| Review by bdautch April 25, 2003
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
| I think of Outlandos D'Amour as the Police's Lost Classic. It's every bit the tour de force that "Synchronicity" and "Zenyatta Mondata" are, but it produced a number of top-shelf songs that escaped the attention of "The Classics" Greatest Hits CD (SACD). "So Lonely" is one of the band's all-time finest efforts, and "Be My Girl" adds a touch of humor and raunch to the proceedings. Granted, "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You" have endured from Otlandos D'Amour, but the rest of this album has largely faded from the popular memory. Sonically, I only gave it four stars because, like the rest of the Police SACD catalogue, it falls just short of "The Classics," an album possessing a slightly richer, more analogue character.
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| Review by JW July 18, 2003 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics:  |
Musically this debut album is very good with songs like 'Peanuts', 'Hole In My Life' and 'Truth Hits Everybody' standing up very well to such massive hits as 'Roxanne' and 'So Lonely'. This first album sounds more straightforward than the other Police albums and therein lies its value. It's pure, it rocks, it affected a world audience and and and -- What on earth were they thinking when they inserted the Monthy Pythonesque spoken lyrics into Be My Girl -- sorry for the digression, as I write this review I am listening to the album and this track suddenly hits :-).
A few notes on the entire Police remasters. Overall the sonic merits of this series are questionable, measured against the high standard SACD is capable of. They may be better than the previously released RBCD, but have they received the best possible treatment to let them shine on SACD? I think that a similar result could have been achieved on RBCD 'done right' and from there stems my slight disappointment in this series. None of them merit a higher than 3 star rating in my view. Having said all that, I have to note that perhaps the mastertapes did not allow for a better transfer. I cannot judge that. Check out my other reviews of The Police remasters to compare notes and see what you think. After repreated listening I would rank them as follows:
1 Zenyatta Mondatta: good bass, balanced sound with extended treble
2 Regatta de Blanc: sound equal to ZM
3 Ghost In The Machine: richer and darker sound than others with good bass
4 Synchronicity: better than Outlandos but a little veiled
5 Outlandos d'Amour: metallic treble that at times sounds congested, somewhat flat
Based on this I would say 1-2 stars, rounding it off to 2 to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Jw
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| Review by gregs1104 January 30, 2010 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics:  |
| The opening three tracks to this album are among the best the Police ever recorded, even though some of the others are pretty bad. The regular CD release is terrible; hard to listen to because it's so harsh and distorted. The SACD is no classic, most of the problems are clearly from the master here. But it's so much improved from the regular CD that I will only listen to the SACD now, so in that respect I consider it an essential purchase for Police fans who can play this one.
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| Review by pvcmusiclover April 11, 2012
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
The first thing you notice upon listening is that this is a very dynamic rock & roll record, particularly with the kick drum. Looking at the waveforms, there is no trace of limiting or brickwalling.
This is for sure genuine DSD (as verified from looking at spectographs of 88.2/24 rips).
Sound stage wise, this record is pretty bland. the vocals are very dry, same with most of the other instruments.
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