True

Spandau Ballet | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000008L0H
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,899 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Communication

2. Pleasure

3. Code of Love

4. Gold

5. Lifeline

6. Heaven Is a Secret

7. Foundation

8. True

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Great 80's Album, December 11, 2000

By 

Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: True (Audio CD)

Spandau Ballet was an exteremly popular band in their native U.K., releasing two albums and hitting the top of the album and singles charts prior to this release. True was their third album and breakthrough release in America. They rode in on the coattails of Duran Duran and other video-friendly English acts. The band are members of the New-Romantic movement which backed R&B styled vocals with 80's synth-beats. The movement's main influence was Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music and Tony Hadley clearly is a Ferry devotee. He has an incredibly smooth and expressive voice and songs like "Code Of Love", "Communication" and "Lifeline" show it off. "Gold" was a minor hit in America and was England's theme song at the '84 Summer Olympics. With its soaring vocal and uptempo beat, it does provide an inspirational theme.. The real gem on this album is the title track. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful track and is one of the ten best songs of the 80's. It encapsules the styles of the era, but its melody is timeless and could be a hit today. The song was remade by PM Dawn as "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" in '91 and hit number one and was featured at the end of The Wedding singer. The band's version hit number four in the fall of '83 and was their only top ten hit in America. Sadly, after scoring a minor hit with "Only When You Leave" on their next album, Parade, the band fell off the music scene in the States. They disbanded in '86.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "True" Representation Of The Artist's Finest Work, October 29, 2000

By 

DP (Pompano Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True (Audio CD)

This album is a solid, state of the art production with catchy pop hooks and keyboard laden arrangements. This album was released in the heyday of MTV, in which the band from England received attention in the United States from regular video exposure, most notably for its high powered signature ballad, the title track to this fine album. Written by Gary Kemp and equipped with the powerful and emotive vocals of Terry Hadley, this classic serves as one of the quintessental pop tunes that appears on numerous 1980's music compilations as well on innumerable movie soundtracks (It was recently featured in Adam Sandler's film "The Wedding Singer," several years ago.) In the early 1990's, the group PM Dawn sampled riffs from the song "True" for its debut single, "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss," which topped the pop charts. Even today, it still remains a timeless ballad, one of my favorite tracks of the 1980's.

This album contains several other chart hits: "Gold" is a high fueled, relentless pop track espousing the importance of believing in oneself, trusting your inner knowingness, following your heart. "Communication" explodes as an upbeat opener on the cohesive collection that was a moderate hit for the band as well.

"Pleasure" is a pop ditty in which a teenage soul is desperately soul searching to open his heart to feeling and experiencing love. "Code Of Love" is a song in which the group explores the intricasies of relationship. "Lifeline" continues on the theme of relationships and contains the lyric "so live and let live in love" delivered with a passionate sense of exploring all that life has to offer to the fullest. This segues into the upbeat "Heaven Is A Secret" and the track "Foundation," in which Hadley sings with urgency about the importance of laying a loving and truthful base to their relationship." The album consummately reaches a spiritual, uplifting climax with "True."

The album linear notes is complete with lyrics to all 8 songs. Although this set only clocks in at a mere 36 minutes, it serves a succinct and an imporatnt introduction to a fine pop band that unfortunately only experienced brief exposure in the US. The inside flap of the CD booklet has some beautiful sketches along with a colorful illustration on the cover of this classic disk. Pop purists will appreciate Spandau Ballet's cool, suave, romantic sophistication that is highly reminiscent of Bryan Ferry's vocals with the band, Roxy Music.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yuppies with a purpose, July 3, 2002

By 

Da Peace Dogg (Hollywood, California - livin' humble) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True (Audio CD)

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!!