Search - Spandau Ballet :: True (Mlps)

The smooth sound of Spandau

Steven Reynolds | Sydney, Australia | 11/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the only Spandau Ballet album that everyone has (or should have) in their collection, and it's easy to understand why. In the band's brief journey from innovation to irrelevance it was the moment they set aside the baroque, art-disco theatricality of their earlier New Romantic work and offered up something original, innocent and pure - a white-soul antidote to the tedious excesses of punk and 70s rock. It's essentially a suite of eight modern love songs, carefully crafted by producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain from the simplest of arrangements - funk guitar, a super-tight rhythm section, occasional keyboards, and some beautiful percussion and sax neatly deployed, often to spine-tingling effect. But the real star is vocalist Tony Hadley, who at last dropped the artsy, melodramatic edge from his performance and demonstrated that he has one of the finest pop voices ever recorded. Even Gary Kemp's whispery falsetto backups don't sound too ridiculous here. The album contains two classic tracks - "Gold" and "True", which were actually the band's career highlights (matched only by the well-deserved late hit "Through the Barricades"). Spandau's career went south shortly after this early peak as they sought to commit to record the more vibrant energy of their live shows. The results were mixed. "Parade" (1984) was moderately successful, but super-smooth Jolley and Swain were perhaps the wrong men for the job. On "Through the Barricades" (1986), Gary Langan captured a harsher guitar-driven sound, but apart from the brilliant acoustic title track it just wasn't credible. "Heart Like a Sky" (1989) saw the band revert to a smoother sound wrapped in a lush late-80s mix, but the magic had fled and so had the fans. Kemp's writing was arguably still strong, and Hadley's voice was better than ever, but the moment had passed. Pop had moved on, and the band members were sadly left to squabble over the spoils of a brief but memorable career. Some listeners at the time called "True" a MOR sellout, but its slick surfaces remain tough to resist even today. It's Spandau's most consistent and best all-around album."

Yuppies with a purpose

Da Peace Dogg | Hollywood, California - livin' humble | 07/04/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Even if you dread the term "yuppie" in your vocabulary, you can't deny the sleekly crafted sounds of Britain's criminally underrated Spandau Ballet, who were themselves musical yuppies. Nonetheless, with just 8 songs, this album helped define a decade, and perhaps well beyond. Though most just know this band from the rich textures of the sensitive balld "True," (featured in the heartwarming Molly Ringwold box office hit, "Pretty In Pink"), there is definitely much more to this talented band, who boast the flair of Duran Duran, with the musical progress of Human League (another criminally underrated 80's band). I like the hooks that abound on this slinky record, from whizzing keyboards to dance-style beats. Spandau Ballet truly were ahead of their time, and many a band owes its influence to these pop pros. But let me dispense with all the hype. Buy this one for your baby, or just buy it for yourself. Da Peace Dogg thinks you can't go wrong with Spandau Ballet, and Da Peace Dogg never gets it wrong when it comes to hot music!!Viva La Ballet!!"

Not a single mediocre song on this album

Patrick J. Neals | Toronto, ON, Canada | 02/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aside from the trademark "True" and "Gold", this 8-song album has all very strong songs. No filler whatsoever here. While artists today try to fill an album with 15 songs and half of them are garbage, Spandau Ballet doesn't do this with True. You get eight brilliant songs, and nothing else."