Search - Spandau Ballet :: True

New True

Jonathon C. Bell | Oh. USA | 11/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The sound quality is better then the first release on CD. The biggest difference is in the drum sound but on some tracks the kick drum is a little distracting. It was nice to see the video of the song "Gold". It has been twenty years since I've seen this video! It would have been nice to see some of the other videos like "True" and "Communication". The making of True was nice except for the shots of the man in the speedo. Maybe that was for the ladies. All in all this is a great CD and I would recommend it to all fans.

"

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."

I Know This Much is True: This Album is Gold.

Reviews No More | 12/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have heard any of SB's so-called "rock" albums, you know right off the bat that they were ill-suited for the genre. When brothers Martin and Gary Kemp decided to change their musical landscape of rock and trendy club disco, the result was this cool, suave, sophisticated mixture of blue-eyed soul and new romantic pop that not only redefined who the band was, but also made them a heard-of act here in the US.



I must maintain a deep love for this album that transcends the decades simply because it is so stylish, timeless, and romantic, not to mention that it is everything a well-constructed British lounge album (by today's standards) should be. It is apparent that a lot of hard work and care went into this project, and every track on True belies this fact like a sparkling diamond in direct sunlight.



One often gets the feeling that a lush, passionate song like "Gold" just missed being used for a James Bond flick. "Heaven is a Secret" is endearing for its references to West Side Story, and the title track is ear candy that never loses its dignified charm regardless of the years that have passed since its release as a single.



Excellent song structures, spritely guitar work, romantic-without being drippy-lyrics, and Tony Hadley's vocals which often resemble the intensity and tone of ABC's Martin Frey make this a must-have for anybody who enjoys good 80s Brit pop. I also love the gorgeous video on the enhanced portion of the cd for "Gold." Extras aside, I can play this album over and over, never growing tired of it because it still sounds so fresh after all these years. I only wish SB would have made another album of this immaculate standard."