The Police – Zenyatta Mondatta

The Police – Zenyatta Mondatta

Zenyatta Mondatta is the third studio album from The Police, originally released in 1980, and one of the defining records of the band's breakthrough period. Combining punk energy, reggae rhythms, sharp new wave songwriting and sophisticated musicianship, the album captures the trio of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland at a point where their sound was becoming increasingly ambitious while retaining its distinctive rhythmic edge.

Following the success of Reggatta de Blanc, The Police entered the studio with producer Nigel Gray to record Zenyatta Mondatta during a demanding period of touring. The album was recorded in the Netherlands in between live commitments, contributing to its famously tight, direct feel. Despite the pressures surrounding its creation, the resulting record became another major international success and helped establish The Police as one of the most important British bands of the early 1980s.

The album opens with Don't Stand So Close To Me, one of The Police's best-known songs and a UK number-one single. Sting's distinctive vocal sits over Copeland's propulsive drumming and Summers' clipped guitar work, creating the tension between reggae-influenced rhythm and angular new wave that became central to the band's sound.

Driven To Tears follows with a more politically charged edge, while When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around combines a hypnotic bass groove with atmospheric guitar textures. Canary In A Coalmine delivers a fast, punchy burst of new wave energy, before the instrumental Voices Inside My Head creates a darker, more spacious atmosphere. The first side closes with Bombs Away, continuing the album's socially conscious themes.

Side B begins with another of the band's signature hits, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, a deceptively simple pop song built around an instantly memorable chorus and tight rhythmic arrangement. The instrumental Behind My Camel, written by Andy Summers, provides one of the album's more experimental moments, while Man In A Suitcase brings the pace back with its brisk, reggae-inflected rhythm.

The atmospheric Shadows In The Rain gives Sting, Summers and Copeland room to stretch out, combining dub-influenced bass and drums with echoing guitar textures. The album closes with The Other Way Of Stopping, an instrumental co-written by Summers and Copeland that highlights the trio's remarkable musical chemistry.

Released in October 1980, Zenyatta Mondatta continued The Police's rapid rise and earned the band a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Behind My Camel, while Don't Stand So Close To Me also won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The album is an essential snapshot of the point where British post-punk, new wave and reggae influences were crossing into mainstream rock and pop.

A must-have for fans of The Police, Sting, new wave, post-punk, reggae rock, British rock and 1980s alternative music, Zenyatta Mondatta remains one of the band's most accomplished and influential albums, balancing memorable pop singles with adventurous musicianship and darker, more experimental material.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Don't Stand So Close To Me – 4:03
2. Driven To Tears – 3:21
3. When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around – 3:33
4. Canary In A Coalmine – 2:24
5. Voices Inside My Head – 3:51
6. Bombs Away – 3:07

Side B

1. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da – 4:09
2. Behind My Camel – 2:53
3. Man In A Suitcase – 2:15
4. Shadows In The Rain – 5:09
5. The Other Way Of Stopping – 3:21