Ang wrote:
At least they made it a more interesting tracklisting by including album tracks and stuff like Fallout rather than the usual predictable singles collections... of which there have been four, by my count. It's basically an enhanced and expanded "best of." It is 30 tracks for thirty years.
But if you're going to make it interesting, then you might as well throw on some rarities and early/proto-Police stuff like, say, a live Strontium 90 track or some Eberhard Schoener stuff (yeah, I know, copyright issues for the latter, probably) And the former as well. I believe Stewart has gone on record saying that Mike Howlett (sp?) owns the copyright to the Strontium 90 recordings.
That would make it a good in-between buy for people curious about the lesser-known obscure stuff, yet there'd still be enough poppy hits to make sure that they'd feel they were also buying something they knew they'd definitely enjoy. I think that the new release reflects this. The hits are there as well as a decent selection of non-singles that the casual fan may not have heard. If a fan is seeking more obscure stuff (i.e. b-sides, live tracks, remixes, etc.) the other rumored box set should satisfy them.
Or, and I like this better by far, go the whole hog and put everything vaguely Police-related onto a REAL anthology Will NEVER happen. There's simply too much money to be made from releasing (and rereleasing) the same stuff again and again. That is why we've had multiple greatest hits albums, the 25th anniversary edition studio albums, and even Message In A Box. It's a relatively easy thing to simply repackage an existing product rather than make a new one.
I suppose we can be glad that they aren't Split Enz or Men At Work - both of whom have had many more greatest hits and best of's than actual albums!