Monday, September 08, 2008

Album Of the Day #51: OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR - The Police

For the next five days, I'll cover all five of The Police's regular studio albums.

Title: Outlandos d'Amour
Artist: The Police
Label: A & M
Year: 1978
Songs: Next To You/So Lonely/Roxanne/Hole In My Life/Peanuts*/Can't Stand Losing You/Truth Hits Everybody/Born In The 50's/Be My Girl - Sally**/Masoko Tango
Written by: Sting, except *Sting & Stewart Copeland and **Sting & Andy Summers
Produced by: The Police
Thoughts: This is a surprisingly good debut album that completely sets the stage for the remainder of The Police's career. The three singles are incredibly good; I love "Can't Stand Losing You". If that was played on the radio as much as "Raxanne", my life would be all the more enjoyable. The album tracks aren't that spectacular, especially the closing gobbledygook of "Masoko Tango", so only a couple of them are really strong numbers. "Born In The 50's", a self-indulgent biographical Sting track and "Truth Hits Everybody" are particularly good. "Be My Girl - Sally" is funny, consisting of a Sting-penned chant ("Wontcha be my girl, wontcha be my girl, wontcha be my, be my, be my girl") and a sexually explicit (duh) comedy routine by Andy. This is a great, enjoyable start.
Rating: 7/10

No comments: