Zenyatta Mondatta [Enhanced, Original recording remastered]

I was just a kid when this album came out. I admit at the time I was disappointed. My head was still very much into Reggatta De Blanc. But as I have grown older I've liked this album more and more. I still listen to this album alot even now. The problem with this album is that it verges on the cheesy pop stuff at times, on tracks such as De Do Do Do... and Man In A Suitcase. But when you listen more closely you start to appreciate the creativty of Sting, Summers and Copeland merging together to create a work of art on songs such as Voices Inside My Head and Shadows In The Rain amazing guitars from Summers. To Driven To Tears and When The World Is Running Down... fantastic driving drums and bass. Don't Stand So Close To Me is the all time classic on this album and who could argue? This is probably the poorest of the Police albums but that doesn't mean it isn't any good, in fact it is still a great album.

I bought this album because I wanted to finally explore some of the Police's other early songs, having owned only The Police 2CD compilation and the last two albums. It has buckets of the classic Police 'soundscape' which I love so much. Zenyatta Mondatta is I guess anchored by the two songs that most people probably know best and which were singles- 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' and 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da'. Both are classic Police and the latter in particular sends you into that magical Police world of the four elements: Copeland's fabulous drumming, Andy's sublime clean guitar tones and Sting's bass and vocals. 'Driven To Tears'is a competent track with some nice sounds and atmosphere, but the third song 'Voices Inside My Head' is better, a good quasi-instrumental to which Sting adds only two simple lines of lyrics. One of the two forgotten Police classics (for me at least!) on this album which I am delighted to have discovered is 'When The World Is Running Down...', bathed beautifully in Andy Summer's fantastic chorus guitar effects and improved further by an excellent bass line interval in the middle. It ends nicely too with the verse repeating as it fades-out, which I liked a lot. The other great little song is 'Man In A Suitcase', a fairly simple and short ska style song, but its bare sound and upbeat feel makes it really pleasant and for me addictive. This song begins brilliantly with a typically incredible Copeland drum roll to bring the verse in at the beginning- listen out for it! 'Canary in a Coalmine' is a real gem, possibly the third best song after the singles and in my personal top ten Police songs. It's frantic and loopy with great rhyming lyrics. But possibly the best part is the slowdown around 1:27 which brings in a great piano line to start the song back up again, listen out for it too! 'Bombs Away' is an interesting number, not the best Police track ever but has some strong political implications in its lyrics and is rescued a little by an okay Egyptian sounding guitar solo in the middle. 'Behind My Camel' is not too great an effort, despite the fact I adore Andy Summer's guitar playing, I'm not sure what he was up to here really!!! 'Shadows In The Rain' and The Other Way of Stopping' are in much the same vein as 'Driven To Tears' as they have some interesting sounds but are otherwise not especially compelling. Zenyatta Mondatta is in many ways The Police's Beatles For Sale (they apparently finished it at 4am on the morning of their world tour), but nonetheless it's still an album full of quality as with the Beatles LP. Some of the songs are fairly simply made, without too many complex parts (unlike the next Police album after it). But I really enjoy the overall feel of the album, liking it as much as their more acclaimed Regatta De Blanc. There is plenty to enjoy! I count 8 hits and only 3 misses out of 11. If you can pick it up cheap on amazon it's well worth a listen to see what you think. There is some brilliant music making here, putting to shame modern day bands in all genres by being excellently recorded despite being a little rushed!!!!

I had this on cassette as a kid in the 1970s. This Re-Mastered CD is a revelation in sound. The bass and drums come alive and really make the songs stand out. Even the few cheesy songs are given a new life. What I find spectacular with this album is the inspiring duo of songs Driven to tears/When the world is running down you make the best of whats still around. These two tracks alone really make this album for me. The way they segue into one-another is awe inspiring. It also contains other classic songs such as Don't stand so close to me and Shadows in the rain.
This is a great album of inspired songs when The Police were at the top.