Track Listing

1. Message In A Bottle
2. Reggatta De Blanc
3. It's Alright For You
4. Bring On The Night
5. Deathwish
6. Walking On The Moon
7. On Any Other Day
8. The Bed's Too Big Without You
9. Contact
10. Does Everyone Stare
11. No Time This Time
12. Walking On The Moon

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8441 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .19 pounds
• Running time: 46 minutes

CD Description
The career of the Police was planned, controlled and timed to perfection. The three talented individuals probably always knew that they would attempt to conquer the world and thendisappear to pursue their own musical interests. This is the second of their five albums and contains two number 1 hits. Both are interesting little vignettes from the mind of Sting; 'Walking On The Moon', where he pleads 'I hope my legs don't break', and 'Message In A Bottle', which has a similarly desperate theme, with Sting observing 'seems I'm not alonein being alone, 100 billion castaways looking for a home'. Sting's theories do still hold water.

Customer Reviews

Some may say, I'm wishing my days away...
Classic album. A phrase often used, well for once the term is being applied wisely here. If i were to sit down and write down my top ten albums of all time this would be in there without hesitation.

Regatta De Blanc musically was the Police masterpiece, recorded before the media frenzy had gathered speed, the band had such a tight schedule of world tours restricting their creativity, and written before the need to dial out all the reggae stuff that Middle America couldn't handle.

This was as honest as the band got during recording an album and that is reflected in the feel and sound of the album. Sting, Andy and Stewart were really able to create the space around the instruments that became their trademark, and reached a standard of song writing that set standards of its own.

The songs themselves have a natural feel to them, with each musician shining through. Stings jazz influenced bassline in bring on the night, Andy's performance in Walking on the moon, Stewart driving along Message in a Bottle... Some of the tracks towards the end penned by Stewart are not in the same mould as Sting's but their inclusion here shows that at the time this was recorded, the band were still experimenting and not yet expecting every track to be a final polished product.

My summary of Regatta De Blanc is this. If an example is needed of a group finding their Mojo, this is it.

World Domination Begins Here!
This is the album which (on the back of Outlandos d'Amour) catapulted The Police to worldwide superstardom, and both remained in the top 100 of the album chart for more than a year. Message In A Bottle starts the ball rolling, and immediately immerses you in the music - less high energy than Outlandos, but definitely pioneering a new musical direction - white reggae - epitomised by the great title track. The whole band play well, but Copeland edges it for me, his brilliant drumming so expressive, but not overpowering. Apart from Messaage, the other highlights are Bring On The Night, Walking On The Moon, and Bed's Too Big Without You. I would like to have given it 5 stars, but somehow the album loses its way slightly on side two - the two tracks written by Copeland not really up to the standard of the rest, I feel. The closing track, No Time This Time, is the B-side to So Lonely, and is a return to their punky roots - a good song, but it almost seems out of place here, because the band have already moved on.

The high point for the Police and Sting.
The high point for the Police and Sting.

The recipe: combine the reggae influenced drumming of Stewart Coupland, the excellent guitar work of Andy Summers and Sting before pretentiousness set in; then mix with some great songs and a sense of humour.

The result: a fantastic album (in fact two fantastic albums - Outlandos D'amour is just as good).

There are a couple of very famous tracks - Message In A Bottle; Walking on the Moon - but in fact the whole album still works.

The subsequent Police albums never reached these heights (although they are not terrible) and as for Sting...