THE POLICE

Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings

Boxset of five vinyl LPs plus rarities

The Police were derided for their opportunism – three prog-jazz refugees who had peroxided their hair for new wave – but it’s this disjuncture that made them such a fascinating trio. A guitarist from the ’60s beat boom who had embraced the world of FX units; a drummer who could replicate dub dynamics in real time; and a bassist with a voice like a Geordie lion, who could write urgent-sounding three-minute pop classics. These five albums take us from the punk and reggae pastiches of 1978’s Outlandos d’Amour and 1979’s Reggatta De Blanc to the more spacious-sounding textures of 1981’s Ghost In The Machine and 1983’s more aimless Synchronicity. Each album mixes the familiar singles with chantbased instrumental tracks and showoffy songs that verge on the novelty. Extras: 7/10. A sixth disc entitled Flexible Strategies features 12 tracks not featured on any albums. Revelations include the punk parodies “Dead End Job” and “Landlord”, Andy Summers’ yokel-accented paean to cannibalism “Friends”, the PiL-like punk-funk of “Shambelle” and the jazzier directions of “Low Life” and “Murder By Numbers” (both dry runs for Sting’s solo career).