Police: Now Boxed & Remastered

Title: Every Move You Make

Label: A&M

And a very nicely presented, soft matt-finished box it is too, which lifts up and away from the base via a strategically positioned ribbon.

I like these little touches, it shows that the project has been developed with thought.

All of The Police albums here have been offered love and attention from Abbey Road and are here in full, including Outlandos D’Amour (1978), Reggatta de Blanc (1979), Zenyatta Mondatta (1980), Ghost in the Machine (1981) and Synchronicity (1983).

Each album is presented within a gatefold sleeve.

The sixth disk will be of most interest to fans, though.

This bonus 12-track disc is called Flexible Strategies and it features non-album B-sides.

Other tracks include Dead End Job (1978), Landlord (1979), Visions of the Night (1979), Friends (1980), A Sermon (1980), Shambelle (1981), Flexible Strategies (1981), Low Life’ (1981), Murder by Numbers (1983), a very rare remix of Truth Hits Everybody (1983), Someone to Talk To (1983) and Once Upon a Daydream (1983).

I found the mastering, from star engineer and all-round nice guy, Miles Showell on this set a joy to behold.

Firstly, the general noise level was pleasantly low.

I say low, the level of my default CD listening gain had to be increased a few notches on my pre-amp to reach the normal volume.

A very welcome point. Bass was also strong across all of the included albums but not enough to close down air and space in the mids.

The latter was still vibrant and full of detail.

So the lower frequencies offered weight, power, mass and a cracking foundation but that was balanced by a neutral clarity. The resultant sound was very enjoyable indeed.

A driving beat was heard but there was plenty of midband insight to attract the ear. The Police are not the stars here, Miles is…

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