The Police To Release All Five Studio Albums On SHM-CD
The pioneering group’s five full-lengths will be released on the format on November 14.

The Police are set to release their five essential records on SHM-CD on November 14. These include Outlandos d’Amour (1978), Reggatta de Blanc (1979), Zenyatta Mondatta (1980), Ghost In The Machine (1981), and Synchronicity (1983).
SHM-CDs, which are becoming more popular amongst legendary artists, stands for “Super High Material.” Any CD you would buy in your favorite record store is made from a resilient polycarbonate material. SHM-CDs, however, are made of a purer, high-quality material developed for LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. The size and weight of SHM-CDs are identical to regular CDs; the difference comes below the surface, in ultra-fine detail.
When you put a disc into your CD player, it spins really fast and a laser reads all its data from a series of pits – tiny microscopic indentations – to bring you the music. SHM-CDs work the same way, but the higher-quality material lets the data etch into the disc with even greater precision. That means the music sounds cleaner, brighter and fuller. SHM-CDs are specially made: manufactured with their own stampers on their own assembly line in Japan, distinct from standard discs, and pressed in small batches to emphasize quality over quantity.
Other artists to release CDs using the pioneering format include Thin Lizzy, Paul McCartney, Roxy Music, and Eric Clapton.
Last year, The Police put out a deluxe reissue of their final studio album, Synchronicity. The package included more than 55 previously unreleased tracks, new liner notes and interviews, rare archival memorabilia, and unseen photographs. The boxset has been in the works for more than three years. Sting, meanwhile, released a 40th anniversary digital deluxe edition of The Dream Of The Blue Turtles earlier this year.