Music Banter - The Police-Zenyetta Mondetta

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Behold the cover, for it says it all. Sting looks right, like the ******* he is he refuses to meet eye with the consumer. It like he's trying to say he's disappointed with us for some reason. But why Sting, why? Stewart is doing something similar. He looks top right, but his whole face is visible, like he's trying to make Sting seem like less of the ******* he is. All the while, and to everyone's surprise Andy, good ol' Andy, is looking directly into the camera. Gasp. It looks like he's being the nice guy, actually acknowledging the audience, but really he is the *******. Don't think about it just accept it.

This all occurs while the three appear to be trapped in some sort of triangle. Are they going for a Dark Side of the Moon thing? Possibly, considering that the songs are all about something in a, how should we say, postmodern malaise. We got everything on this one: taboo sexual relationships, anxiety, existential despair, rock star people problems, possibly schizophrenia, political and social failure, propaganda, a general feeling of uneasiness, Nabokov, tears, fears, and guilt. And all of it apparently encapsulated under a title that apparently means (approximately) Zen world Reggae (wikipedia). Or is it Zen world of Reggae? World of Zen Reggae? We'll never really know I guess.

All the while, all these depressing concerns are all set to the tune of shimmering, bouncy pop-rock-reggae music played by an *******, a true *******, and a drummer. There are words of encouragement ("When the World is Running Down" ) accompanied by a majestically hypnotic bassline. There's also an insistence that we snap out of our lethargic stupor and clean up our act ("Canary in a Coal Mine") which is deceptively poppy and bright. There are instrumentals so the jazz-cats in them don't shrivel up and die ("Behind My Camel", "The Other Way of Stopping") and so the stuff about the 80s that they really liked didn't get the lookover they deserved. Most importantly, there's one of the biggest song The Police ever released. The one that starts the album and is about the teacher whose student has a crush on him and he's afraid of getting to into it. Or, for the biblically versed (and emotionally depraved), the sexual encounter with a minor temptation song (it was really popular). That is one of the sins right? Is that why some people are so into their faith?

Despite the subject matter, the band does a good job of making pop music (emphasis on pop) that doesn't sound exceptionally incongruous with the material. Or maybe it isn't, and it just trivializes it all? Sort of an exercise in cynical reason (left foot right foot incest, left foot right foot Waco). The songs are poppy enough to be danced to and played on the radio 30+ years into the future but emotionally complex enough to sound like genuine human conundrums and possibly even be thought provoking. Their musicianship is, as usual, impeccable and they had clearly sharpened their compositional skills since Regatta de Blanc and had somewhere to go when it was time to write Ghost in the Machine. Sort of a career defining (and sound solidifying) moment. Also one of the best albums they ever released and possibly my favorite too.

Rating: 5/5

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenyatta_Mondatta