Spandau Ballet - Through the Barricades (Remastered) (2017) [Hi-Res]

Newly remastered: After a split with Chrysalis, the album was the band’s first on the CBS/Epic and their fifth overall. It had been almost two and a half years since Parade and their old label had wasted no time in issuing two greatest hits sets The Singles Collection and The Twelve Inch Mixes, in 1985 and 1986 respectively.

With an extensive world tour planned, the album saw Gary Kemp and bandmates adopt a harder edged, ‘rockier’ approach and to facilitate this, they moved on from the Jolley & Swain production team, that had successfully delivered the pop of True and Parade, to employing the services of engineer and Art of Noise member Gary Langan to produce Through The Barricades.

It’s probably fair to say that more was expected, commercially, of ‘comeback’ single Fight For Ourselves (the first track recorded for the album) which stalled at number 15 in the UK charts, but the album delivered one bona fide big hit single with the title track (#6 in Nov ’86) which while not rivalling True and Gold in the public’s affections, is still an anthemic signature tune, of sorts. How Many Lies was a minor hit in 1987.

„By the time Spandau Ballet's fifth album appeared in 1986, the sun had set on the synth poppers of the second British Invasion and guitars were all the rage once again. Never ones to miss a trend, the former new romantics -- who'd signed with a new label, Epic, and were determined to make a big splash stateside -- declared their admiration for bands like Bon Jovi and made an album that likely surprised their diminishing fan base with its AOR aspirations. Rocking up Spandau Ballet's smooth white-boy soul, Through the Barricades manages to avoid utter disaster via the tuneful creations of songwriter/guitarist Gary Kemp. Some would argue Kemp had finally evolved into a first-class hack, but while his songs never avoid a cliché if it can be helped (and occasionally offer much worse; see "Virgin"), he does a credible job of supplying his bandmates with arena-ready material like "How Many Lies." Unsurprisingly, melodramatic vocalist Tony Hadley digs in with real gusto, but the production and mix prove the undoing of this effort Through the Barricades songs. Most of the tunes demand guitar and drum bombast; instead, the riff-rocking "Cross the Line" and "Fight for Ourselves," in particular, are undercut by the polite-sounding rhythm section. Given that weakness, which affects much of the album, it's unsurprising that the best song by far is the title track, a Bic-flicking acoustic ballad that became a deserved hit.“ (Dan LeRoy, AMG)

Tony Hadley, vocals
Gary Kemp, guitar
Steve Norman, saxophone, percussion
Martin Kemp, bass
John Keeble, drums

Recorded September 1985-Summer 86 in Munich, Germany & the South of France
Engineered by Gary Langan
Produced by Gary Langan, Spandau Ballet

Digitally remastered