Ghost In The Machine was released on 2 October 1981 by A&M Records. opped the UK Albums Chart and peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200. The album produced the highly successful singles "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Invisible Sun", and "Spirits in the Material World". This album marked a change in engineer/co-producer, from Nigel Gray – who worked on the band's albums up to that point – to Hugh Padgham, best known for the drum sound he achieved on records by Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.

Padgham initiated a technique in which the band were recording together in separate rooms of the AIR Studios facility: Andy Summers in the main studio with all his guitars and amplifiers; Sting in the control room with his bass directly plugged into the desk; and Copeland in the dining room with his drums to get a "live" sound.^[9] This method would be repeated for the next album. Ghost in the Machine was the first Police album to feature heavy use of keyboards and saxophone. Much of the material on the album was inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine, which also provided the title. It was the first Police album to bear an English-language title. In his younger days Sting was an avid reader of Koestler. Koestler said he was "slightly tickled" by the homage.

TRACKLIST

Spirits In The Material World
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Invisible Sun
Hungry For You (J'aurais toujours faim de toi)
Demolition Man

Too Much Information
Rehumanize Yourself
One World (Not Three)
Ωmegaman
Secret Journey
Darkness