The Police

This 1981 album was a smash hit, and for good reason. Before Sting went off to become the most sanctimonious dweeb that ever lived, the Police hit on a formula that combined elements of reggae, new wave and prog rock, coming away with truly distinctive music you could dance and sing to. It didn't hurt that the hits off here were catchier than West Nile Virus.

Esperanto, like the League of Nations, was one of those good ideas that just didn't work.
Intended as an international language not native to anyone but foreign to no one—an
answer to divisiveness dating back to the Tower of Babel – it failed because its design gave
a sop to every culture while capturing the passion of none. The same is often true of pop
music that attempts to meld the resources of various countries. Native idioms, w... More >

It's pointless to deny that they make the chops work for the common good--both their trickiness and their simplicity provide consistent pleasure here. But with drummer, manager, and booking agent all scions of a CIA honcho, I have my doubts about their standing as a progressive force. Whether you're following in the old man's footsteps, offing the motherf*cker, or striving for a livable compromise, roots like that leave you twisted, if only to the tune of a middlebrow cliché like Sting's "There is no political solution." In the kindest construction, say their politics are as astute, liberal, and well-meaning as those of Pete "Won't Get Fooled Again" Townshend, who also needs reminding that we're not just spirits in the material world--we're also matter in the material world, which is why things get sticky. (Grade - B+)