Yesterday a friend who knows of my interest in analog audio and my weakness for irresponsible volumes asked me if I ever did what that guy in the Maxell Cassette ads did back in the day – turn up the volume so loud that when I settle in to listen my hair blows back. I had to confess that, yes, I DO do that, more often than I care to admit, and there are quite a few records in my collection well suited to that purpose.

One such record is Synchronicity. I saw The Police live back in high school on their Synchronicity tour at The Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Needless to say it’s been a few years, but as I recall the performance was at a scale that managed to do justice to the POWER and INTENSITY of the album, with A LOT of hair blowing back throughout the evening.

We can thank producer Hugh Padgham for his help in bringing that power and intensity to the record, and for playing a key role in balancing those qualities with the album’s varied other elements to create an atmosphere well suited to its existential themes. We can also thank Robert Ludwig for yet another masterful job cutting Synchronicity and marvel at his ability to so totally bring the music to life through playback. Bob’s fine work, as it so often does, serves to convey the remarkable size and space found in the recording.

This record was a big seller, the US versions can sound GREAT and the copies with Ludwig’s “RL” in the runouts are not hard to come by. I haven’t done a shootout with multiple copies of Synchronicity. In fact, I just pulled out the copy I bought as a teenager, cleaned it up and put in on the TT to see how it held up. Fortunately it delivered well enough that I’m recommending any audiophile with a system that can play well at high volume pick one up.

There are a GAZILLION versions of this record out and about on different colors of vinyl and with MANY variations of the jacket artwork. Who knows how many of these actually sound good, but it’s typically NOT an expensive record to pick up and therefore one worth taking a chance on.

Synchronicity was The Police’s last album, and shortly after it came out they were one of the BIGGEST bands in the world. Like The Beatles when they recorded The White Album, The Police were struggling to work together in the studio at that time, and Padgham nearly quit the project. Nevertheless, Synchronicity is another great example of how passionate performances and strong songwriting can still emerge from a band that’s both creatively at the top of their game and struggling at the end of their rope.