Day 0592 - Electric

The Cult "Electric" (1987)

The Cult had started work on their third album but, unhappy with the results, they asked Rick Rubin to remix one of the tracks.   Rubin agreed to work with them, but only if they'd re-record the track with him.  They ended up re-recording the whole album and delving into a more straight-ahead rock sound than on their previous, more gothic and melodic releases.

This is definitely a rock album.  Wall to wall riffs that seem to draw equally from the gene-pools of AC/DC and Led Zep.  I'd have to say too, this the most "Yeahs" I've ever heard in an album.  Obviously we're not just talking about a standard 1 syllable "Yeah"; we're talking about an all caps, 2-3 syllable "YEE-EE-AH"

Day 0529 - Synchronicity

The Police "Synchronicity" (1983) - got it

 The Police were more or less sick of each other by this point, recording their parts in separate rooms of the studio, and even being symbolically 'separated' on the album cover.

The music seemed to be separating and stretching to the four corners too, with less of their reggae sounds, increased synthesizer presence, and touches of world music.   Sting's songs were sounding more and more like the de-clawed pop that he'd perfect later on.  He and drummer Stewart Copeland nearly fought aggressively because Sting wanted some simple, straight-ahead drumming on "Every breath you take" and Copeland wanted to do his thing (which he would go on to do to great effect in the band Oysterhead with members of Primus and Phish).

Andy Summers' two tracks are possibly among the more interesting: "mother" is a demented ode to the most important woman in his life, and 'Murder by numbers' is my favourite track on the album and (to my mind) the best mesh of the pop and experimental sides of the band's sound.

The band split after one last tour and, though they reunited for a series of shows, never rekindled their spark enough to want to record together again.

Day 0527 - Sweet Dreams are Made of This

The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams are Made of This" (1983)

I don't have a lot to say about this one, to be honest.  I was introduced to the band through Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet dreams.." and through the later era single "I saved the world today" and I have a vinyl copy of one of their albums that I picked up at a sale once.

The video for 'Love is a stranger' was initially banned in the US where they accused Lennox of being "a youth-corrupting transvestite"... by the end of 1983, the album was a smash hit (score one for the transvestites).  There's an interesting mix of upbeat dance-pop, angular synth pop and more atmospheric numbers, like the ethereal "Jennifer" (which I love as it's a good song, and that's my wife's name).

Day 0433 - Regatta De Blanc

The Police "Regatta De Blanc" (got it)

The second album from The Police. After the moderate success of "Outlandos D'Amore" the band's label wanted to set them up in a flash studio with a high profile producer, but the band chose instead to stick with the same recording setup as their first album, the used the profits of the first album to pay for the recording of this one, whichj meant that the label had less control over what the band recorded.

The album that resulted was regarded by Stewart Copeland as the best that the Police ever made. It was the album where they fully embraced reggae to supplement and even supplant their post-punk pop sound of the first album. The influence of reggae also helped shape Copeland's drumming style significantly with his floating backbeats.

Regatta (the album title is pidgin for 'white reggae') was also a relatively even spread songwriting-wise. Sting wasn't lord and master, with Copeland contributing just as many songs, and Andy Summers putting in some too.

"Message in a bottle" is a brilliant track. The Police always had an ear for a pop hit - even their heady concept album 'Ghost in the Machine' features the light and poppy (slightly out of place) "Everything little thing she does is magic".