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Rating: When it was released in 1978, it was criticized in various ways: "raw," "little disc," "not much to offer." Even Copeland denigrated it affectionately, as seen in the VHS "The Police: the Video": "At the beginning, our songs were two-chord tricks."
While respecting the opinion of the great drummer, judging "Outlandos" from a technical point of view is not the right approach. The force and emotional impact of this "little disc" are absolutely devastating. The number of chords matters little when faced with tracks that, like it or not, stick in your head after the first listen. From a "memorability" perspective, "Outlandos" genuinely has something miraculous.
The songs on this album almost all have the same structure. Punk fury (a movement to which the Police were always indebted) immersed in splendid Pop melodies (truly worthy of the Beatles and REM) that Sting's falsetto-leaning voice makes even more beautiful - for many, to be truthful, uglier -, the guitar providing support where needed with ingenious counterpoints, imaginative drumming, an explosive crescendo before a memorable chorus that repeats the song's title. "Little songs." Yes, but we could use such "little songs" today: "Roxanne" (which, if it had been released three years earlier, would undoubtedly have been part of the "Taxi Driver" soundtrack, as it feels like hearing Travis trying to redeem Iris), "Can't Stand Losing You" (with a nice change before the chorus), "Born in the 50s" (with a Sting truly in full swing), "Truth Hits Everybody" (one of the most underrated in the repertoire), "Next to You" (a perfect intro), "Peanuts."
Above all, the masterpiece stands out: "So Lonely," a mix of reggae that borrows chords from "No Woman, No Cry" (as Sting confessed in an interview), and punk, ennobled by Summers' psychedelic counterpoints and closed by Sting's chilling scream (singing a personal story), completed by Copeland's marvelous drum solo. An ending you never tire of listening to - and playing. It could have been the grand finale of the album. The Police would realize this over the years when it became the grand finale of their concerts.
"Hole in My Life" - perhaps the most substantial track, given its intimate and desperate lyrics - does not have the impact of the previous ones. But in the live version, where the policemen had very few rivals (go see the "Synchronicity Concert"), the track was reborn and became a little gem.
Not everything is gold, of course: "Be My Girl - Sally" (dedicated to... an inflatable doll) could have been left out. The final track "Masoko Tanga" is a tremendously boring jam session, a piece that clashes so much in the album that it feels like cheese on fish.
The album is a whip-crack. For this energy, it should have been called "Police Brutality." Then it was decided to name it "Outlandos," a mix of the words "Outlaw - Commandos" (outlaw commando). Obviously "Of love." A perfect way to appear punk and good guys simultaneously. They were clever, but we forgive them.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
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.
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Other reviews
By MrSalzano
"Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light, those days are over you have to understand once and for all!"
Their irresistible ascent is captured entirely in the three singles from this debut album, which alternated at the top of the American and English charts for more than a year.
By VIOLATOR 88
This is a hybrid work, still utilizing elements of punk origin, but already containing the reggae germs that would characterize the subsequent Reggatta De Blanc.
It is precisely this fact, the technical superiority of the three 'policemen' compared to others from the post-punk cohort, and their use of it to renew the song form with insertions of other genres, combined with Sting's excellent melodic ability, that would constitute their fortune already starting from this work.
By claudio carpentieri
An album that has all the cards on the table to be considered a regal jewel box both for the presence of valid tracks and for that creative and imaginative way of making music.
'Next To You' clarifies how a compact and expressive sound can represent one of the strengths of this debuting trio.
