It wasn’t actually punk, but it wasn’t like anything else in rock, either. Outlandos d’Amour mixes jazzy reggae workouts like “Masoko Tanga” with uninspiring fare like “Born in the 50’s.” The band’s commercial potential didn’t seem manifest at the time, but “Roxanne” (a U.... 

 Reggatta de Blanc’s “The Bed’s Too Big Without You” and “Message in a Bottle” are powered by the instrumentation, not melody. Instead of the typical power-trio approach, in which the guitar carries the tune while drums and bass offer rhythmic support, the Police invert the formula: Co... 

 The band augments its instrumentation with keyboards and even a little saxophone on Ghost in the Machine but otherwise maintains Zenyatta’s approach via well-modulated singles like “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and “Spirits in the Material World” (though the most interesting an... 

 This sly twist on tradition placed most of the band’s energy in the groove, which paid off big-time with Zenyatta Mondatta. The emphasis on rhythmic intensity made the songs catchier (as “Voices Inside My Head” shows, the band certainly knew how to work a vamp), and the rhythmic dynamics ad... 

 Synchronicity is the band’s swan song. The playing is clearly collaborative, and the band is at its most supple and inspiring, from the percolating exoticism of “Walking in Your Footsteps” and the full-throttle fury of “Synchronicity I” to the slow boil of “Every Breath You Take.” T... 

 Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings is a redundant door-stop that compiles all of the band’s studio recordings, including B-sides and rarities.  

 Live! documents a thrilling, tight-as-a-drum 1975 London performance of highlights from the first three albums. 

 A double-disc set timed to coincide with their reunion, The Police is the band’s best career-spanning compilation.  

 Consequently, the Police fell apart soon after Synchronicity, though in 2007, the band had a well-publicized (and very profitable) reunion, documented on Certifiable. The CD-DVD combo finds the group rotely going through their hits, as if calculating how many millions they’re earning per second.