The Police Around The World and Expanded
By Mike O’Cull
Rejoice, Police fans! On May 20th, 2022, Mercury Studios is set to drop The Police: Around The World Restored & Expanded on DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD, and DVD+LP on colored vinyl. The film documents The Police as a young band taking on all comers in 1979 and 1980 and becoming major stars along the way.
The band tore through six continents on this, their first world tour, and filmed their gigs and adventures in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Egypt, Greece, France, South America, and the US. The film was originally released back then on VHS tape and laserdisc and has never been available on DVD or Blu-ray until now. The new version is presented with remastered audio, restored visuals, full performances of four bonus songs, and previously unreleased live audio on CD and LP. The songs here are from the band’s first two albums Outlandos d’Amour and Reggatta de Blanc and remind us all how great The Police were out of the gate and how enthusiastically people responded.
The Police formed in 1977 and were originally thought of as part of the then-emerging New Wave scene. The band’s one and only lineup of Sting (bass, vocals), Andy Summers (guitar, vocals), and Stewart Copeland (drums, vocals) was much more than that, however, blending rock, punk, jazz, and reggae into a sound that was truly original. They presented an entirely different take on the idea of a rock trio, forgoing long solos and instrumental bombast in favor of tight grooves, atmospheric guitar textures, and unforgettable hooks. They flew in the face of the over-the-top, Van Halen-influenced mainstream rock sound of the day and found success on their own terms.
The Police: Around The World Restored & Expanded gives fans an up-close view of the group at this crucial career moment. It shows us what an incredible live band they were then, full of fire and frenzy, and how the profoundly original styles of each member came together to produce massive hit records. All three players were outside of what rock musicians were expected to be, then and now, and that freshness took them to stardom.
The doc also gives viewers a front-row seat for some of the offstage shenanigans indulged in by a trio of young guys tasting real success for the first time. Andy Summers’ brief stint as a sumo wrestler in Japan is incredibly entertaining and worth the cost of the set all on its own. They frolicked at local monuments, dined on indigenous cuisine, and generally had the time of their lives, all while building an organic fan base that would enable the future of the band.
Of course, the real highlights of the film are the performances. Seeing this soon-to-be stadium-filling crew playing small, sweaty gigs with fans often only inches from the stage (and sometimes on it) is cathartic and inspiring. The band absolutely burns throughout the tour, putting out the energy needed to drive fans wild and make them dance like they’d never hear music again. The live takes of early Police gems like “So Lonely,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Walking On The Moon,” “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around,” and “Bring On The Night” are ultra-entertaining and rock with the might of a band on the verge of breaking big.
Andy Summers sums it up best in the liner notes, saying “Like Napoleon, we wanted the world. Out of the messy and fervent atmosphere in London at that time we conceived the idea to go all around the world and film the whole adventure. As far as we knew no rock band, at least, had ever done that. We had just about enough popularity to get booked around the globe. Plans were made.” The Police went on to achieve true greatness, become superstars, and ride the roller coaster of fame as far as it would take them. The Police: Around The World Restored & Expanded shows off the musical and artistic muscle that made it all happen. Watch it ten times; it still won’t be enough.
Pre-order link for The Police: Around The World Restored & Expanded
Watch Preview of “Around The World and Expanded”
Hi Rock & Blues Muse,
I’ve just watched and listened to my long-awaited copy of ‘The Police: Around The World (Restored & Expanded) on blu ray and CD, and suddenly I feel like I’m 13 again, not 53!
What amazing image and sound quality on the blu ray and sound quality on the CD!
One question though; if it’s a chronicle of The Police after the release of their first two albums ‘Outlandos D’Amour.’ and ‘Reggatta De Blanc, how come there are performances of tracks from ‘Zenyatta Mondatta.’?
Not that I’m complaining!!
I have the original VHS. I got my remastered DVD yesterday. Although very entertaining and awesome (as I’m a huge Police fan), they edited out scenes of the band bickering backstage (showing the reality of the stress) and the gig where Sting and some french dude in the audience got into a spitting and cursing fight. Man, I wanted the digitally remastered good, bad, and ugly. Still, such a blast watching it last night!
Great to have this. I had this back in day on VHS. The great musicianship, the songs and humour of young rock group really comes through. It was the reason why I fell in love with The Police as a band in the first place. It has quality’s of the humour of The Beatles A Hards Night without the big budget or arthouse direction. On the 1980 tour, British radio and TV broadcaster Anne Nightingale remarked that Andy Summers was like Harpo Marks. That certainly comes across here. Good fun amongst the great songs and terrific travelogue footage – 2 years before Duran Duran Rio videos. It stands up to repeated viewing. A thoroughly entertaining and welcome release in DVD.
If there is more footage in the archive it would be great to see it especially of songs like The Bed’s Too Big Without You. Highly recommended.
I have the VHS tape that I bought at Tower Records in Hollywood in 1989. I transferred it to digital years ago and glad I did. I’m bummed out that the edgier moments were cut out of this new Blu-ray release. Watered down for 2022. The VHS tape is a true time capsule of another time and place.
My thoughts exactly. Super disappointed that the best and grittiest stuff was edited out. I’m gonna have to buy a VCR to watch my original copy.
thank you to all those who made mention of the fact the best stuff was cut out of the restored version! The fight Sting gets into at the gig in France is epic and I am absolutely in love with the end of the song there. unfortunately, I will stick with my VHS copy and not get the DVD.