The Funk Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 [i]When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Maybe. Copeland don't groove, and he speeds up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBeefChief Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Copeland is probably the only drummer that I can recognise instantly. Fair play to that. Trying to tap along to Don't Stand So Close to Me always does me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Records = Not too bad Live = Dire I should add that my judgement of "live" shows is based on what I've seen on telly. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 [quote name='SteveK' post='425412' date='Mar 4 2009, 06:45 PM']Records = Not too bad Live = Dire I should add that my judgement of "live" shows is based on what I've seen on telly. Steve[/quote] I think that applies to a lot of bands... never seen them live myself... though have seen Sting a few times in the past and that was spot on.... then again he does have a plethora of session guys backing him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protium Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Hypocrite much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Just got Reggatta de Blanc today purely for Copeland, I'm not too fussed with Sumner and Summers, but Copelands playing on that album was ahead of it's time and still sounds amazing now. People do tend to forget that The Police were a close 3 piece before it became Sting & Friends, and easily upped the game musically when they came onto the scene. I wouldn't say their dire live, Copeland is just as interesting and innovative as he was 20/30 years ago, Sting and Summer's are the habitual let down though, Sting's voice has aged quite badly and Summers can barely remember half of the song before he starts adding some shoddy jazz nonsense which dosen't fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Always loved Copeland's playing, he's been in my top 5 tub-thumpers for decades. Sting however just seemed to play the bare minimum required for the song, which is fair enough, but feels like a wasted opportunity with such an inventive & dextrous drummer to work with. Still a big Police fan though, so yes. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 [quote name='Bassassin' post='425442' date='Mar 4 2009, 07:17 PM']Always loved Copeland's playing, he's been in my top 5 tub-thumpers for decades. Sting however just seemed to play the bare minimum required for the song, which is fair enough, but feels like a wasted opportunity with such an inventive & dextrous drummer to work with.[/quote] IMO, that's exactly why it worked. If Sting had overdone it, it would have been unlistenable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='425448' date='Mar 4 2009, 07:22 PM']IMO, that's exactly why it worked. If Sting had overdone it, it would have been unlistenable.[/quote] Very true - the reason that it all worked so well..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I think Copeland is a great drummer but him and Sting aren't my idea of a great rythym section.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) I love em both. I have seen Sting with his solo backing band and to be honest, they play the police material better then the police ever could live. I think Sting is a very inventive bass player, If his playing was any different/technical, i doubt they would have gotten the commercial recognition they recieved, the police songs as they are, are perfect and i wouldnt want them to change. He is one of my all time idols. Copeland is a very good drummer, summers can take a hike, his live playing and tone recently has been awful. Edited March 4, 2009 by Shockwave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='425565' date='Mar 4 2009, 09:59 PM']I think Copeland is a great drummer but him and Sting aren't my idea of a great rythym section..[/quote] The only song IMO that really presents Gordon and Copeland as a tight rhythm section is Spirits in the Material World. A great bass line with solid backing. Edited March 4, 2009 by Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Sting plays exactly "the right thing" on so many Police tracks. Can anyone imagine "Walking on the Moon" with a different bassline, or "The Beds too Big Without You" for instance? Tons of great, if minimal basslines on those records, and Copeland makes it all work in his own way too. It's good to remember, that on bass the number of note you play is generally in inverse proportion to the size of your audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 If your talking about rhythm I can't see how you can leave the guitarist out of the equation, his syncopated rhythms and arpegiated riffs are just as essential and contrast nicely with Stings minimalist style. IMHO of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I'm a massive Police fan, and probably an even bigger Sting fan (his solo album credits read like a who's who of Jazz and session players... Darryl Jones, Vinnie Colaiuta, Omar Hakim, Christian McBride, Branford Marsalis, just sick playing and production). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) I like the responses so far! I'm going to say something which might be controversial: Sting's playing on some Police songs is extremely technically sophisticated (from a rhythmic point of view, if not harmonically or melodically). Some of the syncopation is stupendously good! That's why I think they are one of the great rhythm sections: they lock really well, complement each other perfectly and created their own unique sound. Sure, they could be sloppy as hell, loose, and speed up, but - controversial statement no.2 - there's more to being a great rhythm section than keeping good time (and like some critics have said, that seemed to be a problem live, not in the studio). And I agree completely with burno's point about Summers' rhythmic contribution. His tone/solos/memory may be crap but that unique guitar style complemented and locked totally with the other two. There's so much personality in their playing that Sting's session guys (who I think are really good players) just don't come close. Edited March 5, 2009 by The Funk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) Sting is a great bass player,stuart copeland is one of the best reggae players out and also uses a lot of technology which is fine by me,as for andy summers,the dude is just on another level with his guitar playing,when i play 6 string its him and hendrix i aspire to. Aside from that sting is from wallsend which is near my home turf so dont diss him and go up there or you will get your heed kicked off. Edited March 5, 2009 by YouMa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I would love to, just once, come up with a bass line as simple, elegant, 'right' and catchy as the one on Walking On The Moon. Absolute class. And some of the syncopation between his singing and playing have convinced me he is in fact an alien. I have always been blown away by the Police, I was a wee nipper when I firs theard them on the Radio and even then I thought they were a cut above, although I couldn't have said why exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Sting is another prone-to-making-an-arse-of-himself-occasionally celebrity of the kind we have recently, errm, discussed but to be honest, I can forgive him absolutely anything for his wonderful bass & composition work over the years. The Police barely put a foot wrong -- Every Breath You Take, I mean it's just perfect -- and his live album 'Bring On The Night' is one of my desert island CDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_In_Yer_Face Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 is this worth debating? Copeland = favourite drummer of all time Sting = one of the main reasons i play bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_In_Yer_Face Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) [quote name='SteveK' post='425412' date='Mar 4 2009, 06:45 PM']Records = Not too bad Live = Dire I should add that my judgement of "live" shows is based on what I've seen on telly. Steve[/quote] Live = Dire Are you having a laugh? It makes me laugh when people with about 1/10th the talent of these guys come on here and comment about their playing. I saw the Police at Cardiff on the comeback tour and they were awsome. I have seen 100s of bands through the years and I know a dire live performance when I see one. Edited March 5, 2009 by Bass_In_Yer_Face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I don't understand how this poll could have more than one option - or maybe two choice "yes" or "I don't know what I'm talking about". Oooh, harsh! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Copeland is one of my favourite all round musicians. One of the first records I ever bought was a puke green vinyl 10" EP with... and on it. He played all the instrument on it. I do appreciate Sting's playing but he never got any better than being that freaky Harkonnen in Dune and ambassador for the tantric orgasm. IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jones Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I learned to play as a nipper by figuring out the bass lines on all the Police albums, especially Zenyatta and Regatta de Blanc. (Crap album titles, but anyway...) They are still fun to play, either because the line is simple enough that you can ornament it with harmonics and little fills (eg Deathwish), or as sixteenths (Canary in a Coalmine, Man in a Suitcase), or as others have pointed out, because the syncopation is really good. Never saw them live, but some of the video of them seems impressively energetic. Nice to see a band playing relatively sophisticated material with real energy. Summer has been a bit off-piste, ut they just wouldn't have worked as a three piece without his inventiveness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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