super groovy delicious bite: ghost in the machine

The Police broadened their sonic pallet with the difficult, dark, dense jazz grooves of their fourth album. 'Ghost in the Machine' showed Sting branching out musically with synthesizers and saxophone even as he delved into more serious subject matter: "Apart from 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', all of the songs on this album were written in the west of Ireland in 1981. I borrowed the title from Arthur Koestler's 1967 book about the human mind and our seeming appetite for self destruction. The book talks about how the modern brain of Homo sapiens is grafted onto older and more-primitive prototypes and how in certain situations these reptilian modes of thinking can rise up and overcome our higher modes of logic and reason. I tried, as far as it was possible in a collection of pop songs, to deal with some of these issues. Violence in Northern Ireland in 'Invisible Sun', skinheads and Nazis in 'Rehumanise Yourself', destructive pathology in 'Demolition Man', lust in 'Hungry For You'. The album was densely layered with multitracked vocals, synthesised keyboards, and horn riffs played by yours truly. I wanted to create the impression of something struggling to the surface, something hidden in the recesses of the mind, something from our dark subconscious wanting to be seen. The album cover showed our three faces transposed into digital images, red LED lights on a black background. We were the ghosts in the machine, and while some of the songs are a plea for sanity, others are an expression of that malevolent darkness that haunts us all."

The was produced by the band with Hugh Padgham and recorded over ten days at AIR Studios in Montserrat and Le Studio in Quebec, using layered overdubs to produce a more textured sound. Stewart Copeland describes their process in the studio: "Whoever wrote the song will show the others the chords. In my case, I don't know the names of them so I just play. Andy looks at my fingers and says, You moron, that can't be done, or why have you done that and everybody figures out whatever they can. In Montserrat, Andy was in the studio, Sting in the mixing room playing through the board and I was in the dining room in the next building. We all have our cans [headphones] on; while they get the chords I fiddle with the rhythms. Then we run through it once. Usually, somebody plays too many times around the chorus or something that¬ís not right, and we do it once more. If we haven't got it then, it starts to get lost. Usually we have, though; 'One World (Not Three)' was right the very first time, for instance."

It was a huge international success, topping album charts in Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. In the US, it made it to number two and has sold triple-platinum. Andy Summers says: "'Ghost In The Machine' is a very punchy album. It's getting harder, year by year, to make the grade. As the years go by the spotlight gets bigger and makes you sweat more. I would say that we've broadened stylistically and it's true to say that Sting's voice has a greater range. In the old days I think he used to sound something like Yes's Jon Anderson but now he's got a lot more bottom to his voice. All of us are worried about the quality of our records and performing. All of us are constantly critical about the things we do. You see it's not the similarities that makes this band - it's the differences. By that I mean that if we all got on well all the time and agreed about everything there would be no creative tension. We'd amble off into a recording studio from time to time and produce garbage. I'm sure that for any band to achieve longevity they must have creative tension."

The sinewy 'Spirits in the Material World' sets the theme by addressing the futility of political, constitutional and revolutionary solutions. It was a top ten hit around the world, peaking at number four in France.

"Where does the answer lie?

Living from day to day

If it's something we can't buy

There must be another way"

the police-spirits in the material world by aquarius3

Sting's demo for 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' was such a high quality recording they ended up using it as the backing track for the official recording, with Copeland and Summers dubbing their parts on. Jean Roussel plays the piano. The single was a worldwide smash, topping charts in Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK, on on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It features one of Sting's favorite couplets:

"Do I have to tell the story

Of a thousand rainy days since we first met

It's a big enough umbrella

But it's always me that ends up getting wet"

'Invisible Sun' addresses the dehumanization of industrialization and militarization. The video, which was banned in England, features footage of the conflict in Northern Ireland, speaking to the religious divide between protestants and catholics and suggesting that they are missing their commonality. The single peaked at number two in the UK.

"And they're only going to change this place

By killing everybody in the human race

They would kill me for a cigarette

But I don't even wanna die just yet"

'Demolition Man' speaks to our self-destructive urges. Sting says: "I was staying at Peter O'Toole's house in Ireland. The Police recorded it, Grace Jones recorded it, Manfred Mann's band recorded it, it seems to be one of those songs that people want to record. A few years ago some guy in LA wrote a script based on the title which became a Sylvester Stallone movie. Apparently the film is very funny, even though it's not supposed to be. I've never even seen it. They asked me to re-record the song for the film. It's a techno version. I didn't really have that much to do with it, to be honest. I left it to the producers. So I'll not take a lot of credit for it, except for thelyrics and the melody. Or what melody there is. "

"I'm a walking nightmare, an arsenal of doom

I kill conversation as I walk into the room

I'm a three line whip

I'm the sort of thing they ban

I'm a walking disaster

I'm a demolition man"