True [ENHANCED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Spandau Ballet

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 6, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000063V8Y
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,641 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Digitally Remastered Edition of their Most Popular Album, featuring the Hit Single of the Title Track 'true'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 20 Years Later, the Music Still Rings "True.", September 23, 2003

By	The Groove (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Spandau Ballet had a respectable string of hits in their native Britain, but they were a one-and-a-half hit wonder in the U.S., where they scored the Top 10 smash "True" and the Top 30 hit "Gold." But if this 1983 album is anything to go by, the band deserved far greater success on these shores. At 8 tracks and clocking under 40 minutes, "True" is a tastefully crafted hybrid of new romantic pop and blue eyed soul. Singer Tony Hadley was always one of pop's most underrated singers; his expressive vocals perfectly complimented the intricate melodies of guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp. The singles "Gold" and "Communication" may be dated in production, but at their core, the songwriting is still fresh. Other album cuts such as "Code of Love" and "Foundation" also hold up, but the disc saves the best for last: the title song which goes down as one of the best and most familiar ballads of the 1980s. "True" has been remastered for its 20th anniversary, and the disc has an enhanced portion which has an attractive set of extras including the video for "Gold" as well as home footage of the group. It's one of those records that triumphs equally in both style and in substance.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The smooth sound of Spandau, October 31, 2005

By	Steven Reynolds (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New True, November 1, 2005

By	Jonathon C. Bell (Oh. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.