#107 Synchronicity by The Police

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

107

2011 Album Rank

76

Total Points

595

Year Released

1983

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

1

Weeks at #1

17

RIAA Sales Certification

8,000,000 (Multi Platinum)

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Synchronicity Album Details

Released in June 1983, Synchronicity is the final studio album by The Police and their most ambitious, sonically expansive work. Marking a sharp departure from the reggae-influenced post-punk of their earlier records, the album dives into themes of psychological tension, myth, chaos, and personal dissolution. Named after Carl Jung's theory of meaningful coincidence, Synchronicity fuses new wave, pop, world music, and art rock with a sleek, icy production style.

The album became a global sensation, largely driven by the massive success of Every Breath You Take, one of the most misunderstood love songs in pop history. Other highlights include the propulsive Synchronicity II, the brooding Wrapped Around Your Finger, and the shimmering ballad King of Pain. Behind the scenes, tensions within the band had reached a breaking point, and the album's layered, claustrophobic textures reflect that internal friction. Despite the turmoil, Synchronicity became their best-selling album and a high-water mark of 1980s rock.

Interesting Facts About Synchronicity

• The band members recorded their parts in separate rooms at AIR Studios in Montserrat due to personal tensions, particularly between Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland.
• The album's title and conceptual framework were inspired by Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity, an idea that explores meaningful coincidences without causal connections.
• Every Breath You Take is often mistaken for a love song, but its lyrics are about obsession and surveillance. Sting wrote it during a divorce and has described it as "sinister."
• Synchronicity II parallels suburban malaise with apocalyptic imagery, contrasting a man's mundane daily life with the rise of a monster in a Scottish loch.
• The album features the band using a Synclavier and Fairlight CMI, early digital sampling synthesizers, to create atmospheric textures that were new for their sound.
• Tea in the Sahara was inspired by Paul Bowles' novel The Sheltering Sky. Sting would revisit this literary influence in his later solo work.
• Multiple different cover variants were released, with photos taken by Duane Michals. The most famous version features three horizontal strips of the band members in abstract poses.
• Walking in Your Footsteps was recorded using bamboo percussion and African-inspired rhythms, reflecting the band's growing interest in global musical styles.
• The tour following the album was one of the highest-grossing of the 1980s, but the band disbanded shortly after, never releasing another studio album.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009 for its cultural and historical significance.

Synchronicity Tracklist

1. Synchronicity I
2. Walking in Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother
5. Miss Gradenko
6. Synchronicity II - Reached #16 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
7. Every Breath You Take - Reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
8. King of Pain - Reached #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger - Reached #8 on Billboard'''s Hot 100 chart
10. Tea in the Sahara
11. Murder by Numbers

Every Breath You Take Music Video