Ghost in the Machine (The Police album)

Ghost in the Machine is the fourth album by The Police, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music). Much of the material in this album was inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine, which also provided the title. It was their first album to bear an English language title. The group released three successful singles from the album: "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Invisible Sun", and "Spirits in the Material World". It went multi-platinum in the United States. The album was listed #322 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Album overview

The cover art for Ghost in the Machine features a seven-segment display-inspired graphic that depicts the heads of the three band members each with a distinctive hair style (from left to right, Andy Summers, Sting with spiky hair, and Stewart Copeland with a fringe); the band was unable to decide on a photograph to use for the cover. Wire bonds can be seen on the original issue vinyl album cover, suggesting that the display is custom rather than merely seven-segment or perhaps is a photographic collage. The album's cover is ranked at number 45 on VH1's 50 Greatest Album Covers. The graphic was designed by Mick Hegarty.

The album was the first Police record to feature heavy use of keyboards and horns. "Spirits in the Material World" has a rhythmic string synthesizer part, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" uses piano arpeggios and "Invisible Sun" has a background of synthesizer chords. The following twenty minutes of the record ("Hungry for You (J'aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" through "One World (Not Three)") include many saxophone harmonies while the opening to "Secret Journey" showcases the Roland Guitar Synthesizer.

Sting included all the synthesizer parts in his demos for the songs, and brought in Jean Roussel for the piano parts on "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". The demo for "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was such a high budget recording that the group could not best it with the equipment available at AIR studios, and ended up using it as the backing track for the official recording, with Copeland and Summers dubbing their parts on. Sting also played all the saxophone parts on the album. Andy Summers recollects:

I have to say I was getting disappointed with the musical direction around the time of Ghost in the Machine. With the horns and synth coming in, the fantastic raw-trio feel—all the really creative and dynamic stuff—was being lost. We were ending up backing a singer doing his pop songs.

The LP opens with "Spirits in the Material World," a dark song with keyboards dubbed over Summers' reggae-inspired guitar licks. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" features piano, a strong Caribbean vibe, and an extended non-verbal vocal solo at the end. "Invisible Sun" is a contrast of slow, steady, nearly monotone verses, a raw and bombastic chorus, and angst-filled guitar solos. "Hungry For You (J'Aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" is sung mostly in French, and is one of the most thin compositions in the Police catalogue; the bass and horns both repeat a single 8-note melody for the length of the song, while the guitar only maintains a steady beat. "Demolition Man," the band's longest song, almost six minutes in length, features a strong bass line and saxophone, and was written by Sting while staying at Peter O'Toole's Irish mansion. It became a belated hit in 1993, as the theme song for the same-named action movie. Grace Jones and Sting have both recorded solo versions of the song. Manfred Mann's Earth Band also recorded a version — rearranged and with extensive use of synthesizers — in 1982 for their "Somewhere in Afrika" album.

"Too Much Information," "Rehumanize Yourself," and "One World (Not Three)" are all simple, lighthearted songs with heavy use of horns. Similarly to "Landlord" and "Dead End Job", Copeland had written both music and lyrics for "Rehumanize Yourself", but Sting rejected the lyrics and replaced them with ones he'd written himself.^[1] The final three songs return to the darker sound which opens the album: "Omegaman" features brooding guitar chords and vocals over a driving bass line, "Secret Journey" is a moody song with an ethereal-toned intro and instrumental break, and "Darkness," the album's Stewart Copeland-penned closer, is a dark ballad which echoes the anti-conformist themes of his 1977 composition "Fall Out" under achingly slow and melancholy music. "Omegaman" was chosen by A&M to be the first single from the album, but Sting, who had only played on the song grudgingly, refused to allow its release in single form.^[2]

In his younger days, Sting was an avid reader of Koestler. Another of The Police's albums Synchronicity was inspired by Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence, which mentions Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity.

Reception

"Invisible Sun," released as a single instead, was a large success in the UK, making it to #2^[6] even though the video was banned by the BBC for including footage of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Later, "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" made it to #3 in the U.S. and #1 in Britain, and "Spirits in the Material World" made it to the U.K. Top 20.^[6]

In 2000 Q magazine placed Ghost in the Machine at #76 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked #322 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the band's highest ranking on the list. Pitchfork Media ranked it #86 in their list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.

Track listing

All songs written by Sting except as noted.^[7]

Side one

1. "Spirits in the Material World" – 2:59
2. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" – 4:22
3. "Invisible Sun" – 3:44
4. "Hungry for You (J'aurais toujours faim de toi)" – 2:52
5. "Demolition Man" – 5:57

Side two

1. "Too Much Information" – 3:43
2. "Rehumanize Yourself" (Sting, Stewart Copeland) – 3:10
3. "One World (Not Three)" – 4:47
4. "Omegaman" (Andy Summers) – 2:48 ("Ωmegaman" on some editions)
5. "Secret Journey"– 3:34
6. "Darkness" (Copeland) – 3:14

Three other songs were recorded as B-sides.

1. "Shambelle" (Summers) – 5:00
2. "Flexible Strategies" (Sting, Copeland, Summers) – 3:43
3. "Low Life" – 3:45

Personnel

The Police

• Sting - bass, keyboards, saxophone, lead vocals, backing vocals
• Stewart Copeland - drums, miscellaneous percussion, keyboards
• Andy Summers - guitar, keyboards, guitar synth

Additional musicians

• Jean Roussel - piano on "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
• Olaf Kubler - saxophone on "Low Life"^[8]

Production

• The Police - production
• Hugh Padgham - engineering
• Ted Jensen - mastering (LP)
• Dave Collins, Bob Ludwig – remastering
• Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Mick Haggerty, Vartan – art direction
• Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Mick Haggerty – design
• Duane Michals – photography

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

Notes