• Voto:
Tanto si è detto sui Police. Forse troppo. Forse troppo poco, o male.
Molti li ricordano solo per i capelli biondi. O per la personalità schicciante di Sting. O per Du du du etc.
Nessuno ha mai riflettuto sul fatto che 'sti 3, ripeto 3, riuscissero a produrre:
a) dischi intelligenti
b) che hanno coperto moltissime sfaccettature della musica rock
c) che dal vivo erano semplicemente devastanti.
Ghost In The Machine riflette le sbornie, e le delusioni, del post Zeniatta: il gruppo aveva assaporato il successo mondiale, e in pratica aveva... sbarellato un po'.
Giustamente si ritirano in un'isola caraibica, isolati, e affidano la produzione, il cambio di rotta, a un giovane produttore, intelligente e di orecchie buone (Hugh Pagdam). Copeland sempre armato della sua durissima Tama e dagli amati Octoban, Summers con la valigia piena di harmonizers e il nuovo giocattolo, il synth guitar della Roland. Sting... basso, voce, ispiratissimo e molto dark.
Si parte con "Spirits...": suoni secchi, il rullante che picchia steccoso come non mai, e... quelle strofe con 20 sovraincisioni di voce. Questa sarà la caratteristica di tutto il disco: la voce di Sting livellata al pari degli altri strumenti, non prevarica, anzi, viene smoothata con tantissime armonizzazioni e controcanti. Si rimarca la collegialità del gruppo, o almeno si tenta di riportarla in binario.
"Every Little Thing" è un gioiello pop, in cui compare sinuoso un piano e un linea di synth suonata sull'Oberheim di Sting. S'inizia a staccarsi dallo stereotipo "pop-reggae"....
"Invisible Sun ": Cristo che chorus di chitarra! Summers si conferma un GENIO della ritmica, un mago nel creare POCO ma estremamente valido. Copeland picchia efficacissimo sui tom, il famoso "rythmatist" spande i suoi Paiste nell'intero spazio sonoro.
"Too Much Information": e chi dice che sia vergogna suonare funk, senza scimmiottare la disco? Ispiriamoci a Sly and the Family Stone, aggiungiamo un tocco di sax e... zac! Groove incredibile!
"Omegaman": della serie, come fare un solo al synth guitar di 5/6 note, ed entrare nella leggenda meglio delle 20.000 note suonate da un tamarro qualsiasi... gioellino speed pop.
"Darkness": Copeland sviluppa qui il suo non misero talento compositivo, e ti tira fuori una ballata cupa e stranissima, con un inciso di piano fantastico.
Qualcuno, per caso, non li ha mai ascoltati? Siete curiosi? Bene, iniziate da questo disco. Poi passerete agli altri.
Ma prima apprezzate le armonie vocali, il mood abbastanza cupo a tratti, e allegramente funky in altri. Fatevi coinvolgere dal groove "african" di Copeland. I veri Police, qui, si sono ritrovati, senza luci o glam vari: veri, essenziali e barocchi allo stesso tempo, ma sicuramente un terribile terzetto da guerra...
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Spirits in the Material World (02:59)
There is no political solution
To our troubled evolution
Have no faith in constitution
There is no bloody revolution
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
Our so-called leaders speak
With words they try to jail you
They subjugate the meek
But it's the rhetoric of failure
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
We are spirits in the material world
Where does the answer lie?
Living from day to day
If it's something we can't buy
There must be another way
We are spirits in the material world
03 Invisible Sun (03:44)
I don't want to spend the rest of my life
Looking at the barrel of an armalite
I don't want to spend the rest of my days
Keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say
I don't want to spend my time in hell
Looking at the walls of a prison cell
I don't ever want to play the part
Of a statistic on a government chart
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives us hope when the whole day's done
It's dark all day and it glows all night
Factory smoke and acetylene light
I face the day with my head caved in
Looking like something that the cat brought in
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives us hope when the whole day's done
And they're only gonna change this place
By killing everybody in the human race
And they would kill me for a cigarette
But I dont even want to die just yet
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives us hope when the whole day's done
05 Demolition Man (05:57)
Oh! Demolition, demolition
Demolition, demolition
Tied to the tracks and the train's fast coming
Strapped to the wing with the engine running
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
Tied to a chair, and the bomb is ticking
This situation was not of your picking
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
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
Demolition, demolition
Demolition, demolition
You come to me like a moth to the flame
It's love you need but I don't play that game
'Cause you could be my greatest fan
But I'm nobody's friend, I'm a demolition man
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
Demolition, demolition
Demolition, demolition
Tied to the tracks and the train's fast coming
Strapped to the wing with the engine running
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
Tied to a chair, and the bomb is ticking
This situation was not of your picking
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
06 Too Much Information (03:42)
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
Overkill
Overview
Over my dead body
Over me
Over you
Over everybody
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
I've seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the Cliffs of Dover
Oh
Overkill
Overview
Over my dead body
Over me
Over you
Over everybody
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
(to fade)
07 Rehumanize Yourself (03:10)
He goes out at night with his big boots on
None of his friends know right from wrong
They kick a boy to death 'cos he don't belong
You've got to humanise yourself
A policeman put on his uniform
He'd like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You've got to humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
I work all day at the factory
I'm building a machine that's not for me
There must be a reason that I can't see
You've got to humanise yourself
Billy's joined the National Front
He always was a little runt
He's got his hand in the air with the other cunts
You've got to humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself
I work all day at the factory
I'm building a machine that's not for me
There must be a reason that I can't see
You've got to humanise yourself
A policeman put on his uniform
He'd like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You've got to humanise yourself
Re-humanise yourself...
09 Omegaman (02:47)
The night came down, jungle sounds were in my ears
City screams are all I've heard in tewnty years
The razor's edge of night, it cuts into my sleep
I sit upon the edge now
Shall I make that leap?
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
The sky's alive with turned on television sets
I walk the streets and seek another vision yet
The echo makes me turn to see that last frontier
The edge of time closes down as I disappear
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
Always talking to myself
Oh!
The time that's best is when surroundings fade away
The presense of another world comes close to me
It's time for me to throw away this paper knife
I'm not alone in reaching for a perfect life
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
I'm the Omegaman
I'm so tired
Of the Omegaman
(to fade)
10 Secret Journey (03:33)
Upon a secret journey
I met a holy man
His blindness was his wisdom
I'm such a lonely man
And as the world was turning
It rolled itself in pain
This does not seem to touch you
He pointed to the rain
You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
And when you've made your secret journey
You will find the love you miss
And on the days that followed
I listened to his words
I strained to understand him
I chased his thoughts like birds
You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
And when you've made your secret journey
You will find the love you miss
You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
You will see joy in this sadness
You will find this love you miss
And when you've made your secret journey
You will be a holy man
(repeat to fade)
11 Darkness (03:13)
I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws 'til I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was was easy when it was boring
I could make a mark if it weren't so dark
I could be replaced by any bright spark
But darkness makes me fumble
For a key, to a door, that's wide open
Instead of worrying about my clothes
I could be someone that nobody knows
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring
I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws 'til I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring
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Altre recensioni
Di claudio carpentieri
Un disco che rimane senza dubbio una pietra miliare per il sound ottenuto, nonché la manifestazione più concreta per il coraggio dei tre ad aver messo in gioco la propria reputazione.
Il titolo dell'album è preso direttamente da un libro di Arthur Koestler, dove viene affermata la teoria secondo cui le tendenze autodistruttive degli esseri umani possono essere attenuate con l’aiuto di integratori chimici.
Di Rax
«Con tutti questi sintetizzatori, la leggendaria rozzezza dei Police [...] è andata perduta.»
«'Invisible Sun' è forse il massimo capolavoro dei Police, un pezzo cupissimo con un Summers calligrafico.»
