La prima formazione nata tra la fine del 1976 ed il principio del 1977 annovera Stewart Copeland alla batteria, Gordon Matthew Sumner al basso ed Henry Padovani alla chitarra. Le prime prove del gruppo si svolgono nel mese di gennaio e vedono al timone di guida il giovane batterista colpito appieno dalla filosofia punk, l'abile bassista (che indossa sempre un maglione a righe gialle e nere che gli varrà il soprannome di Sting) e la partecipazione di Andy Summers le cui composizioni armonicamente più complesse riescono a rendere più difficoltoso il tenere il passo del più che modesto Padovani. Dopo vari mesi di prova incidono per la Illegal Records il singolo con "Fall Out" (in cui apprezzerete le qualità di chitarrista solista di Stewart) e "Nothing Achieving" che ottiene un ottimo riscontro in ambito punk.
Di qui a breve Henry abbandona e lascia il posto al più maturo Andy Summers (già passato tra le mani di Soft Cell, Jon Lord dei Deep Purple e Mike Oldfield tra gli altri, ma non presente su Fall Out!), che a dispetto del contesto storico unitamente ai suoi due compagni d'avventura, si renderà conto quanto nella musica siano ancora importanti la sostanza e la capacità di innovazione. Il gruppo a quattro dura solo alcuni concerti, così il nuovo terzetto (che in passato avevatentato di farsi conoscere con il nome di Strontium 90, di cui è disponibile un fantastico cd chiamato "Police Accademy" su Pangaea Records del 1997), entra in studio e per la A&M pubblica "Outlandos D'Amour".
Le prime battute di "Next To You", un brano che risplende per ritmica esplosiva ed un cantato melodiosamente gridato, chiariscono quanto un suono compatto ed espressivo possa rappresentare uno dei punti forza della combinazione di questo esordiente terzetto. "So Lonely" è una di quelle tracce che possono essere considerate uno dei pochi lapalissiani esempi di quei punti di congiuntura fra white reggae nelle strofe e rock wave di un trascinante ritornello. "Roxanne" (pubblicato nell'aprile del '78 come 45 giri) conferma come la prolifica ispirazione compositiva di Sting (oramai la leadesrship è sua!) stia guadagnando terreno all'interno del gruppo, considerato come oltre all'abile combinazione narrazione/musica prediliga sempre più spesso cimentarsi in ambiti dove atmosfere soft ben si alternano a momenti più cadenzati. Con "Hole In My Life" l'uniformità sonora sin qui presentata viene ad interrompersi, allo stesso modo in cui la componente reggae siattenua, dando luogo ad un rock melodico di pregiata fattura. Sicuramentela palma di brano più divertente la conquista "Peanuts", dove la spensieratezza e la giocosità la fanno da padrone, oltre ad un esemplareassolo e ad una inaspettata tromba a colorarne il finale. L'apertura della b-side di quello che era il buon vecchio ed amato vinile, spetta alla esuberante "Can't Stand Losing You" esempio superlativo di eccellente bravura compositiva del giovane "pungiglione", mostrando quell'impareggiabile talento nel tirar fuori una strofa di inaudita bellezza congiunta ad un bridge ed un derivato refrain, incantevoli entrambi, forgiando uno dei rappresentanti più esemplari di quel reggae&rock che si distinguerà da qui in avanti come il marchio di fabbrica dei Police. Quasi tre minuti di rock tenace e compatto non potevano che essere annunciati da un titolo profetico come "Truth Hits Everybody", in cui la collaudata triade ci fà capire che destrezza ed abilità sopraffina possono essere sprigionati anche suonando i soliti tre accordi.
Dopo l'inno generazionale "Born In The 50's" (piacevole ma senza pretese) ed il pop rock di "Be My Girl-Sally" (che ha la stessa intro di "3 O' Clock" dal citato "Police Academy" ), dove ascoltiamo un dilatato intermezzo parlato, il disco si risolve con la particolare "Masoko Tanga" dove Sting con la voce segue le direttive degli strumenti, Stewart attraverso le sue magiche bacchette dissemina un'innata tribalità che ben si lega all'atmosfera evanescente creata dalle dita di Andy. Anche se la critica colta non gli ha riservato un'accoglienza molto calorosa, ritengo di trovarci di fronte ad un lavoro che ha tutte le carte in tavola per essere considerato un regale portagioie sia per la presenza di brani validi sia per quella creativa e fantasiosa maniera di fare musica con cui si è riuscito ad amalgamare sonorità (reggae e rock) e tendenze musicali (punk) che sembravano dover vivere disgiunti sino ad allora (a. d. 1978); un album che oltre a rivestire un ruolo da spartiacque per fruitori ed addetti ai lavori lo sarà anche per la band in questione, che non girerà più spot pubblicitari (come avvenuto per la "Wrigleys Chewing Gum" per cui si dovettero ossigenare i capelli, portando seco quel look dorato che li avrebbe contraddistinti per gli anni a venire) per superare infelici situazioni finanziarie, così come Sting poco più avanti, ricoprirà il ruolo di Ace Face in Quadrophenia dando il via alla sua prolifica e dignitosa carriera di attore.
Dieci brani per quasi 40 minuti di eccellente musica, che possono collocare "Outlandos D'Amour" tra quei lavori con il ruolo di precorritore di quel periodo innovativo chiamato New Wave, quanto i (The) Police a svolgere opera di rinvigorimento a favore di un genere in pieno deficit di popolarità.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Next to You (02:55)
I can't stand it for another day
When you live so many miles away.
Nothing here is gonna make me stay,
(You) took me over, let me find a way.
I sold my house
I sold my motor, too.
All I want is to be Next To You.
I'd rob a bank
Maybe steal a plane.
You took me over,
Think I'm goin' insane.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
I've had a thousand girls or maybe more,
But I've never felt like this before.
But I just don't know what's come over me,
You took me over, take a look at me.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you.
So many times I used to give a sign
Got this feeling, gonna lose my mind.
When all it is is just a love affair.
You took me over baby, take me there.
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you.
All I want is to be next to you...
02 So Lonely (04:52)
Well, someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just don't care
You look as if you're going somewhere
But I just can't convince myself
I couldn't live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
Now, no one's knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and nowhere to go
Welcome to this one-man show
Just take a seat, they're always free
No surprise, no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
I feel lonely, oh so lonely
I feel so alone
I feel low
I feel so, feel so low
I feel low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
Low, I feel low
I feel low
I feel low
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely, lonely, lonely, lone
Lonely, lone
I feel so alone, yeah
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
03 Roxanne (03:15)
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne
You don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Ro
I loved you since I knew you
I wouldn't talk down to you
I have you to tell just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again
It's a bad way
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne (You don't have to put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (You don't have to put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
04 Hole in My Life (04:55)
Yeah
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Shadow in my heart
Is tearing me apart
Or maybe it's just something
In my stars
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Be a happy man
I try the best I can
Or maybe I'm just looking
For too much
There's something missing from my life
Cuts me open like a knife
It leaves me vulnerable
I have this disease
I shake like an incurable
God help me please
Oh, there's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Yeah...
05 Peanuts (04:02)
It's all a game
You're not the same
Your famous name
The price of fame
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
You sang your song
For much too long
The songs they're wrong
The bread has gone
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
It's all a game
You're not the same
Your famous name
The price of fame
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
[Oh, you're just a fallen hero]
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Don't wanna find out what you've been taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Don't wanna find out what you've been taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Peanuts, peanuts
Peanuts
07 Truth Hits Everybody (02:55)
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Sleep lay behind me like a broken ocean
Strange waking dreams before my eyes unfold
You lay there sleeping like an open doorway
I stepped outside myself and felt so cold
Take a look at my new toy
It'll blow your head in two, oh boy
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
I thought about it and my dream was broken
I clutch at images like dying breath
And I don't want to make a fuss about it
The only certain thing in life is death
Take a look at my new toy
It'll blow your head in two, oh boy
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
Where you want to be
Won't you ever see
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
08 Born in the 50's (03:44)
We were born
Born in the fifties
Born
Born in the fifties
My mother cried
When president Kennedy died
She said it was the Communists
But I knew better
Would they drop the bomb on us
While we made love on the beach
We were the class they couldn't teach
'Cos we knew better
We were born
Born in the fifties
Born
Born in the fifties
They screamed
When the Beatles sang
And they laughed when the King fell down the stairs
Oh they should've known better
Oh we hated our aunt
Then we messed in our pants
Then we lost our faith and prayed to the TV
Oh we should've known better
We were born
Born in the fifties
We freeze like statues on the pages of history
Living was never like this when we took all those G. C. S. E.'s
Oh you opened the door for us
And then you turned to dust
You don't understand us
So don't reprimand us
We're taking the future
We don't need no teacher
09 Be My Girl-Sally (03:24)
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my,
Be my girl
I was blue and lonely, I couldn't sleep a wink
And I could only get unconscious if I'd had to much to drink.
There was somehow, something wrong somewhere,
And each day seemed grey and dead
The seeds of desperation were growing in my head.
I needed inspiration, a brand new start in life,
Somewhere to place affection, but I didn't want a wife.
And then by lucky chance I saw [in] a special magazine
An ad. that was unusual, the like I'd never seen,
"Experience something different with our new imported toy,
She's loving, warm, inflatable and a guarantee of joy."
She came all wrapped in cardboard, all pink and shrivelled down
A breath of air was all she needed to make her lose that frown.
I took her to the bedroom and pumped her with some life,
And later in a moment that girl became my wife.
And so I sit her in the corner and sometimes stroke her hair
And when I'm feeling naughty I blow her up with air
She's cuddly and she's bouncy, she's like a rubber ball,
I bounce her in the kitchen and I bounce her in the hall.
[And now my life is different since Sally came my way]
I wake up [in the] morning and have her on a tray
She's everything they say she was and I wear a permanent grin,
And I only have to worry in case my girl wears pins.
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my,
Be my girl
10 Masoko Tanga (05:42)
Moderator's Note:
While this song has lyrics, they are nonsense words.
This was intentional.
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di MrSalzano
"Roxanne, non devi accendere sopra di te la luce rossa... Non devi vendere il tuo corpo la notte."
In piena bufera Punk ecco un lento morbido e melodico (ritmicamente si tratta proprio di un tango(!)) che diventa un inaspettato successo.
Di VIOLATOR 88
È proprio tale fatto, la superiorità tecnica da parte dei tre “poliziotti” rispetto ad altri della nidiata post-punk e il suo impiego nel rinnovare la forma-canzone con inserzioni di altri generi, unito all’eccelsa capacità melodica di Sting, che costituirà la loro fortuna gi à a partire da quest’opera.
Un lavoro ibrido, che utilizza ancora stilemi di matrice punk, ma che contiene in sé già i germi reggae che caratterizzeranno il successivo Reggatta De Blanc.
Di Rax
La forza e l’impatto emozionale di questo 'dischetto' sono assolutamente devastanti.
"Roxanne", che se fosse stata pubblicata tre anni prima, avrebbe senz’altro fatto parte della colonna sonora di 'Taxi Driver'.
