Reggatta de Blanc

I like The Police and have listened to this album multiple times. Right from it's tight opener Message in a Bottle and following great instrumental that lends the album it's title, the first half is quite good. With songs like Bring on the Night and Walking on the Moon, the band seems to have evolved somewhat musically beyond their debut and still write earworms. However, I absolutely dislike the last three songs on this LP, which I feel aren't quite bad as they are mediocre and which prevents this album from being a true showcase of rock heights.

Whilst Outlandos D'Amour *introduced the world to the trio, 1979's *Regatta de Blanc *helped confirm the Police as stars. Often seen as Sting, Stuart Copeland and Andy Summers' best album, *Regatta... is more atmospheric than the band's debut; less punky and more controlled.

This second album is the band's SOS to the world, with the single ''Message in a Bottle'' receiving its own feedback by commanding the number one spot in the UK charts for four weeks. Summers' trademark arpeggiated and flanged guitar opens the track and album and weaves into Sting's sharp imagery with ease.

''Message...'' is not the only commercial triumph on the album. ''Walking On The Moon' blends reggae beats with the frank and understated lyrics that the Police excel at. It also made it to number one.

More dub beats follow in ''The Bed's Too Big Without You'' but this time with a more soporific affect. It brings the mellowness back into the album (and was later covered by reggae singer Sheila Hilton in 1981). It reminds you what it's like to miss a partner.

But the boys do break out from their reggae influences at times. What you get when you listen to the title track is a blur of world music - an indefinable wordless frenzy which just sounds like the boys having a blast and ends far too soon.

As ever, Sting's lyrics run much deeper than they appear. His strangulated voice and the echoing guitars on ''Bring On The Night'', epitomise one man's desire to come to the end of his time. The line 'The evening spreads itself against the sky' is self-consciously taken from TS Eliot's ''The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock'', a poem which itself deals with frustration and alienation.

Three Copeland tracks ''Does Everyone Stare'', ''Contact''' and ''On Any Other Day'' stand out for their discordance and black humour. The first two focus on the space that exists between individuals while the drummer himself takes over the vocals on "On Any Other Day" a humorous take on mid-life crisis.

Regatta de Blanc could only have come after Outlandos D'Amour. The production values are higher, more intricate and some of the music more grown up – incorporating world music and jazz influences as well as reggae and roots.