History YMMV / ThePolice

* BrokenBase: Very few examples of this among the fandom, but they are there. For example, what was better? The original version of "Don't Stand So Close To Me", or it's 1986 remake?

* EarWorm: Many songs by them.

* IncrediblyLamePun: "Friends". "I like to eat my friends/and ''make no bones about it''".

* NightmareFuel: The song "A Kind Of Loving" is just over two minutes of a woman screaming over a backing track. Admittedly a soundtrack piece but when you hear it on ''Message In A Box'' it stands out like a sore thumb.

* SignatureSong: Quite a few, considering how brief the band's tenure was.
** [[Music/{{Synchronicity}} "Every Breath You Take"]], "Message in a Bottle", and "Roxanne" tie for gold (these are the three songs most people think of when the band is mentioned).
** "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver (two of their most beloved songs, but not as ground-breaking as the previous three).
** "Walking on the Moon" and "Can't Stand Losing You" tie for bronze (probably the best representation of reggae in their catalogue).
** Honorary mention goes to "King of Pain" (a great song, but doesn't capture the distinctive Police sound).
* SoBadItsGood: "On Any Other Day".

** Those who prefer the '86 version like it because the more somber music fits the lyrics better; and because it sounds more mature and atmospheric with its 80's synth pop sound to it, while criticizing the original for being way too upbeat for a song that deals with such a dark and serious topic.

** Those who like the former call it a classic among the band's repertoire and enjoy it for its fun, upbeat sound, while criticizing for the '86 version of its more depressing sound and the fact it was a drum machine, not Stewart Copeland, that provided the drums on the track.

** [[Music/{{Synchronicity}} "Every Breath You Take"]] and "Roxanne" tie for gold (these are the two songs most people think of when the band is mentioned).
** "Message in a Bottle" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver (two of their most beloved songs, but not as ground-breaking as the previous two).

** Honorary mentions go to "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" and "King of Pain" (both great songs, but neither really captures the distinctive Police sound).

* SignatureSong: [[Music/{{Synchronicity}} "Every Breath You Take"]], "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne" tie for gold. "Walking on the Moon", "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver.

* SignatureSong: "Every Breath You Take", "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne" from ''Music/{{Synchronicity}}'' tie for gold. "Walking on the Moon", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver.

** "Mother" on ''Synchronicity''.

* SignatureSong: "Every Breath You Take", "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne" tie for gold. "Walking on the Moon", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver.

* {{Wangst}}: "King of Pain". It doesn't really have any overt whining or self-pity apart from the incredibly vague "but it's my destiny to be the king of pain", but the title is super angsty and the lyrics are full of little depressing vignette [[BuffySpeak things]].
* TheWoobie: The nameless main character in "Synchronicity II". His family life is a ball of insanity, his job sucks, and by the end of the song he may be losing his mind from the combined stress.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Stewart Copeland. Rolling Stone readers voted him the fifth greatest drummer of all time in 2010.

* NightmareFuel: The song "A Kind Of Loving" is just over two minutes of a woman screaming over a backing track. Admittedly a soundtrack piece but when you hear it on Message In A Box it stands out like a sore thumb.

* TheWoobie: The nameless main character in "Synchronicity II".

* UnfortunateImplications: The chorus of "On Any Other Day", in context, is just an extended whine about a really bad day, but it's easy to interpret the line "My fine young son has turned out gay" to mean "I'm disappointed that my son is gay". There's nothing in the song to indicate the protagonist has a ''problem'' with his son's gayness - the key line "and it would be OK on any other day" makes clear that the sentiment is something more along the lines of "Son, you have the worst sense of timing ever," since the coda makes it clear the song takes place on the father's birthday (and we've already heard about all the crap he's already experienced).
** The point of that lyric is that he had expected his son to be the one to continue on the family line by having kids. The fact he won't (gay adoption wasn't common back then) is what really makes him disappointed, not the sexuality.
** Also, considering that being gay (or at least gay sex) was still illegal in a fair bit of the Western world in 1979, the song could also count as FairForItsDay

** "Masoko Tanga" and the interlude of "Be My Girl - Sally" from ''Outlandos d'Amour''.

* SignatureSong: "Every Breath You Take", "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne" tie for gold. "Walking on the Moon", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver.

* SignatureSong: "Every Breath You Take" and "Roxanne" tie for gold. "Message in a Bottle" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" tie for silver.

* MemeticMutation: The bleached blonde hair. Among the fandom, Stewart Copeland's short shorts and tube socks qualify.

* TooGoodToLast: Six years, five albums. Sigh.