The Police - 'Every Breath You Take: The Classics' Album Review

In the simplest terms, although this collection contains essential and important music and therefore far exceeds most greatest hits packages, listeners should steer wide and clear of it for other available compilations detailing the career of the Police. Listeners who don't want or need to invest in the group's complete recordings but who take their Police collection seriously should probably opt for 1998's superior Greatest Hits. Still, the issuance of a warning about the earlier compilation is, I think, very necessary.

There's no question the Police are one of the most important, influential and versatile bands in rock history, so it's that much more frustrating that this supposedly quintessential greatest hits package that is most prominent and available to music fans falls so short of delivering the goods.

As a teenager I purchased the 1986 release Every Breath You Take: The Singles on cassette and considered it a must-own. Still, I always bristled at the new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" that was included in place of the original studio version. That's also the reason why I waited so long to purchase a Police compilation on CD: I guess I feared being burned again by a lackluster collection.

It's therefore even more appalling that A&M Records so completely botched its opportunity to correct the mistakes it made with the initial release. By issuing an entirely new compilation in 1995 that is only a very marginal improvement, the label commits a form of fraud against fans of the band. Ultimately, neither album delivers what it promises, as both fail to collect anything near a complete bundle of Police singles or classics.

So, while buying this compilation will not saddle you with merely a drink coaster, doing so will put your music collection at unnecessary risk. If you're a completist, you'll probably go for the band's small output of quality albums, but if you just want to make sure your collection fairly reflects one of the greatest bands of the '80s, I caution you to think twice.