A&M Records released all of the albums from the rock group The Police on SACD today. This is part of their celebration of the group’s upcoming induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame on March 10th.

The U.S. SACD release includes a Hybrid Layer Multichannel SACD of the group’s greatest hits on an album entitled «Every Breath You Take: The Classics» (A&M Records 0069-493607-2). This Hybrid SACD is an SACD only release, there is no corresponding Stereo CD reissue of this album.

While this SACD is packaged in a paperboard «Digipak» like the Rolling Stones Remastered SACDs, «The Classics» differes from those releases in that it does indicate that it is an SACD by markings on the spine and back cover of the album jacket. The SACD also features a grey sticker on the front of the album indicating that the disc is playable on both SACD and CD equipment. The list price of «The Classics» is $18.98, the same as a front line Stereo CD release.

The new SACD of «The Classics» features two bonus tracks: «Don’t Stand So Close to Me ’86″ and «Message In A Bottle (New Classic Rock Mix)». For these two tracks, the album’s liner notes says that the 5.1 Surround Sound Mix was «prepared by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering utilizing T.C. Electronic Unwrap». (T.C. Unwrap is a program that is used to transform Stereo masters to surround sound). The balance of the tracks were mixed for surround sound by David Tickle at Avalon Kauai and engineered by Martin Pradler.

Also of note on this SACD is the song «De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da». On the Stereo CD and Stereo SACD tracks on the disc, you’ll find the original hit version of this song. However, if you switch over to the Multichannel SACD track, the disc has a 5.1 version of 1986 mix of the song. This is the same version that appears on the DTS 5.1 Music Disc version of the album.

The Police Catalog on SACD
In addition to the Every Breath You Take: The Classics Hybrid Layer Multichannel SACD, the balance of the Police catalog on A&M Records was also released in the U.S. today on SACD. However, these SACDs appear in the usual Hybrid SACD cases (not Digipaks) and they are Single Layer, Stereo SACDs which are only playable on SACD equipment. These releases are:

• Police — Ghost In The Machine (A&M Records 0069-493605-2)
• Police — Live (2 SACD Set) (A&M Records 0069-493608-2)
• Police — Outlandos D’Amour (A&M Records 0069-493602-2)
• Police — Reggatta De Blanc (A&M Records 0069-493603-2)
• Police — Synchronicity (A&M Records 0069-493606-2)
• Police — Zenyatta Mondatta (A&M Records 0069-493604-2)

 

I should mention that these SACDs also include the usual SACD markings on the back, spine and cover of the albums as well as a grey sticker. Unfortunately, the SACD edition of «Synchronicity» carries an erroneous grey sticker that says the disc is playable on CD and SACD equipment. As a Single Layer Stereo SACD, it only will play on SACD equipment — as correctly indicated on the back cover of the disc.

Also of note, Universal Music International says that the SACD versions of these 6 Police reissues in Europe and Japan will be available as Hybrid Layer Stereo SACDs. Separate regular Stereo CD versions will also be available in Europe and Japan in June.

Availability
The Police catalog SACDs are now available for purchase at Tower Records and Best Buy stores as well as several web sites including Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct and Red Trumpet. Every Breath You Take: The Classics by The Police (A&M Records 0069-493607-2)