10 Bands That Never Made A Bad Album

When punk really started to hit its stride in the late '70s, it's hard to really see the Police amongst the company of the Clash and the Sex Pistols. Since these were bands that relied on minimal musical knowledge, seeing these art school kids ruling the charts at the same time felt like sacrilege, especially coming from Sting, who had spent years as a school teacher before even joining a band. They may have had some more years under their belt, but the Police never stopped being students of rock and roll throughout their career.

While the first Police songs were definitely indebted to the punk rock school of songwriting, what made them last was how they were willing to play with people's expectations, like adopting bits of reggae into songs like Walking on the Moon and Reggatta de Blanc. Outside of the raw construction of the songs, the production behind the records were much more thought out than any Ramones record, like the synthetic sounds of Don't Stand So Close to Me or turning the chorus of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic into what's basically a calypso tune.

Right when they seemed to reach the peak of their powers on Synchronicity though, they decided to cut everything off, having just released Every Breath You Take and playing to the biggest stadiums around the world. Though it's a shame that they stifled themselves off right when they could do some damage, sometimes it's better to cut and run than to become bored a few years down the road.