| Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 15, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2019 | |||
| Studio | Q Division Studios, Somerville, Massachusetts, United States | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 43:09 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | American Laundromat | |||
| Producer | Juliana Hatfield | |||
| Juliana Hatfield chronology | ||||
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Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police is a covers album by American alternative rock artist Juliana Hatfield, covering British rock band The Police. The album has been positively received by critics.
Released in 2019, the collection follows 2018's Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John and was originally begun as a Phil Collins covers album. [1] The Police had been a childhood favorite of Hatfield's and she chose to balance the group's biggest hits with more obscure songs. [2] Hatfield announced the album on August 1, 2019, and previewed the album with her recording of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da". [3] "Next to You" was released on September 25 to promote the album. [4]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 from six critic reviews. [5] A positive review from Paste 's Andy Crump summed up the release as "an act of pop cultural interrogation for its own sake", praising it as a covers album that successful recontextualizes The Police's work as well as a good album on its own merit. [6] The editorial staff of AllMusic Guide gave the album 4.5 out of five stars, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the musical variety on the album and Hatfield's innovative take on the songs, calling the release, "fresh and alive, once again feeling like punk-inspired pop". [7] In Under the Radar , Frank Valish wrote that Hatfield "one of the rarest of artists who is able to both revere and transcend the original compositions" and gave the album eight out of 10. [8] Chris Ingalls of PopMatters also gave the album eight out of 10 and particularly called out the variety of musicianship, summing up, "As she has demonstrated with this album as well as the Olivia Newton-John project, she's a musician who is dedicated to paying tribute to the music of her youth and finding new and interesting ways to present it". [9] A muted review from American Songwriter 's Hal Horowitz gave the release three out of five stars, writing, "This is a fun listen but also feels like a way for Hatfield to amuse herself, romping through a dozen interesting, far from essential interpretations of the Police's music in 45 minutes as she works on new material". [10] Pablo Gorondi of AP News praised Hatfield's ability to choose a balance of songs and perform them with variety, calling future covers projects "a most welcome prospect". [11]
All songs written by Sting, except where noted
Additional personnel
Juliana Hatfield is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. She also fronted her own band, The Juliana Hatfield Three, along with bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Philips, which was active in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-2010s. It was with the Juliana Hatfield Three that she produced her best-charting work, including the critically acclaimed albums Become What You Are (1993) and Whatever, My Love (2015) and the singles "My Sister" (1993) and "Spin the Bottle" (1994).
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting, Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland. The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.
Outlandos d'Amour is the debut studio album by English rock band the Police, released on 3 November 1978 by A&M Records. Elevated by the success of its lead single, "Roxanne", Outlandos d'Amour peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned two additional hit singles: "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely".
Reggatta de Blanc is the second studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 5 October 1979 by A&M Records. It was the band's first release to top the UK Albums Chart and features their first two UK number-one singles: "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon". In early 1980, the album was reissued in the United States on two 10" discs, one album side per disc, and as a collector's edition with a poster of the band.
Zenyatta Mondatta is the third studio album by English rock band the Police, released on 3 October 1980 by A&M Records. It was co-produced by the band and Nigel Gray.
Ghost in the Machine is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Police. The album was released on 2 October 1981 by A&M Records. The songs were recorded between January and September 1981 during sessions that took place at AIR Studios in Montserrat and Le Studio in Quebec, assisted by record producer Hugh Padgham.
Every Breath You Take: The Singles is the first compilation album by the Police, released in 1986. In 1990, the album was repackaged in New Zealand, Australia and Spain as Their Greatest Hits with a different cover.
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Police, he played drums with English rock band Curved Air from 1975 to 1976. As a composer, his work includes the films Wall Street (1987), Men at Work (1990), Good Burger (1997), and We Are Your Friends (2015); the television shows The Equalizer (1985–1989), The Amanda Show (1999–2002), and Dead Like Me (2003–2004); and video games such as the Spyro series (1998–present) and Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (2001). He has also written various pieces of ballet, opera, and orchestral music.
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a hit song by the rock band the Police, released in September 1980 as the lead single from their third studio album Zenyatta Mondatta. It concerns a teacher who has a sexual relationship with a student, which in turn is discovered.
"Message in a Bottle" is a song by English rock band the Police. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting, the song is ostensibly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is destined to be alone. The next day, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there. Over the course of the song, Sting mentions sending an S.O.S. 31 times.
Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings is a four-CD box set by the Police, containing all five of their studio albums in chronological order, as well as non-album singles, non-album B-sides, and tracks from various compilation albums and the Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack (1982). The box set also comes with a 68-page booklet.
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is a song by the Police, released as a single on 20 November 1980. Released as the British second single from the album Zenyatta Mondatta, the song was written by Sting as a comment on how people love simple-sounding songs. The song was re-recorded in 1986 as "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da '86" but not released until 1995.
Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album by the Police, released in September 1992 by A&M Records. It is the band's second compilation album following Every Breath You Take: The Singles. In contrast with its predecessor, it features all 14 original UK top 20 chart singles and five UK number-ones released by the band from 1978 to 1984, including the two missing singles from the previous 1986 compilation, "Synchronicity II" and the original version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" which had been replaced with the 1986 re-recording. The album also includes two bonus album tracks, "The Bed's Too Big Without You" and "Tea in the Sahara". The cover photograph was by Duane Michals and it was taken at the time of the Synchronicity album. The inner sleeve featured a collage of pictures of the band shot by different photographers during their career, including Miles Copeland, Peter Baylis, Adrian Boot, Akihiro Takayama, Anton Corbijn, Danny Quatrochi, Gabor Scott, Janette Beckman, Kim Turner, Michael Ross, Watal Asanuma and Andy Summers.
The Police is a self-titled compilation album released by the Police on 5 June 2007, to both celebrate the 30th anniversary of their recording debut and accompany their reunion tour. It contains 28 tracks over two discs, a mixture of hit singles and fan favourites. All the singles are included, with the exception of "Secret Journey" and '"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86". International editions contain two bonus tracks, "The Bed's Too Big Without You" from Reggatta de Blanc and "Rehumanize Yourself" from Ghost in the Machine. The band's non-studio album debut single, "Fall Out", originally recorded in 1977, is also included; other than Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993) the song has never been included on any other Police album.
Gold Stars 1992–2002: The Juliana Hatfield Collection is a greatest hits album by Juliana Hatfield, released in 2002. It also includes previously unreleased recordings.
"When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" is a song written by Sting that was first released by English rock band the Police on their 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta. Along with another song from Zenyatta Mondatta, "Voices Inside My Head", the song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in 1981. In 2000, a remix version credited to Different Gear versus the Police reached No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 7 on the Billboard Dance chart, and No. 94 in the Netherlands. On radio stations, the song is often played directly after "Driven to Tears".
Pussycat is a studio album from American alternative rock singer and songwriter Juliana Hatfield, released by American Laundromat Records on April 28, 2017. It has received positive reception from critics.
Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. It was released on April 13, 2018, by American Laundromat Records. It's a tribute album to Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, in which Hatfield covers thirteen songs sung by Newton-John, most of them originally released as singles. From every sale of the album, one dollar will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, Newton-John's own cancer treatment organization. The following year, Hatfield released Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police and Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO followed in 2023.
Weird is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. It was released on January 18, 2019, through American Laundromat Records. She began working on the record after wrapping up Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia-Newton-John. "I had a lot of musical ideas. I went back into the studio and recorded a bunch of music, she said in a 2019 interview about the album. "I took a month or two off to write lyrics. I don’t usually work like that. I usually have full songs written, but I just felt like I wanted to do things a little differently. What emerged was a portrait of my life right now, which is pretty solitary and slightly isolated but not unpleasantly so. I was exploring what it’s like to be alone a lot of the time. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it could be a very good thing."
Blood is a 2021 studio album by American alternative rock musician Juliana Hatfield. The album was recorded by Hatfield in her home during the COVID-19 pandemic, with subsequent studio overdubs and mixing and focuses on themes of violence and retribution. The release was preceded by the single "Mouthful of Blood".
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