For a time, Andy Summers, Sting, and Stuart Copeland—collectively known as The Police—were the biggest band in the world. It truly crescendoed with 1983’s Synchronicity and would reverberate throughout the Decade of Decadence.
For several moments there leading up to Ghost in the Machine’s catapulting of fame, The Police were raw and stripped-down. They were performing at their true core before they became an entity. That is captured impeccably in The Police Around the World, which has been restored and expanded for release on both DVD and CD, and even DVD and LP with never-before-heard live Police!
Mercury Studios presents this The Police video treat that finds the band embarking on their first-ever world tour. Before all was said and done, the boys will have traveled to six of the seven continents on the planet during the last year of the 70s and the first year of the 80s. There was a straddling of musical styles—what would turn out to be part of The Police’s legacy—and riding a wave of British pop/rock/reggae blending of musical styles while crafting the most unique of genres.
They would evolve to claim their own distinct sound and produce a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame status in terms of records sold, but more importantly—their impact on the musical landscape.
Just as INXS: Live Baby Live captured a seismic pop culture music moment that was the Australian band at the “height of their powers,” The Police: Around the World Restored & Expanded is too a definitive capture of this piercing moment on the band’s ladder of world domination.
The film is also a touching tribute to three musical icons in their own right—Copeland, Sting, and Summers—throughout the launching pad days of their ascent to international mind-blowing success that most bands dream of, but few attain.
Filmmaker Derek Burbidge has managed to score incredible and deeply personal moments with Copeland, Summers, and Sting in differing manners with a continual rotation of international locales behind them. Whether it is in Australia, Egypt, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Greece, South America, France, or the United States, Burbidge has masterfully captured and compiled what is musically historic. This is a moment in time before the biggest band in the world had that moniker. They were merely three lads from England having the time of their lives.
What’s fascinating is knowing that Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity were still to come as one witness the titanic trio in full color in a menagerie of live music, backstage antics and yes, there are moments where one can say that each band member let their proverbial hair down.
It’s a blazing set list as The Police perform hits from the early days that still define them to this day, four decades later. By commencing the home video release with Next To You, the band and filmmakers have sent a message. Nobody is here to mess around. Then, to fly into Walking On The Moon, Born In The ’50s, So Lonely, Man In A Suitcase, and Can’t Stand Losing You, is just mind-blowing.
Think about that, so many songs. Indelible moments musically, but for so many… personally as well. The Police were much more than a band, for many, they were life’s soundtrack. The remainder of The Police: Around The World Remastered and Extended never finds the band taking the foot off of the gas. Sit back and be prepared to rock out to Bring On The Night, Canary In A Coalmine, Voices Inside My Head, When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around, Shadows In The Rain, Don’t Stand So Close To Me, Truth Hits Everybody and of course, their number one classic that started it all—Roxanne.
There are also a nice set of bonus features that finds the band performing some of their classics live from different corners of the globe. This includes them doing Message in a Battle and Born in the 50’s in Hong Kong and Walking on the Moon and Next to You live from Kyoto.
This was a release that was originally available on VHS and laserdisc back in the day. The Police: Around the World arrives currently for sale (and rent) on DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD, and DVD+LP (on a sublime silver vinyl). This concert chronicle is available for the first time in these formats and wow, are you in for a treat with the restored sights and remastered sound.
Going Around the World with The Police is an utter blast from commencement to closing. Featuring a litany of live tracks from the legendry band’s first two albums.
Grade: A
Bonus Features: A