A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the U.S. release of SACDs by the rock group The Police in honor of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As part of that story, we noted that while the album “Every Breath You Take: The Hits” would be released in the U.S. and Europe as a single inventory, Hybrid Layer Multichannel SACD (playable on both CD and SACD equipment) with no separate Stereo CD version.

However, the balance of the group’s catalog was released in the U.S. as Single Layer Stereo SACDs (playable on SACD equipment only) and Stereo CDs. In Europe and Japan, the balance of the catalog will appear on Hybrid Layer Stereo SACDs (playable on both CD and SACD equipment) and Stereo CDs.

This led to an interesting question. Would some U.S. SACD fans forgo the U.S. Single Layer Stereo SACD editions of the balance of the Police catalog in favor of the European Hybrid Layer Stereo SACDs due to be released next week on Monday, March 24th?

In an interesting twist to all of this, the official Sting Web Site is now offering all of the Police SACDs for purchase on their web site. Included on the web site are links to both the Amazon.Com web site in the U.S. and the Amazon.Co.Uk web site in the United Kingdom.

And as you may have guessed, this enables fans of the Police to select either Single Layer or Hybrid Layer Stereo SACD editions as well as the Stereo CD versions for purchase of the albums other than Every Breath You Take. (That SACD is offered in your choice of the U.S. or U.K. Hybrid SACD edition.)

Will fans of the Police take advantage of this unique offer? And which SACD edition will they choose to buy? It will be an interesting situation to watch.