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“A connecting principle, linked to the invisible.” It’s a key line from the ostensible title track to The Police’s blockbuster Synchronicity LP, which is now officially slated for a very-much-visible and quite tangible 40th anniversary box set celebration that will comprise 180g 4LP super deluxe, 2LP color vinyl, and 1LP picture disc editions from Polydor/UMe on July 26, 2024.

You know the basics about the core LP, right? Originally released on A&M in June 1983 — technically making this a 41st anniversary celebration, but still — Synchronicity hit No.1 around the globe, ultimately selling over 15 million copies worldwide, 8.5 million of them in the United States. The ubiquitous No.1 hit single “Every Breath You Take” has since been acknowledged as being the “most played song in radio history” (at least according to a Showbiz 411 report from 2019), and the album continued to spawn hit after hit, including “King of Pain,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” and “Synchronicity II.”

According to the official press release, this particular Synchronicity reissue has been “three years in the making, created with the band’s involvement and endorsement.” The accompanying 62-page booklet in the box set is said to contain extensive liner notes by music journalist Jason Draper that include new, making-of-oriented interviews with all three bandmembers — i.e., lead vocalist/bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland — along with a wide selection of “rare archive memorabilia and unseen photographs.”

While we don’t have all the mastering and pressing-related stats in hand as of yet, we do know other, recent Police LP reissues have been half-speed-mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road, but we have been told all 10 tracks on the main Synchronicity album, in addition to the fan-favorite bonus track “Murder by Numbers,” have been “remastered directly from the original source tapes.” We also don’t know yet if the five Synchronicity tracks that were half-speed-mastered at Abbey Road for inclusion on The Police’s March 2023 2LP Greatest Hits collection released by Polydor/UMC that was pressed in Germany are the same ones included here, however logical that thought may appear.

Here's what you can expect to find on each vinyl edition. The 4LP super deluxe edition (SRP: $174.99) contains the original album’s 10 tracks on LP1, an even-dozen 7in and 12in B-sides and live recordings on LP2, 10 unreleased alternate takes and demos from the Synchronicity sessions on LP3, five unreleased alternate takes and demos from the Synchronicity sessions on LP4, Side 1, and six unreleased songs on LP4, Side 2. The 4LP set has also been denoted as a “limited edition,” though how many copies that designation entails have not been specified.

Amidst all this bonus material is an early version of Summers’ 1982 track “Goodbye Tomorrow” (later renamed and appearing here as “Someone To Talk To”); an unreleased first take of “Truth Hits Everybody” (originally from the band’s November 1978 debut LP on A&M, ); and rare covers of Eddie Cochran’s “Three Steps to Heaven” and Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music.”

Unfortunately, because of LP-side time constraints, one of the bonus selections that appears in the companion 6CD super deluxe edition box set — a demo of the Copeland-penned “I’m Blind,” which later resurfaced as the renamed “Brothers on Wheels” for Copeland’s soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed 1983 film Rumble Fish — unfortunately had to be left off the 4LP collection. (The 6CD set also contains live material not on any of these vinyl collections.)

The 2LP color vinyl deluxe edition (SRP: $45.98, and currently exclusively available here) comprises one red LP and one yellow LP, with the original album’s 10 tracks on LP1 and an even-dozen 7in and 12in B-sides and live recordings on LP2. Finally, the 1LP picture disc (SRP: $35.99) contains the original album’s 10 tracks, albeit presented in a different running order — a 5/5 side split as opposed to the initial LP’s 6/4 offering. The 4LP and 1LP versions of Synchronicity can be pre-ordered via the Music Direct links that appear after their respective tracklistings below, and/or via this link.

As collectibles go, a brief word (or two) about Police picture discs. I can personally report that my picture disc of October 1981’s Ghost in the Machine (released by A&M/UMC in a PVC sleeve in November 2022) did indeed display expected surface noise more than I would have preferred during playback — just occasionally, mind you, not all the way through both sides — but I did very much approve the band’s choice to both revise the original running order as well as add three additional tracks to the Ghost mix. I am encouraged to see that the Synchronicity picture disc (seen above) follows half-suit with a revised running order of its own, albeit with no bonus tracks added in — the latter decision more than likely due to the other two Synchronicity multi-LP editions that are being released, something they did not do for Ghost (at least not yet).

And don’t worry — “Murder by Numbers,” the aforementioned bonus track that instantly became a favorite song for many of us longtime Police fans, and one that first appeared at the end of Side 2 of the original 1983 A&M Synchronicity cassette (as well as on the ensuing A&M and UMe CD issuances), is indeed on both the 4LP and 2LP sets.

Incidentally, when I spoke with Police drummer Stewart Copeland (seen above) in a story that posted on AP back on June 22, 2023, he observed of “Murder by Numbers” that “when we play it live, it goes down as one of the biggest we play.” (By “we,” he means his solo/orchestral touring collective.) “It’s not one of the hits,” Copeland continued, “but just when the orchestra plays it, it really lights up. And whether they’re familiar with it or not, it really works on the audience. That song is a big hit onstage, even though it’s one of our most obscure tracks.” (If you want to see what else Copeland said about how The Police’s music sounds on vinyl, go here.)

I also had occasion to speak with Police guitarist Andy Summers recently about how his own solo work (including his first collaboration with Robert Fripp on A&M, 1982’s I Advance Masked) and Police music sounds on vinyl, and that interview will post here on AP in the near future. In the meantime, it’s high time to pre-sync our eyes and ears for what’s to come in the deluxe box-set land of Synchronicity.

THE POLICE
SYNCHRONICITY
180g 4LP SUPER DELUXE EDITION (Polydor/UMe)

Disc 1, Side 1
1. Synchronicity I
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II

Disc 1, Side 2
1. Every Breath You Take
2. King Of Pain
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger
4. Tea In The Sahara

Disc 2, Side 1
1. Murder By Numbers
2. Truth Hits Everybody (Remix)
3. Man In A Suitcase (Live At The Variety Arts Theatre, Los Angeles, USA / 16th January 1981)
4. Someone To Talk To
5. Message In A Bottle (Live At The Gusman Cultural Center, Miami, USA / 26th October 1979)
6. I Burn For You

Disc 2, Side 2
1. Once Upon A Daydream
2. Tea In The Sahara (Live At The Omni, Atlanta, USA / 3rd November 1983)
3. Every Breath You Take (Backing Track)
4. Roxanne (Backing Track)
5. Wrapped Around Your Finger (Live At The Omni, Atlanta, USA / 3rd November 1983)
6. Every Bomb You Make

Disc 3, Side 1
1. Synchronicity I (Alternate Mix)
2. Synchronicity I (Instrumental)
3. Walking In Your Footsteps (Alternate Mix)
4. O My God (Alternate Mix)
5. Mother (Instrumental)
6. Miss Gradenko (Alternate Mix)

Disc 3, Side 2
1. Synchronicity II (Outtake)
2. Synchronicity II (Extended Version)
3. Synchronicity II (Instrumental)
4. Every Breath You Take (Alternate Mix)

Disc 4, Side 1
1. King Of Pain (Alternate Version)
2. King Of Pain (Alternate Mix)
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger (Alternate Mix)
4. Wrapped Around Your Finger (Instrumental)
5. Tea In The Sahara (Alternate Mix)

Disc 4, Side 2
1. Loch
2. Ragged Man
3. Goodbye Tomorrow
4. Truth Hits Everybody (Remix) (Outtake)
5. Three Steps To Heaven
6. Rock And Roll Music

THE POLICE
SYNCHRONICITY
180g 2LP COLOR VINYL DELUXE EDITION (Polydor/UMe)

Disc 1, Side 1
1. Synchronicity I
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II

Disc 1, Side 2
1. Every Breath You Take
2. King Of Pain
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger
4. Tea In The Sahara

Disc 2, Side 1
1. Murder By Numbers
2. Truth Hits Everybody (Remix)
3. Man In A Suitcase (Live At The Variety Arts Theatre, Los Angeles, USA / 16th January 1981)
4. Someone To Talk To
5. Message In A Bottle (Live At The Gusman Cultural Center, Miami, USA / 26th October 1979)
6. I Burn For You

Disc 2, Side 2
1. Once Upon A Daydream
2. Tea In The Sahara (Live At The Omni, Atlanta, USA / 3rd November 1983)
3. Every Breath You Take (Backing Track)
4. Roxanne (Backing Track)
5. Wrapped Around Your Finger (Live At The Omni, Atlanta, USA / 3rd November 1983)
6. Every Bomb You Make

THE POLICE
SYNCHRONICITY
180g 1LP PICTURE DISC EDITION (Polydor/UMe)

Side 1
1. Synchronicity I
2. Every Breath You Take
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger
4. Miss Gradenko
5. Synchronicity II

Side 2
1. King Of Pain
2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. Mother
4. O My God
5. Tea In The Sahara