MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS

As The Police — Greatest Hits returns in a deluxe edition, Andy Summers reflects on five classic tracks from the band's timeless catalog.

- JOE BOSSO

WHEN IT WAS issued in 1992, The Police - Greatest Hits became a multimillion seller on CD, but its availability on vinyl was limited. To mark its 30-year anniversary, the 16-cut set (which, not surprisingly, packs in monsters like "Message in a Bottle," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," Every Breath You Take" and loads more) is getting the deluxe vinyl makeover. Each track has been remastered at Abbey Road and cut at half-speed, and the package contains two heavyweight LPs and expanded artwork, along with other bells and whistles.

For guitarist Andy Summers, along with his former Police bandmates (bassist-singer Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland), approving remixes of tracks he recorded 40 years ago is all part of the job, but he's enthusiastic about the new vinyl edition. "It's superior audio, so why wouldn't we want it out?" he tells Guitar Player. He admits that listening to past work with the Police is the last thing he does on purpose, but on occasion he'll hear a track while out in public, and his ears will perk up. "It can happen at the weirdest times," he reveals. "I'll be in a bar in Mexico, and a Police song will come on, and I'll go, 'Wow, that's really good.' It's interesting.