[SACD-R][OF] The Police - Synchronicity - 1983/2016 (New wave; Post-punk; Pop; Rock)

Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by The Police, released in 1983. The band’s most popular release, Synchronicity includes the number one single, “Every Breath You Take.” The album’s title was inspired by Arthur Koestler’s The Roots of Coincidence, which mentions Carl Jung’s theory of Synchronicity. Sting was an avid reader of Koestler, and also named Ghost in the Machine after one of his works.
The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band’s first four records, instead featuring production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers that, at times, drove entire songs (“Synchronicity I”, “Wrapped Around Your Finger”). The influence of World music can also be heard in songs such as “Tea in the Sahara” and “Walking in Your Footsteps”. Sting’s material dominates the album, with the two short tracks by Andy Summers (“Mother”) and Stewart Copeland (“Miss Gradenko”) being seen by the band themselves as concessions.
As with their prior album, the basic tracks for Synchronicity were recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat. For sound engineering reasons, the three band members recorded their parts in separate rooms: Copeland with his drums in the dining room, Sting in the control room, and Summers in the actual studio. This physical separation underscored the increasing tension and strain in the relationship between the bandmates. According to co-producer Hugh Padgham, subsequent overdubs were actually done with only one member in the studio at a time due to such strain.
Synchronicity topped both the Billboard Pop Albums and Billboard 200 charts (ending the reign of Michael Jackson’s Thriller for a while in the US). It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In 2001, the TV network VH1 named Synchronicity the 50th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 455 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media ranked it #55 in their list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.
All Music Review

Although the Police’s fifth release, 1983’s Synchronicity, would be their most commercially successful and lead to a sold-out tour of enormodomes (including New York’s Shea Stadium), it would turn out to be the trio’s final album and tour. Like all Police recordings, Synchronicity contains some obvious “filler” (such as the silly dinosaur tale of “Walking in Your Footsteps” and the almost unlistenable “Mother”), but for the most part, it’s exceptional. One of 1983’s biggest singles, the haunting “Every Breath You Take” is an obvious highlight, as well as other hits — the cacophonous rocker “Synchronicity II,” plus the far more temperate “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “King of Pain.” Also included are the oft-overlooked tracks “O My God,” “Synchronicity I” (used as a concert opener on the ensuing tour), “Tea in the Sahara,” “Murder by Numbers,” and the Stewart Copeland original “Miss Gradenko.” Few other albums from 1983 merged tasteful pop, sophistication, and expert songwriting as well as Synchronicity did, resulting in yet another all-time classic.