Synchronicity (The Police album)

Synchronicity
Studio album by
the Police
Released17 June 1983 (1983-06-17)
RecordedDecember 1982 – February 1983
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 39:42
  • 44:18 (cassette and CD editions)
LabelA&M
Producer
The Police chronology
Ghost in the Machine
(1981) 		Synchronicity
(1983) 		Every Breath You Take: The Singles
(1986)
Singles from Synchronicity
  1. "Every Breath You Take"
    Released: 20 May 1983[3]
  2. "Wrapped Around Your Finger"
    Released: 8 July 1983 (UK)
  3. "King of Pain"
    Released: August 1983 (US)
  4. "Synchronicity I"
    Released: 26 October 1983 (Japan)[4]
  5. "Synchronicity II"
    Released: 28 October 1983

Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by the British rock band the Police, released on 17 June 1983 by A&M Records. The band's most successful release, the album includes the hit singles "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", and "Synchronicity II". The album's title and much of the material for the songs were inspired by Arthur Koestler's book The Roots of Coincidence (1972). At the 1984 Grammy Awards the album was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album of the Year, and won three. At the time of its release and following the Synchronicity Tour, the Police's popularity was at such a high that they were arguably, according to BBC and The Guardian, the "biggest band in the world".[5][6]

Synchronicity reached number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and sold over eight million copies in the US. The album was widely acclaimed by critics. Praise centred on its cohesive merging of disparate genres and sonic experimentation. Rolling Stone described "each cut on Synchronicity [as] not simply a song but a miniature, discrete soundtrack".[7] It was ranked number 17 in the magazine's lists of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties"[8] and number 159 on the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[9] In 2009, Synchronicity was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Synchronicity – The Police". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. ^ Cook, Richard (18 June 1983). "Junger than Stingtime". NME. London. p. 29.
  3. ^ "BRIT Certified". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Promo disc". Discogs.
  5. ^ "Police play Shea Stadium". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. ^ Pidgeon, John (24 August 2007). "Whatever we do, this will always be the seminal band". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference RS19830623 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference RS100 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference RS500 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).