This topic.

    I will have to read the 39 page thread later though!
     
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  4. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Police- I'm happy with these for digital
    Ghost In The Machine -US DADC
    Reggatta De Blanc (France PMDC IFPI)
    Reggatta De Blanc (Japan Plat SHM)
    Synchronicity (Japan For US DIDX1)
    Zenyatta Mondatta (Japan Plat SHM)
     
  5. Cliff

    Cliff Magic Carpet Man

    Location:
    Northern CA
    Message In a Box sounds pretty decent to my ears. I've had it since it's release. But I have their entire catalog on SACD so that's all I play these days on the home system. Every once in a while I'll whip out the boxed set and listen to it in the car. I have no complaints with the mastering.
     
  6. ricks

    ricks Senior Member

    Location:
    127.0.0.1:443

    You listed Reggatta twice and excluded Outandos :)
     
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  7. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    I did, I enjoy both Regattas :D
    I have Outlandos on vinyl, My digital transfer of it is all I need :)
     
  8. DiabloG

    DiabloG City Pop, Rock, and anything 80s til I die

    Location:
    United States
    Is it me, or is the 2003 Zenyatta CD basically the SACD with added compression? The EQ sounds identical to me after testing both on the same player. And yes, I do like both a fair bit better than the US for US grey column CD. I just need to get the Platinum SHM and my Police collection on CD will be perfect.
     
  9. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    I was picturing @c-eling with a look of horror on his face, realizing he had traded in all of his original Outlandos CDs for Brickwall Bobs latest, madly searching the Internet for a fix....

    Oh wait, that's me! :laugh:
     
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  10. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Fortunately Jeff, I only made that mistake once, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 2007 , which lead me to re-buying a US PDO silver for dirt cheap, sometimes re-buying can work to your advantage as your actively searching for good ones yourself now :)
     
  11. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    I'm probably in the minority, but I don't care for the first album as much as the other four Police albums. It doesn't help that I'm sick to death of the two singles, but I feel the band elevated their game in every way with Regatta, and especially in Sting's songwriting.
     
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  12. I remember when Ghost came out and they toured nearby, every kid in high school had a Police t-shirt it seemed. I was green but I loved what I heard at the time. Have their CD's on early Japan for US pressings but may have to rethink it with the more recent info here. It doesn't seem to end :)

    -s1m0n-
     
  13. DiabloG

    DiabloG City Pop, Rock, and anything 80s til I die

    Location:
    United States
    I feel the exact same way as you in this situation :cheers:
     
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  14. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    It's not as characteristic as their later releases but it has some great songs. Next To You, So Lonely, Peanuts, Truth Hits Everybody and the two singles are all great. Regatta is still my favorite, with Synchronicity close behind. Zenyatta has some incredible moments but is marred by some not so great moments that seem to meander. Ghost In The Machine is my least favorite, though Spirits might be my favorite Police song. I tend to lose focus when listening to that album.

    I have all of them on original cd's with the AM+ label and I have no problem.
     
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  15. mkat71

    mkat71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    San Rafael, CA
    I don't know exactly why, but the only Police album I DON'T like is Synchronicity. I like all of them up to that point, I think especially the first two. No matter how much Sting may progress as an artist, I will always think of him as a quirky new wave guy, and I much prefer that raw, "underdeveloped" side of him. Less pretentious.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
  16. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    I hear you. I think that "pretentiousness" may have started with Synchronicity, and at that time it became more about Sting and less about the whole group. With that being said, they still managed to put out a fine album. Synchronicity just hit with me somehow back in the day when I first heard it. I know it's all hits, but Side 2 is one of the best album sides of all time, imo. Side 1 is good too, with the exception of Mother. Walking In Your Footsteps and Miss Gradenko are okay. The two Synchronicities are great tunes.
     
  17. Todd W.

    Todd W. It's a Puggle

    Location:
    Maryland
    Follow me, if you will, to the Beatles tune No. 9..........Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV. Mainly, like a lot of new music at that time. I will say I don't mind it , but I haven't played it in literally years. I bought the album when it first came out. I agree with a poster above about the over saturation of The Police. They were everywhere. I listen to every other more than Synchronicity.
     
  18. roadtonever

    roadtonever Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Tensions were rising in the band. Sting wanted Every Breath to be played straight, Copeland wanted it to be played with a reggae beat. What you hear in the album is the result of a bunch of arguments. Did you ever notice that upbeat snare hit at the very beginning of the track?
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
  19. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    Yeah. Great way to start the song :)
     
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  20. jamesc

    jamesc Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Agreed.
     
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  21. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Forgive me, as I'm sure that this question has been answered somewhere in the 40 pages here, but I skimmed through a few and didn't find it. Are the 2003 redbook digipak CDs brickwalled and loudness-war'd? I spotted two of them in a store today and I really like the packaging, and recently I have been getting into the band. I don't mind a little bit of compression, which they seem to use, but I want to make sure that they are not totally unlistenable. Thanks and sorry.
     
  22. SOONERFAN

    SOONERFAN Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norman, Oklahoma
    They are not very well thought of on this forum is my understanding. I have not listened to them myself but think most folks here would agree that you would be better off with the old stock unremastered discs which you can get dirt cheap.
     
    ricks likes this.
  23. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Depends on what you would call unlistenable, but they are the less dynamic versions.
     
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  24. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    How bad are they? Does anybody have pictures of the waveforms? My only concern is that it won't cause listener fatigue.

    And as for unlistenability, the Nevermind "remaster" from 2011 is sort of Mount Olympus. I can tolerate masterings that aren't as bad as that (like the 2009 Rolling Stones ones, I've posted pictures in the loudness war thread).
     
  25. Well it certainly has its place. I do agree with some here that the mastering for "Ghost" isn't the best and there are other flaws as well including needle drops, the beginning cut off of "Shambelle" (Summers). There are other flaws as well but I've also heard worse mastering for these albums. I'd put the box in the middle of quality--not the best and not the worst I've ever heard most of these songs.

    The U.S. Standard version (Audio Master plus) of "Ghost" beats the version here to death. There's also some tape damage evident on one tune (can't remember which) and it doesn't include EVERYTHING the band recorded as claimed.
     
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