The Album That Gave Sting and The Police True Artistic Freedom

The primary goal of most musicians is to gain success. The secondary goal of most musicians is to play the music they want to play. However, the two don’t go hand and hand very often, as there are other forces at hand forcing musicians to create some commercially trite music. This is exactly what happened when Sting and The Police got their start in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Videos by American Songwriter

Sting and The Police are pioneers when it comes to fusing reggae with pop music and selling it to the masses. Although, that wasn’t always the case, and they had to pay their dues before they got the keys to the creative car. That being so, the album that seemingly gave them their creative autonomy was none other than, Zenyatta Mondatta.

Sting & The Police’s Commerical Experiment

Released in 1980, The Police album does not strictly contrast the greater catalog of their work. However, according to Sting, the album was created through the commercial limitations of the music industry and the trends that shaped it.

In an interview with New Musical Express The Police frontman stated, “We were shackled by the industry. I was fascinated by commercialism” and “Very trapped by it.” “I saw the entire industry waiting for an album,” he added. Per Sting’s comments, it surprisingly seems that in light of this creative obstruction, he found new inspiration and a set of guidelines to toil in.

Sting added to his story by saying, “I had this impression of thousands of people, cogs in a great system, waiting for this album” and “I was sitting there struggling.” When he finished the album, Sting became relieved of these bounds as he stated, “I just long for anonymity again.”

Despite the commercialized tone of the album, Sting doesn’t it believe to be a completely insufficient and poor album. “I’m not offering excuses for ‘Zenyatta Mondatta’, I think it’s a reasonable pop album,” stated Sting. “I’ll defend certain songs on it. It had some good moments—It had some really terrible moments”

Regardless of its quality, it was what got Sting and The Police the creative freedom they needed. Sting concluded his interview by stating, “‘Zenyatta Mondatta’ was an experiment in commercialism” and “Now we can do what we like, that’s the key.” Given Sting’s experience, it seems The Police’s early career was one for the record label and one for themselves.

Photo by John Rodgers/Redferns