The Police: Certifiable

I can't believe it's taken me this long to getting around to reviewing The Police - Certifiable , their Live in Buenos Aires.  First of all, lets get the facts up front.  This is a live 2 DVD / 2 CD combo package that documents the final stages of The Police's 2007-2008 reunion world tour.  The CD packaging is the cheapest plastic I've seen, but you also get a 16 page photo booklet.  And in addition to the live concert, the DVD also includes a 50 minute documentary "Better than Therapy" by Jordan Copeland as well as two photo galleries.

The first few reunion shows were a little rough though.  Drummer Stewart Copeland famously called the band lame for some flubbed performances.  I managed to see the band twice on that tour and things definitely improved over the months they were on the road.  It's not quite the energy of 1985, but they do a good job on the songs.  While there's some amount of messing with the melodies and some extended jams, it works quite well on the live DVD, though not as good on the CDs.  Some songs like "Invisible Sun" and "Walking in Your Footsteps" have become sluggish --or maybe they were always that way.  On the other hand, they pull out all the stops for "So Lonely" and "Next to You."  I miss that they didn't play "The Bed's Too Big Without You" in this show, but you can't have it all.   That said, it's got all of their hits: "Message in a Bottle," "Walking on the Moon," "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," "Roxanne," "King of Pain," "Every Breath You Take" etc.

Bottom line, there's enough good songs with energy to make the package worthwhile.  The sound and video quality are superb and you get a real up-front view of the concert. The camera work is excellent and unlike many live DVDs it doesn't suffer from too many short distracting cuts.  The DVD focuses a lot on Sting as the vocalist, but there are a couple of tasty Andy Summers guitar solos and it's clear that Stewart Copeland is having the time of his life playing drums on the big stage.

Some have criticized the sound on the CDs as being washed out due to dynamic range compression. I have to agree that it is a bit too uniform for my taste and doesn't quite capture the full energy of a live show. 

In the US, this package only available at Best Buy for the very reasonable price of around $25.  However, you can find the Blu-Rayversion (slightly more expensive) as well as used copies on Amazon and eBay.  You can also get it on The Police's official online store.

For anyone who saw The Police on tour, or maybe even more for those who missed out, this is a great documentary of their final tour.  Whether you think of it as a live DVD package with bonus audio CDs or a live CD package with bonus DVDs, either way it's a good deal. 

Police: Official Site, News, Tour

Amazon: The Police - Certifiable, Blu-Ray, Police Anthology, Everyone Stares (DVD)

GuitarVibe: The Police at Shoreline, The Police at Oakland, Police Live Footage