''Live!'' is a live album by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

, released in 1995 on compact disc and cassette tape. It is the band's first live album and one of only two covering their initial period of activity before 1986, the other being ''Around The World'' (2022). A live album from the reunion tour, '' Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires'', was released in 2008.

According to

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the rock band the Police. Prior to joining the Police, Summers had been a member of several bands during the 1960s, including Zoot Money's Big Roll ...

, the idea of releasing an album of live material by The Police went back as far as 1982. Up until that point, a few live tracks had only surfaced on B-sides and compilations such as ''

Urgh! A Music War ''Urgh! A Music War'' is a 1982 British concert film featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk bands and artists. Filmed in August to September 1980 it was directed by Derek Burbidge and produced by Michael White and Lynda ...

'' (1980). The plan was to have a new album of the band to act as a stopgap between ''

Ghost in the Machine The "ghost in the machine" is a term originally used to describe and critique the concept of the mind existing alongside and separate from the body. In more recent times, the term has several uses, including the concept that the intellectual part ...

'' (1981) and ''

Synchronicity Synchronicity () is a concept introduced by Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held that this was a healthy fu ...

'' (1983). The record was mixed and mastered in Canada but never released. Similar plans took place in 1984 at the tail of the band's Synchronicity tour, but the project was shelved again, this time in favour of a greatest hits album ('' Every Breath You Take: The Singles''). In 1995, thanks to the technical possibilities and greater running time offered by the CD format, the idea regained momentum and Summers was invited to produce. The album features the band performing at two very distinct periods of its career. Disc one contains almost the complete concert on 27 November 1979 at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. It features mostly material from the first two albums, ''

Outlandos d'Amour ''Outlandos d'Amour'' is the debut studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 17 November 1978 by A&M Records. Elevated by the success of its lead single, " Roxanne", ''Outlandos d'Amour'' peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart ...

'' and ''

Reggatta de Blanc ''Reggatta de Blanc'' is the second studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 5 October 1979 by A&M Records. It was the band's first release to top the UK Albums Chart and features their first two UK number-one singles: " Messa ...

'', as well as songs only released as singles or B-sides such as "

Fall Out Fallout is residual radioactive material from a nuclear explosion. Fallout, fall out or fall-out may also refer to: Books * ''Fallout'' (novel), a 2010 novel by Ellen Hopkins *''Fall Out'', 1957 anti-nuclear study edited by Bertrand Russell *'' ...

" and "Landlord". The performance was broadcast by the

WBCN (FM) WWBX (104.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston with a hot adult contemporary format. The format started at 98.5 FM on February 9, 1991, and moved to 104.1 FM, replacing WBCN on August 12, 2009, t ...

radio in Boston. Disc two contains excerpts from two concerts on 2–3 November 1983 in Atlanta, Georgia at

The Omni Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Cente ...

during the Synchronicity tour for the album of the same name. On this occasion the band was augmented by three backing vocalists. Both shows were widely known to fans as they had been circulating in bootleg format for many years. The 1983 shows were also featured in the 1984 Synchronicity Concert VHS and the 2005 DVD release, and a live version of " Tea in the Sahara" had been released as the B-side of "

King of Pain "King of Pain" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their fifth and final studio album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a post-separation song from his w ...

" in 1984. ''Live!'' contributed to refresh the popularity of The Police about a decade after their break-up. It also had the merit of showcasing the band's live activity, and their propensity for rearranging and extending known songs such as " Roxanne" and "

Walking on the Moon "Walking on the Moon" is a reggae song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their second studio album, '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist and bassist Sting. It went o ...

". An edited version of "Can't Stand Losing You" from the Boston performance was released as a single and reached number 27 in the UK charts, while the album itself reached number 25.

Reception

''Live!'' was generally well received. David Sinclair in '' Q'' magazine noted how the album added an important dimension to the band's recorded legacy by offering a reminder of why The Police were one of the great performing acts of their day. Paul Colbert from '' Encore Magazine'' wrote: "It may have taken 10 years for a live album to materialise, but these two CDs were worth the wait, capturing two essential periods, two indispensable sets of material". Andrew Abrahams emphasised the difference between the two performances, observing how the one in Boston "captures a hungry rock band on its ascent" while the one in Atlanta "is more predictable, revealing a super-group that has settled into fame and commercial acceptability". In a November 1993 interview with ''Q'' magazine,

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

seemed to agree on this point: "I remember those small gigs so much better than the stadium shows. I can remember pretty well every night of the first tour: which gigs had tricky stairs to negotiate with the gear; what was said in the dressing room; which encores we did. But a stadium just looks like a stadium".

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted.

Disc one (1979 – Orpheum WBCN/Live in Boston)

Disc two (1983 – Synchronicity Concert/Live in Atlanta)

For

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

, 12 June 2021, discs one and two were released separately as ''Live! Vol. 1: Boston 1979'' and ''Live! Vol. 2: Atlanta 1983'' on double LP blue and red colored vinyl, respectively.

Personnel

;The Police *

– guitar, Taurus pedals, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Be My Girl – Sally", keyboards *

– bass, lead vocals, synthesizers, oboe *

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

– drums, percussion, xylophone, backing vocals ;Additional personnel (disc two only) *Michelle Cobb – backing vocals *Dolette McDonald – backing vocals *

Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and career Niles began h ...

– backing vocals

Production

*Producer: Andy Summers *Executive producers: The Police and

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing ...

*Engineers: Wolfgang Amadeus and Eddie King *Assistant engineer: Jun Murakawa *Photography:

Lynn Goldsmith Lynn Goldsmith (born 1948) is an American recording artist, film director, celebrity portrait photographer, and rock and roll photographer. She has also made fine art photography with conceptual images and her paintings. Taschen, Rizzoli, an ...

and

Jill Furmanovsky Jill Furmanovsky (born 1953) is a British photographer who has specialised in documenting rock musicians. Life and work Born in Southern Rhodesia, Furmanovsky emigrated with her parents - her father subsequently worked at an architecture prac ...

*Art direction and design: Norman Moore

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Live! (The Police Album) The Police live albums 1995 live albums A&M Records live albums Live new wave albums

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