Zenyatta Mondatta was written during the Police's second tour and recorded in four weeks (minus two days for concerts in Ireland and at the Milton Keynes festival in the United Kingdom).

[6] As mentioned by Copeland, the Police embarked on a tour of the world the day of the album's completion, beginning in Belgium and finishing in Australia.

The album is the last of the Police's early era, influenced by reggae and punk and featuring few musical elements on top of the core guitar, bass, and drums.

The record has two instrumentals, "The Other Way of Stopping" (named from a line in Bob Newhart's "The Driving Instructor" routine) and "Behind My Camel".

As bassist and vocalist Sting refused to play on it, Summers recorded the bass line himself, overdubbing the guitar parts.

Copeland said that "when he first set up his home studio he got hold of a load of second hand tape which included some stuff by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

"[9] Zenyatta Mondatta also saw the band's lyrics turning towards political events, with Sting's "Driven to Tears" commenting on poverty and Copeland's "Bombs Away" referring to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Additionally, in the English translation of the manga Stardust Crusaders published by VIZ Media, the characters Oingo and Boingo are renamed Zenyatta and Mondatta due to copyright laws.

[18] Frank DeLuna and Marv Bornstein mastered the original 1980 vinyl LP, but it is unclear if they also remastered the CD.

[18] Sting would later perform his own version of "Shadows in the Rain" on his 1985 debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles.

[29] Phil Sutcliffe of Sounds wrote that he initially viewed the album as inferior to the band's earlier material, but came to recognise its strength, despite still finding it somewhat unadventurous: "By word and note it's as articulate and literate as you might hope.

"[26] In Smash Hits, David Hepworth opined that Sting had particularly improved as a vocalist and songwriter, describing his compositions as "tougher, more concerned, but no less melodic.

"[25] Zenyatta Mondatta was voted the 28th best album of 1980 in The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.

"[19] In 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, J. D. Considine highlighted the more pronounced groove of the music: "The emphasis on rhythmic intensity made the songs catchier (as 'Voices Inside My Head' shows, the band certainly knew how to work a vamp), and the rhythmic dynamics add a singular punch to the material.