21.xx Omegaman - The Police (Influential)
This is another category that would have been better served as a separate draft.
My first solo trip to the mall, my first solo music purchases, I ambled in to the Licorice Pizza, fist full of gift certificates (that's right, paper gift certificates) received for my Bar Mitzvah. Now, I had gotten albums before, usually purchased for my by my parents, and they were good albums. But here, I was asserting my freedom as a newly minted 13 year old "man" to take hold of my musical future on my terms. So I slapped my credits on the counter and they handed over the albums I had painstakingly selected:
Moving Pictures: Rush
Modern Times: Jefferson Starship
Tattoo You: Rolling Stones
Ghost In The Machine: The Police
While the first three were o.k., and I'll revisit songs from them from time to time, the last one was the big one. The Police became my favorite band then and forevermore. I already liked them quite a bit, but Ghost In The Machine took it to another level. It's my favorite album, by my favorite band - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic notwithstanding.
This is the album that took me from enjoying music to wanting to play. Soon after I took up the drums, an erstwhile Stewart Copeland in the making. The rest of my life I'd identify with The Police and they'd serve as the largest (but not the only) musical influence in my life.
This song is probably my favorite from the album, but I really like all the songs on it very much. This one happens to be written and arranged by Andy Summers (a rarity for Police tracks that actually got released). And while the lyrics are much closer to Neal Pert than Sting in quality (which is to say, not so great), it's one of my favorite pieces of music. Hugh Padgham really got their studio sound perfected on this album, and this song has all kinds of fantastic aural qualities - from the simple synth washes to the driving rhythm tracks, to the fantastic drum breaks for the chorus, to the unique Summersesque guitar sound and solo, to the multitracked vocals, it stays fresh for me to this day. Also whether intentionally or not (I have no idea) it has a connection to the campy Charlton Heston movie of the same name.
With this album, they had set the opposite end of the spectrum from the stripped down, sparse sound they started with, and I appreciate their efforts at all stops on that spectrum.
Tomorrow I will close out my selections in the draft with a full torrent of purple flavored Kool Aid to finish up my category.
how did i not think of this. Awesome
Forgot about those guys.
NTTAWWT
for running the show, Eephus.
