Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings

Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings
Box set by The Police
Released	September 28, 1993
Recorded	1977-1986
Genre	New Wave
Label	A&M
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
The Police chronology
Greatest Hits (1992) Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993) Live! (1995)

Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings is a four-CD boxed set by The Police, containing all of their studio albums in chronological order, as well as singles, B-sides, and tracks from various compilation albums and the Brimstone and Treacle soundtrack.

Disc 1 opens with the band's first single, "Fall Out"/"Nothing Achieving", featuring Henry Padovani on guitar and another track previously unavailable on CD, "Dead End Job". It proceeds with the contents of their first album, Outlandos d'Amour, followed by live renditions of "Landlord" and "Next to You" (recorded at the Bottom Line, New York on 4 April 1979 and originally broadcast on WNEW-FM, New York), and the studio version of "Landlord". The first half of the group's second album Reggatta de Blanc concludes the disc.

Disc 2 starts with the rest of Reggatta de Blanc. It is followed by the B-side "Visions of the Night", a mono mix of "The Bed's Too Big Without You", a mono live version of "Truth Hits Everybody," and another B-side, "Friends". Completing the disc are the contents of The Police's third album, Zenyattà Mondatta.

Disc 3 opens with the B-side, "A Sermon", a live version of "Driven to Tears" (recorded live at at Les Arenes, Frejus, France, 28 August 1980 and featured in Urgh! A Music War, and the non-album instrumental track "Shambelle". Then it moves to the band's fourth album, Ghost in the Machine and then concludes with four more bonus tracks: the instrumental "Flexible Strategies", "Low Life", and two songs from the soundtrack of the 1982 movie Brimstone and Treacle, "How Stupid Mr. Bates", and "A Kind of Loving".

Disc 4 contains the band's last album, Synchronicity, plus many bonus tracks: "Someone to Talk To", sung by Andy Summers, a live recording of "Message in a Bottle", "I Burn for You" (also from Brimstone and Treacle), "Once Upon a Daydream", and a live version of "Tea in the Sahara". The boxed set concludes with "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86", originally released on the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles.

Contrary to its title, these are not the complete recordings to 1986. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" was released in 1980 as a double A-side 7" with Japanese-sung lyrics on one side, Spanish on the other (AM-25000). Also released was a 12" single for "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" which featured both an additional remix and live version of the song. Neither was included on the boxed set.

Track listing

• Tracks previously unreleased on CD are marked with "*".

Disc 1

1. "Fall Out" (Stewart Copeland)* – 2:04
2. "Nothing Achieving" (Copeland)* – 1:56
   • Tracks 1-2 originally released as a single (UK only) in 1977.
3. "Dead End Job" (Sting, Copeland, Andy Summers)* – 3:35
   • B-side of the singles "Can't Stand Losing You" (UK), and "Roxanne" (U.S.).
4. "Next to You" (Sting) – 2:50
5. "So Lonely" (Sting) – 4:49
6. "Roxanne" (Sting) – 3:12
7. "Hole in My Life" (Sting) – 4:52
8. "Peanuts" (Copeland, Sting) – 3:58
9. "Can't Stand Losing You" (Sting) – 2:58
10. "Truth Hits Everybody" (Sting) – 2:53
11. "Born in the 50's" (Sting) – 3:40
12. "Be My Girl - Sally" (Sting, Summers) – 3:22
13. "Masoko Tanga" (Sting) – 5:40
    • Tracks 4-13 originally released on the album Outlandos d'Amour.
14. "Landlord" (Live) (Sting, Copeland) * – 2:36
15. "Next to You" (Live) (Sting)* – 3:11
    • Tracks 14-15 originally released on the A&M compilation album Propaganda - No Wave II in 1980 (AMLE 64786).
16. "Landlord" (Sting, Copeland) * – 3:09
    • B-side of the single "Message in a Bottle".
17. "Message in a Bottle" (Sting) – 4:51
18. "Reggatta de Blanc" (Copeland, Sting, Summers) – 3:06
19. "It's Alright for You" (Copeland, Sting) – 3:13
20. "Bring on the Night" (Sting) – 4:16
21. "Deathwish" (Copeland, Sting, Summers) – 4:13
    • Tracks 17-21 originally released on the album Reggatta de Blanc.

Disc 2

1. "Walking on the Moon" (Sting) – 5:02
2. "On Any Other Day" (Copeland) – 2:57
3. "The Bed's too Big Without You" (Sting) – 4:26
4. "Contact" (Copeland) – 2:38
5. "Does Everyone Stare" (Copeland) – 3:52
6. "No Time This Time" (Sting) – 3:17
   • Tracks 1-6 originally released on the album Reggatta de Blanc.
7. "Visions of the Night" (Sting)* – 3:05
   • B-side of the singles "Walking on the Moon" (U.K), and "Bring on the Night" (U.S.).
8. "The Bed's too Big Without You" (Mono) (Sting) * – 3:29
9. "Truth Hits Everybody" (Live) (Sting) * – 2:26
   • Tracks 8-9 originally released as a single (UK only) in 1980.
10. "Friends" (Summers)* – 3:36
    • B-side of the singles "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (UK), and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (U.S.).
11. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Sting) – 4:04
12. "Driven to Tears" (Sting) – 3:20
13. "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" (Sting) – 3:38
14. "Canary in a Coalmine" (Sting) – 2:26
15. "Voices Inside My Head" (Sting) – 3:53
16. "Bombs Away" (Copeland) – 3:09
17. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (Sting) – 4:09
18. "Behind My Camel" (Summers) – 2:54
19. "Man in a Suitcase" (Sting) – 2:19
20. "Shadows in the Rain" (Sting) – 5:02
21. "The Other Way of Stopping" (Copeland) – 3:22
    • Tracks 11-21 originally released on the album Zenyatta Mondatta.

Disc 3

1. "A Sermon" (Copeland) * – 2:33
   • B-side of the singles "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (UK), and "Don't Stand So Close To Me" (U.S.).
2. "Driven to Tears" (Live)(Sting) * – 3:29
   • Originally released on the compilation album Urgh! A Music War in 1981.
3. "Shambelle" (Summers) * – 5:00
   • B-side of the singles "Invisible Sun" (UK), and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (U.S.).
4. "Spirits in the Material World" (Sting) – 2:59
5. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (Sting) – 4:22
6. "Invisible Sun" (Sting) – 3:44
7. "Hungry for You (J'aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" (Sting) – 2:53
8. "Demolition Man" (Sting) – 5:57
9. "Too Much Information" (Sting) – 3:43
10. "Rehumanize Yourself" (Copeland, Sting) – 3:10
11. "One World (Not Three)" (Sting) – 4:47
12. "Ωmegaman" (Summers) – 2:48
13. "Secret Journey" (Sting) – 3:34
14. "Darkness" (Copeland) – 3:14
    • Tracks 4-14 originally released on the album Ghost in the Machine.
15. "Flexible Strategies" (Sting, Summers, Copeland) * – 3:43
    • B-side of the singles "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", (UK), and "Spirits in the Material World" (U.S.).
16. "Low Life" * (Sting) – 3:45
    • B-side of the UK single "Spirits in the Material World".
17. "How Stupid Mr. Bates" (Sting, Summers, Copeland) * – 2:41
18. "A Kind of Loving" (Sting, Summers, Copeland) * – 2:03
    • Tracks 17-18 originally released on the soundtrack album Brimstone and Treacle in 1982.

Disc 4

1. "Synchronicity I" (Sting) – 3:23
2. "Walking in Your Footsteps" (Sting) – 3:36
3. "O My God" – 4:02
4. "Mother" (Summers) – 3:05
5. "Miss Gradenko" (Copeland) – 1:59
6. "Synchronicity II" (Sting) – 5:02
7. "Every Breath You Take" (Sting) – 4:13
8. "King of Pain" (Sting) – 4:59
9. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (Sting) – 5:13
10. "Tea in the Sahara" (Sting) – 4:19
    • Tracks 1-10 originally released on the album Synchronicity.
11. "Murder by Numbers" (Sting, Summers) – 4:36
    • Not included on original LP release of the album Synchronicity.
    • B-side of the single "Every Breath You Take".
12. "Man in a Suitcase" (Live) (Sting) * – 2:17
    • originally released on the maxi-single "Every Breath You Take" (UK only).
13. "Someone to Talk To" (Summers) * – 3:08
    • B-side of the singles "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (UK), and "King of Pain" (U.S.).
14. "Message in a Bottle" (Live) (Sting) * – 4:51
    • Originally released on the maxi-single "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (UK only).
15. "I Burn for You" (Sting) * – 4:49
    • Originally released on the soundtrack album Brimstone and Treacle in 1982.
    • Also included on the maxi-single "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (UK only) which contributes to its ordering in this collection.
16. "Once Upon a Daydream" (Sting, Summers) * – 3:31
    • B-side of the single "Synchronicity II".
17. "Tea in the Sahara" (Live) (Sting)* – 5:06
    • B-side of the singles "King of Pain" (UK), and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (U.S.).
18. "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" (Sting)* – 4:51
    • Originally released on the album Every Breath You Take: The Singles.

NOTE: The German & Australian pressings have a different version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" on this disc (matrix number: 540 154-2 01 & 540 150-2). The mix clocks at 6:24, has an extended intro, a different ending, no playground sound effects, and a radically different guitar solo.