Product Description

Although the Police lasted for less than a decade, they recorded enough material to fill out the four CDs that make up MESSAGE IN A BOX. In addition to everything on their five studio albums, this box set contains soundtrack material, singles and demos featuring the contributions of guitarist Andy Summers' predecessor Henri Padovani (on the band's first single "Fallout" b/w "Nothing Achieving"). The Police's most consistent quality was their anomalousness.
Their path started in the punk environs of mid-'70s London despite the factthat all three were older and had considerably better chops(due to varying jazz backgrounds) than their rebellious contemporaries. Despite these differences, the Police combined biting lyrical imagery with a musical fusion of reggae, punkand pop that resulted in material as mainstream as "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "King Of Pain" and as wonderfully quirky as "Be My Girl-Sally" and "On Any Other Day". Along the way, the Police released songs about generational differences ("Born in the '50s"), Irish politics ("Invisible Sun") and the ultimate ode to manipulation and their only number one hit ("Every Breath You Take").

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Fall Out
2. Nothing Achieving
3. Dead End Job
4. Next To You
5. So Lonely
6. Roxanne
7. Hole In My Life
8. Peanuts Album Version
9. Can't Stand Losing You
10. Truth Hits Everybody
11. Born In The 50's
12. Be My Girl - Sally
13. Masoko Tanga
14. Landlord Live "Message In A Box Version"
15. Next To You Live "Message In A Box Version"
16. Landlord
17. Message In A Bottle
18. Reggatta De Blanc
19. It's Alright For You
20. Bring On The Night
21. Deathwish

Disc 2:

1. Walking On The Moon
2. On Any Other Day
3. The Bed's Too Big Without You
4. Contact Album Version
5. Does Everyone Stare
6. No Time This Time
7. Visions Of The Night
8. The Bed's Too Big Without You Mono Version
9. Truth Hits Everybody Live In Boston Version
10. Friends
11. Don't Stand So Close To Me
12. Driven To Tears
13. When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
14. Canary In A Coalmine
15. Voices Inside My Head
16. Bombs Away
17. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
18. Behind My Camel
19. Man In A Suitcase
20. Shadows In The Rain
21. The Other Way Of Stopping

Disc 3:

1. A Sermon
2. Driven To Tears Live "Message In A Box Version"
3. Shambelle
4. Spirits In The Material World
5. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
6. Invisible Sun
7. Hungry For You (J'Aurais Toujours Faim De Toi)
8. Demolition Man
9. Too Much Information
10. Rehumanize Yourself
11. One World (Not Three)
12. Omegaman
13. Secret Journey
14. Darkness
15. Flexible Strategies
16. Low Life
17. How Stupid Mr. Bates
18. A Kind Of Loving

Disc 4:

1. Synchronicity I
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II
7. Every Breath You Take
8. King Of Pain
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Tea In The Sahara
11. Murder By Numbers
12. Man In A Suitcase Live "Message In A Box Version"
13. Someone To Talk To
14. Message In A Bottle Live "Message In A Box Version"
15. I Burn For You
16. Once Upon A Daydream
17. Tea In The Sahara Live In Atlanta Version
18. Don't Stand So Close To Me '86 Dance Mix

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22795 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-23
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Running time: 285 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece
Message in a box is an absolute must have for any music fan, its got everything The Police ever recorded, with a load of unreleased live and studio tracks, the booklet if full of interesting facts about the group and its members, with great unreleased photos, at this great price it would be a real Stinger to get arrested with out it. Any Police fans dream in a box. 5/5

hell yeah !
this is a must ! i mean a MUST ! what more could you want , 4 cd's and a book with it , the shots in the book are lovely , songs rock !
good buy !

Excellent buy overall - sound could be better though and book a bit insipid
What more could you want if you're a Police fan? Every track they ever released in one package and some live rarities on top. I have most of the albums on cassette from another age and was struck immediately that a lot of the tracks lacked "punch" on this particular CD format, especially in the mid range. The book that contains the CDs is interesting as a brief biog of the three members but only takes about 20 minutes to read and has far too many sub-arty coffee-table type photos. Let's be honest - The Police didn't become popular for their looks... Overall though, can't complain and don't know of another box set that can match this for completeness. Some of the early material is a bit forced and faux-punk, the middle stuff still sounds really fresh, spare and innovative and the later stuff starts feeling over-produced, something Sting's solo efforts sometimes suffered from later but overall a pristine slice of early 80s pop history and would definitely recommend to others.