I don't know if I like Darkness that early. Something about those thunder peels wrapping up the album is just too perfect.

Apparently the last 2 tracks Once Upon a Daydream and Shambelle were on the original running order and dropped at the last minute along with I Burn for You. I love the original album. It is my favourite Police LP. It is a series of great and complex songs on an album with an intriguing title - Ghost in the Machine. It holds together well. However, after a few listens of the alternative version I prefer it. It has a greater flow. It has an arc. Invisible Sun is mysterious and haunting and draws the listener in. A great opener. It is followed by the rage of Demolition Man, the mystery of Secret Journey and the compelling and poetic Darkness. Moving those dark and heavier tracks to an early placing on side one allows for better individual consideration thematically and creates peaks and troughs. Clarification comes with what we are listening to with Spirits in the Material World - that is what we are, according to this album. Just as your brain is starting to melt with that we get the meta headwreck of Too Much Information. With that track listing on side one there is air around every track. That does not happen on the original release. We have time to think and consider what we are hearing. Everything is linked, which we understood wirh the original album, but with this alternative track listing there is real coherance which counterpoints the albium title. The gloriously soring Omega Man closes side one and carries the listener energetically to side 2. Side two starts with the powerful polemic of One World followed by the even more intense Rehumanise Yourself and the sexual desire of I Burn for You and Hungry . We come up for air with Every Little Thing. It is such a welcome breather before the dark clincher Once Upon a Day Dream, the behavioural nadir of people and families in the urban western world. Then we have an emotional comedown on the album closing instrumental Shambelle. It works for me. This is more of a spiritual journey. Note the placing of Secret Journey as track 3 - and now possibly the centre piece of the LP. This is the lost masterpiece arrangment. It a new wave concept album on how society, mainstream education or lack of it, shallow culture and western religions can cause disfunction within the individual and the family. The answer is to make a secret interrior journey into the self to evolve and heal. Start with the self and the world will heal arround you. Brilliant. So glad it was released. I cannot stop playing it. I hate picture discs. Sound quality is so-so. It hope this gets a proper release on vinyl and cd.

@liam89th

Жыл бұрын

Once Upon A Daydream should definitely have been on the album. Brilliant song and better than a lot of the songs that actually are on the album.

@josephdevlin7528

Жыл бұрын

@@liam89th A great song lost on a later b side.

I’m a huge police fan love all their albums but Ghost in the machine is my favorite. I definitely like the resequencing album.

The Police’s White Album. Three solo projects in one record. Darkness and Omegaman were a creative leap in songwriting for Stewart and Andy, and an improvement upon the Sting filler tunes typically used to finish off their LPs. I Burn For You should have replaced Hungry For You on the original album. Sting brought a collection of synth pop demos into the studio for Ghost that the band never ended up recording. You can listen to them here on KZread.

Dont some of the tracks now have the count ins at the begining of the songs ?

I have always thought of this record as their masterpiece (and given the quality of the other albums, that's saying something!). What separates this album for me is the omission of obvious "filler" that the other albums have. You can make the argument that "Synchronicity" is devoid of filler, but I just think the songs are stronger on "Ghost". Beyond "One World" and "Demolition Man", I think the rest of the songs are just amazing and I never really get tired of listening to it. It's such a departure from "Zenyatta" and the additions of synths and horns are tastefully done. Additionally, this record covers so much musical territory with the help of some great contributions by Stewart and Andy. "Darkness", "Secret Journey" and "Rehumanize Yourself" is about as good as it gets for me, but I love most of the other tracks as well. Just a musical high point of this oft maligned decade.... 😁

@amitytracks

9 ай бұрын

Totally agree. My favorite Police album.

@juliosanchez95

7 ай бұрын

Steel Drums???? There are no steel drums on the album.@@amitytracks

The “I Burn For You” version is different than the previously released version. This new version doesn’t have the chanting in the second half of the song & is mixed differently with the lead vocal mixed lower giving it more of a Police sound & less of a Sting solo sound.

I had no idea those were supposed to be images of the bands faces. Wow

The official version we first got is tighter and sequenced better, but this alternate release is a fascinating listen and lends the whole experience a fresh coat of paint. It’s great to have, but I can see why they made the changes they did. Secret Journey should always be a late, Side 2 track.

"Invisible Sun" has additional vocal parts. "I Burn for You" here is a different version, not just cut compared to single release.

I love this dark and foreboding album. It’s a shame it’s a picture disc as they sound awful. I love Shambelle.

I knew about the existence of the picture disc but I didn't know it was released on Spotify with a black cover and the digital symbols in green. It seems to me a much better order to enjoy the album again. Although not remixed or remastered, this (new/old)master differs from the classic album in some longer starts and codas ( including Copeland counting)and as rightly pointed out in the comments, the mix of "I burn For You is" is different, missing some guitar riff and final drum rolls. And I also seem to hear a flute or Keyboard in unison with Sting's final vocal melody. As it is a different master, it is possible that the harmonics might make us think that it is a different mix. I don't think so but I could be wrong

Great Album. If you ever come across the Nautilus SuperDisk pressing of this album it's worth getting. The sound quality is Great. I know other Nautilus pressings are disappointing, but GITM is awesome.

Increíble disco de the police 👍

I'm no expert on vinyl or vinyl mastering, but if people did buy it for any perceived audio upgrade, they've probably wasted their money. It's a long established fact that the more play time you shove onto the same 12 inches of vinyl space the more, the audio quality degrades. It's one of the reasons 12 inch singles sounded so much better than 7 inches. More space, less groove congestion, wider grooves, bigger bass, etc. Add the that the, erm, 'dubious' quality of picture disk vinyl and you have a recipe for .. (insert your own word) I'm sure they can afford the best in vinyl mastering engineers, but you cannae change the laws of physics, captain

The track listing is the actual original track listing.

I actually own the vinyl for the soundtrack fro Brimstone and Treacle. I used to rent that movie from eroll's video back in the early 80s! I'm pretty sure the other two previously unreleased tracked were 45 B sides.

Not sure why the order of songs is so important as this new disc demonstrates that the songs can be heard in another sequence. Most CD players have the option of playing the songs in random order. They sound great any way you arrange them.

I am weary of buying Picture discs because of their poor sound quality.. is there an issue with this release?? Thanks for this posting! 😉

@amitytracks

Жыл бұрын

I've never been a big fan of the picture disc. I didn't hear any problems on mine, but it didn't improve on the sound of my original copy.

Those Digital Heads On The Albums Are Andy Sting & Stewart

@fatherpaulstone896

9 ай бұрын

No shit

@gregoryjones8014

9 ай бұрын

@@fatherpaulstone896 Yes Shit

The sound quality of the picture disc is not great. Due to trying to fit too many tracks on one disc. Compressed and not good sound.

This was intended to be the original tracklisting minus the additions, I found my picture disc copy sounding very flat and incredibly inferior to my original US pressing of the record (I actually have 5 of them), my Japanese Obi and Promo 12"s are the best I've heard to date on vinyl (I do own a MoFi, as well), they have the widest stereo field by far (which becomes incredibly obvious on tunes that really take advantage of Andy's guitar overdubs using the Deluxe Electric Mistress Flanger like on 'Secret Journey'), and the biggest low end response and dynamic range (if you call what Sting was doing on the record actually low, that is when he was even playing the bass on the record at all... Cough *demolition man* Cough *Spirits In The Material World... Yeah, that was Danny, his tech), I also own every 45" single for GITM as well as all of the promo 12"s (the pressings of Sprits In The Material World with Secret Journey on the flip side are by far the best sounding of any version on any pressing I've heard to date also), while I thought the segment faces on the record on one side was cool along with the insert on the flip side from the original pressing, the audio quality on this release was not good at all, I still bought it because I wanted to add it to my collection, but a slightly worn out original US pressing of this album is far superior than this picture disc pressing.

@amitytracks

3 ай бұрын

Awesome info and analysis, thanks!

@nkogliaz

3 ай бұрын

@@amitytracks Hey no prob at all, thanks for the review, cheers.

Picture discs sound terrible generally, yeah?

@amitytracks

8 ай бұрын

I don't know, I've had some that sound fine but others that sound like garbage. It does seem more of a crap shoot when dealing with picture discs.

Original track listing please.

Spoiler alert: All the reissues suck…..

Bought the pic disc My thoughts: 1) great tracklisting. Much better and mysterious than original 2) extra tracks totally out of place , sounding more like Sting solo 3) Awful sound quality. Worst sounding pic disc in my collection. Therefore unusable Would buy a kosher normal black vinyl re press with this tracklisting , excluding extra tracks Oh and NO remaster nonsense please , the original always sounded incredible