Outlandos d'Amour

by The Police

Overview

While their subsequent chart-topping albums would contain far more ambitious songwriting and musicianship, the Police's 1978 debut, Outlandos d'Amour (translation: Outlaws of Love) is by far their most direct and straightforward release. Although Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were all superb instrumentalists with jazz backgrounds, it was much easier to get a record contract in late-'70s England if you were a punk/new wave artist, so the band decided to mask their instrumental prowess with a set of strong, adrenaline-charged rock, albeit with a reggae tinge. Some of it may have been simplistic ("Be My Girl-Sally," "Born in the '50s"), but Sting was already an ace songwriter, as evidenced by all-time classics like the good-girl-gone-bad tale of "Roxanne," and a pair of brokenhearted reggae-rock ditties, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely." But like all other Police albums, the lesser-known album cuts are often highlights themselves -- the frenzied rockers "Next to You," "Peanuts," and "Truth Hits Everybody," as well as more exotic fare like the groovy album closer "Masoko Tanga" and the lonesome "Hole in My Life." Outlandos d'Amour is unquestionably one of the finest debuts to come out of the '70s punk/new wave movement. ~ Greg Prato

Product Details

Release Date:	03/04/2003
Label:	A&M / Interscope
UPC:	0606949359522
Rank:	53473

Tracks

1. Next to You
2. So Lonely
3. Roxanne
4. Hole in My Life
5. Peanuts
6. Can't Stand Losing You
7. Truth Hits Everybody
8. Born in the 50's
9. Be My Girl - Sally
10. Masoko Tanga

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Police   Primary Artist
Sally   Primary Artist
Stewart Copeland   Drums,Vocals
Sting   Bass,Vocals
Andy Summers   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Andy Summers   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Stewart Copeland   Composer,Producer
Nigel Gray   Engineer
The Police   Arranger,Producer
Sting   Composer,Producer
Steven Van Zandt   Composer
Bill Levenson   Reissue Supervisor
Vartan   Reissue Art Director
David Foster   Tape Research
Stewart Whitmore   Compilation Producer
Dave Collins   Mastering
Chris Gray   Engineer
Meire Murakami   Reissue Design
Jane Hitchin   Tape Research
Margaret Goldfarb   Reissue Production Coordination
Zoe Roberts   Tape Research
Brendan Morris   Tape Research
David Lascelles   Tape Research
Randy Aronson   Tape Research