"Synchronicity" was known by the band to be the last album they would record together. Sting was ready to explore his jazz interests, and was ready to leave his new wave/reaggae/rock band behind. It is always a pleasure to see a legend leave on top of their game, and that's exactly what the Police did with this album.

"The Police" were pretty much the world's biggest band in the early 80's. "Zenyatta Monetta" and "Ghost in the machine" were both best sellers when they were released. However, Sting and the boys had other interests to explore outside of their band. They knew that this was to be their last album together, and to make it their best. This included being ambitious and smart with their music arrangements and lyrics. The Police put this all together on "Synchronicity" to become the #2 album of 1983.

As much as a group effort as "Synchronicity" is, more than anything it is Stings album (much like "Wham!'s Make It Big" was George Michaels album). The biggest cuts and hits from this album focus on Stings distinctive vocals and humming basslines. Also Stings interest in complex psychological takes over, making for less calypso/reaggae numbers of simplicity and more of a variety of music with worldly and jazz influences. It helps in making "Synchronicity" a critics and consumers favorite.

The album launched five singles, four which hit the top 40, three which hit the top ten, and one that hit number one. "Synchronicity II" is a complex song full of lush arrangements, with the lyrics dealing with bland and boring suburban life middle aged adults face. "King of Pain" is a dark song with a fast beat to it and very complex lyrics making metaphorical comparasions. It hit number three on the charts. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" deals with the mind games that men and women play with each other and what they truly are thinking about when they are courting one another. Again, he uses a deep vocabulary in the song, along with Indian sounding style to make for another complex song. It hit number eight on the charts and is the last charting single by the Police. "Every Breath You Take" is the infamous number one hit and also the biggest song of 1983, inching past Michael Jackson's big three of '83 ("Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Say Say Say.") Written by Sting overnight when he awoke from a dream, the song remains one of the most misunderstood songs in history (along with the Eagles "Hotel California" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."). It is in essence NOT a love song, but instead a song about inner thoughts and feelings of a stalker when finding their crush. The pop arrangements of the song and the humming bassline from Sting made it the most pop/rock style song on the album even though the dark lyrics hid another meaning. It also foreshadowed Sting's solo career as this was truly his song, though it is credited to the Police.

The other songs are okay. "Synchronicity I" is another complex song. "Walking with a dinosaur" and "Mother" are pretty basic filler, "Oh My God" is Sting's confession of losing his belief in religion and faith, and "Tea in the Sahara", the only non-charting single, is a beautiful way to close out the album, a foreshadowing of things to come with the mysterious, jazzy feel it had, which is what Sting worked a lot with in his solo career.

After releasing the album, the band launched a worldwide tour, which lasted until early 1986, making that truly the year that they broke up. Unlike the Beatles and Led Zepplin who didn't give a final tour, it was nice for fans to get to see the legends live one final time. Going out on top is a rare feat for people to do, but "the Police" did it with "Synchronicity". It allowed Sting the ability to start his solo career with nothing hold him back.

By the seminal band of the eighties! Though this wasn't the album that got me INTERESTED in Sting and the Police, it was a decent eventualization of what they had been doing on "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost In The Machine" They had, by this time, just about completely chucked the reggae/calypso influence which had been a trademark of theirs on "Regatta De Blanc" and "Outlandos D'Amour". This was replaced by what would eventually become Sting's solo trademarks: political awareness, psychological speculation and observation, both inward and outward, and genre-hopping musical styles.

The album title, "Synchronicity", is taken from a book by Carl Jung, discussing "interconnecting principals" and "cause and effect"...something which, oddly enough, doesn't really appear on the album itself, except on one song, but whatever floats Stingsy's boat, I guess....This is classic Sting... pretense with substance...(g)

The songwriting, at least as far as Sting and Copeland are concerned on this album, is exceptional:

1) "Synchronicity I": One of the two title tunes on the album, this is the ONLY song to deal with the title theme of the album itself. Though it sounds vaguely like a threat or a warning, ("You WILL know...Synchronicity!") and not just a glorification of the philosophy.

2) "Walking In Your Footsteps": A rather corny tune, asking long dead dinosaurs whether they have "a lesson for us", comparing these behemoths to pacifist whales that were "three stories high, but wouldn't hurt a fly". Yeah, Gordon...say that to a stegosaur that's just been half devoured by good ol' Tyrannosaurus Rex!

This is, however, the ONLY "cutesy" song on the album! Other themes are quite serious, like the next one, 3) "Oh My God!", a lament concerning the lack of concern the Almighty seems to have for Sting's character's life. One of my all-time favorite Sting lines is in this song: "Oh my God, you take the biscuit, treating me this way...expecting me to treat you well, no matter what you say! How CAN I turn the other cheek? It's black and bruised and torn...I've been waiting...since the day that I was born....FILLITUP! FILLITUP!! Fill it uuuup!"

4) "Mother": Apparently, Andy Summers, who wrote this one, has BIG Tony Perkins issues...this song is VERY out of place on the album and suggests a "Psycho" element within Summers' mental makeup. It's best skipped, believe me!

5) "Miss Gradenko": The only other song that could even remotely be described as "cutesy"...it seems to be about a teacher or office worker being confronted about how she feels or her conduct within the workplace...the "policy meeting" thing has me wondering just WHAT the song IS about, however. This is the one by Copeland.

6) "Synchronicity II": The first archival tune you'll think of after listening to this song for about ten seconds will be one of the Monkees' better hits, "Pleasant Valley Sunday". Its main thrust seems to be the criticism of the bland, standard American/Western suburban lifestyle. However, there's a sub-stratum story warning of a mysterious entity rising from a "dark Scottish lake" that has you scratching your head throughout the tune!

7) "Every Breath You Take": The ubiquitous top 40 hit that was eventually turned into a hip hop sample by the inimitable "P. Diddy", this is a song romaticizing obsession with one person, almost to the point of stalking, for all I can see. But the tunesmithing is infectious and anybody who has been wronged, male or female,in a relationship, can readily identify with how the singer, (Sting,) feels.

8) "King of Pain": I, entirely to myself, nicknamed Sting "The Little Pope" after hearing this and seeing the "EBYT" video. In this song, the very talented Mr. Sumner seems to be talking to God again, asking him why all the suffering and paradoxes are taking place around him. In it, he transfers his soul to a number of objects caught in impossible traps or situations...("...that's my soul up there!"), and after listening to all this, you have to say to yourself...that Sting is one COMPLEX dude! No question about it!

9) "Wrapped Around Your Finger": A song telling the tale of a humble little fellow marking time as he waits to turn the tables on a well-situated superior of some sort...a mentor or a feudal landowner..who knows? But it DOES bring up some interesting visuals!

10) "Tea In The Sahara": My personal favorite on the album...a song OBVIOUSLY inspired by the film "Dune", which Sting had been working on as he was also completing this album. The denouement of the song seems to almost parallel the tale of Paul and Jessica among the Fremen..."My sisters and I...have one wish before we die..and it may sound strange, as if our minds are deranged...Please don't ask us why...beneath the sheltering sky...we have this strange obsession...you have the means in your possession!" (Muau'Dib training the Fremen in the Bene Gesserit "weirding" way)...."The young man agreed...he would satisfy their need...so they danced for his pleasure...with a joy YOU COULD NOT MEASURE! (sietch orgy) Please wait for him dear (Chani)...the same place every year (Sietch Tabr)...Beneath the sheltering sky...across the desert he would fly..." Sound familiar? I can just see Muau'Dib and Stilgar riding the sandworm to Arrakeen as the imagery is conjured up....

All in all, DEFINITE break with Police tradition, musically, as well as lyrically, as "Miss Gradenko", aside from ALMOST being "cutesy", ALSO is the only tune that sounds remotely Caribbean in flavor on the album.

If you want a good example of the stage in the career of the Police where Sting pretty much turned into the artist he is now, this is the album to get..."Zenyatta" and "Ghost" would be more embryonic along those lines.

Highly recommended!

In 1984, at the peak of their career, The Police decided to call it quits (although the group did not officially disband until 1986). The grand finale to their musical career is this album, "Synchronicity". And what a fine finish it is!

The album begins with "Synchronicity I", a relatively fast-paced piece led by keyboard. Then it picks up with "Walking In Your Footsteps", a simple and calm song. Next is "O My God", which sounds a little more like a traditional Police composition, followed by the more than slightly bizarre "Mother", with lead vocals by Andy Stewart. Stewart Copeland leads "Miss Gradenko", a kind-hearted song, and then we're on to "Synchronicity II". "Synchronicity II" is - in my opinion - one of the best Police songs, and it's definitely quite a bit better than the already fine "Synchronicity I". There's catchy guitar and vocal work, accompanied by Copeland's familiar percussion work. It's the seventh track when the album begins to get truly remarkable.

I'm talking about "Every Breath You Take", arguably the best composition of The Police's career and definitely the most popular. The highlight of the song is Sting's bass guitar work; the song was later re-worked for P. "Copycat" Diddy's "I'll Be Missing You". Following this great track is "King Of Pain", another excellent song which is among my favorites. The next two songs are somewhat similar, in that they're both calm and with a mystical aura. The first is another one of my favorite songs, the flawlessly done "Wrapped Around Your Finger". The second is "Tea in the Sahara", which originally beautifully sealed off The Police's musical career with its mysterious-sounding lyrics - the song brings to my head an image of the sahara desert, probably unsurprisingly.

For the CD release of the album, "Murder by Numbers" was added - which, don't get me wrong, is a fine song, but using it as a closing for the album destroys the mood that was set by "Tea in the Sahara".

"Synchronicity" is one of the best CDs of the eighties. I'd say that it's very likely The Police's greatest effort. No Police collection is complete without it.

"Synchronicity" was the fifth and final full-studio album by the trio, The Police. This album was a monster success that was propelled by the hit single "Every Breath You Take". To say that "Synchronicity" was a monster success because of that one song is greatly inaccurate. On this album, The Police had shown they had arrived. The first two albums "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta De Blanc", The Police established their foundation sound - basically a sound that consisted of elements of Punk, Reggae, and Jazz. On the next two albums "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost in the Machine", The Police began to expand that foundation sound to have more of a Classic Rock sound - along with some deeper lyrics It seems with each successive album, The Police continued to grow as a band. "Synchronicity" marks the band completing their evolution. Because of its commercial success, many consider this a Pop album. I tend to disagree - yes there are some Pop elements, but there are also Classic Rock Elements, elements that have the old style of The Police, and even some new avenues. The result - another homerun by the trio.

On "Ghost in the Machine", The Police had begun to experiment with the use of Keyboards and Horns in their music. This trend continues on this collection. However, the foundation of the band Sting's Bass, Andy Summers' Guitar, and Stewart Copeland's Drums are very much present. In fact, I think each of the band members give their strongest Bass, Guitar, and Drum work respectively. One thing is that Sting continues to be the main songwriter for the band. Sting had always liked to make use of metaphors in his songwriting - this collection represents the best use of metaphors possible.

"Synchronicity I": This is a powerful opening song. There is a great keyboard intro, but Stewart Copeland's drumming is ferocious. Sting's vocals are right on the mark with great harmonies. The word Synchronicity is based on Jungian Theory that refers to a coincidence of events that are meaningfully related. This song gives lots of examples of that.

"Walking in Your Footsteps": This is a very unique song that is dominated by an African sounding percussion. This is a very underrated track. Sting draws an analogy to the path we are going down in today's world to the path the Dinosaurs took (toward extinction). Sting vocals also shine.

"O My God": This another underrated track. Sting's Bass, Andy's Guitar, and Stewart's Drums are outstanding on this track providing for some great instrumentation. The Horn Work that started on "Ghost in the Machine" is back for this song. Lyrically, this is a song where Sting is being to doubt his spiritual beliefs.

"Mother": This is definitely an experimental track by The Police. This was not only a song written by Andy, but it features Andy on vocals! I think this is a great change of pace. There is almost a Middle-Eastern Sound to this song - but there also is a very bizarre element to this song. Definitely an example of new avenues pursued by The Police.

"Miss Grandenko": This is Stewart Copeland's lone penned song on the collection. This has a very catchy beat. It somehow seems like The Police's version of "Mrs. Robinson". It also has a feel to their older material.

"Synchronicity II": Like "Synchronicity I", this is a powerful song. Stewart's drumming is ferocious throughout, but Andy Summers provides some incredible guitar work as well. Sting is on top form with his vocals. Although the word "Synchronicity" isn't used in this song, this time the coincidence of events are now applied to suburban family life. On "The Police - Live" album, "I and II" are played to back to back and segue nice. On this album, "Miss Grandenko" provides a nice segue to this song.

"Every Breath You Take": Despite being the monster hit, I think it's the collection's weak spot. Not only has it been overplayed, but it has been over sampled in too many other songs (especially in Sting's work). It's a simple song. Sting provides some excellent Bass melodies and Stewart does a relatively simple, but effective drum patterns.

"King of Pain": This might have been a Top 10 smash, but it is far from a Pop Song. I think this perhaps the strongest song done by the trio on any collection. The Piano intro is outstanding and of course, Stewart, Andy, and Sting are incredible on Drums, Guitar, and Bass respectively. This is a very Dark song chock full of some great metaphors.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger": Same category as "King of Pain" - a Top 10 smash, but far from a Pop Song. This is another song loaded with metaphors and nouns such as "Scylla", "Charybdis", and "Mephistopheles". This song also has a haunting element to it. I think Sting's Bass work is underrated in this song.

"Tea in the Sahara": Here we begin to hear a Jazz element ( a prelude to Sting's first solo album). This song is a cross between Jazz and light Middle Eastern song. There also is a haunting element to this.

"Murder By Numbers": This song wasn't included on the Vinyl version, but was a B-side to "Every Breath You Take". This song also has a Jazz Element that reminds you almost of a Supper Club. This is another dark and haunting song, but it is a very good piece of work by the Police.

In terms of the commercial sales of "Synchronicity", I do think that much of this was due to the fact that "Every Breath You Take" was such a monster pop hit. While I do think the content of "Synchonicity" did win a lot of mainstream fans overt to The Police' style of music, I do think if the Police had made another album shortly after "Synchronicity", they would have trouble with matching the commercial success of "Synchronicity". Overall, this is a great album - highly recommended to all fans.

At first when you hear an album like this, it may seem like an average "good", well constructed pop-album, but it actually contains one of the qualities I love about any good album, it grows on you. Let me tell you, the powerhouse that is Stewart Copeland calls for any serious drummer in any genre to listen and study his approach, not only to pop drumming, but drumming in general. He changed pop-drumming in many ways with his insane hi-hat technique and polyrythmic adventures. With that said, it`s an album with exclusively great songs. Not a single one that`s not a good song in itself. Some songs gets you off at first, while some need a few listenings before it "sits", but if you can`t get your groove on from this album, you are either deaf, or a republican...