10 Most Underrated Police Songs

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Our article on the 10 Most Underrated Police Songs presents a showcase of songs by The Police that many of their die-hard fans may not know that well, with a few exceptions. Do you know how hard it is to pick underrated songs for a band that only released five studio albums and was one of the most loved bands in the world? It’s pretty much nearly impossible. As we went through each of the five Police albums, we were met with the realization that almost every song on each one of their albums was pretty popular. So, in order to accomplish this, we had to turn to B-sides for the most part. Still, we didn’t want this to be a B-sides article, so we did add some regular album cuts that we always thought should have gotten a little more love.

# 10 – Nothing Achieving – B-Side To Fall Out

Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings [4 CD Box Set]

We open up our 10 Most Underrated Police Songs list with the B-side to the band’s debut single, “Fall Out.” Both songs were not included on the band’s first album. The track “Nothing Achieving” is a bit lo-fi, but the playing is off the charts. It’s actually pretty heavy and may surprise some fans. There’s no hint of the reggae that would become infused in the band’s sound. This is just straight-ahead rock and roll.

# 9 – Friends – B-Side Of Don’t Stand So Close To Me

Continuing with our 10 Most Underrated Police Songs list, we have this very interesting Police song titled “Friends.” This one was written by Andy Summers, who delivers the very creepy spoken vocal throughout the song. The song goes through two very different tempo changes, each of which features either Andy Summers in his creepy voice or Sting in his Synchronicity howling. This is a cool piece of Police nostalgia. The song was released as the B-side to “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” in the United Kingdom and to “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” in the United States.

# 8 – “Dead End Job” – B-Side Of Can’t Stand Losing You

Continuing with our rundown of The Police’s underrated B-sides, we highlight another fabulous track: “Dead End Job.” The song was credited to Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland. It served as the B-side to “Can’t Stand Losing You” in the UK and to “Roxanne” in the US. This song sounds more like something that would have been found on the band’s first album, as opposed to “Nothing Achieving.” It’s a great one—very fast tempo, vintage Sting, and very surprising that this song didn’t make the cut on the album because it’s a rip-roaring punk rocker. Sting’s bass playing is just off the charts. It’s impressive how he can sing and play bass like that at the same time.

# 7 – Once Upon A Daydream – B-Side of Synchronicity

Now, this is an interesting one. In many ways, it was a bit of a preview of where Sting was heading in his solo career. Although it’s a pretty depressing song, it’s also quite fascinating musically. There’s also a bit of a lullaby feel to it, which makes sense based on the title and story. The song was released as the B-side to the “Synchronicity II” single, which was released in 1983.

# 6 – Flexible Strategies – B-Side of Spirits In The Material World

While many of these songs, or at least we should say B-sides, were released on the box set Message in a Box that came out in 1993, there was also a separate collection called Flexible Strategies which featured all the B-sides, as opposed to the box set which featured every song The Police had ever composed and released. This is the title track for that standalone release. It’s also a very cool piece that surprisingly went unheard of for a long time.

# 5 – Fall Out – Non album single

At the halfway point on our 10 Most Underrated Police Songs list is the first non-B-side on this list. “Fall Out” was the debut single released by the band. The song never appeared on any of The Police’s original studio albums. The song was written by Stewart Copeland and would eventually find its way onto Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings and the live album. It’s a pretty crazy, kicking song that became a pretty big collector’s item among Police fans in the ’80s, all searching for the rare single.

# 4 – Canary In A Coalmine – Zenyatta Mondatta

From this point on, we’re going to be focusing on album tracks that were released on the first five Police albums. As mentioned in the introduction, it’s not easy to pick Police songs that are underrated among their fans because of such a small body of work and the popularity of their albums. Nonetheless, I’m going to give it a try, and the first one up is “Canary in a Coalmine” from the band’s third album, Zenyatta Mondatta. This track is a lively and somewhat underappreciated gem that showcases the band’s knack for blending catchy melodies with reggae-influenced rock.

# 3 – The Bed’s Too Big Without You – Reggatta de Blanc

I’ve always thought that “The Bed’s Too Big Without You” is one of the band’s most underappreciated songs. The song was released on the band’s second album, Reggatta de Blanc. One of the reasons this song was kind of overlooked might have been because of the huge hit singles that the band celebrated from their sophomore record. Songs like “Message in a Bottle” and “Walking on the Moon” were such massive hits. Even the song “Bring on the Night,” which would later become a popular song in Sting’s solo repertoire, dominated radio play. However, “The Bed’s Too Big Without You,” the fourth single from Reggatta de Blanc, was one of the band’s most interesting and creative songs they ever released, even the title itself just bleeds creativity.

# 2 – Truth Hits Everybody – Outlandos d’Amour

We had to include at least one track from the band’s debut album, Outlandos d’Amour. Of course, the big-time hits from this album were “Roxanne,” which quickly turned The Police into a household name, followed by singles like “Can’t Stand Losing You” and “So Lonely.” However, one of our favorite tracks on the record is the second track on side two, following “Can’t Stand Losing You,” called “Truth Hits Everybody.” The groove on this track is just to die for.

# 1 – Demolition Man – Ghost In The Machine

We close out our 10 Most Underrated Police Songs list with the powerful, rocking song “Demolition Man.” Ghost in the Machine sounded unlike anything The Police had ever done. It had this force-to-be-reckoned-with sound from this rather dark album. The song “Demolition Man” not only closed out the album but also appeared in the movie Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.