Review: “Through The Barricades” by Spandau Ballet (CD, 1986)

Today’s POP RESCUE from an unknown fate, is the 1986 fifth album Through The Barricades by British new wave group Spandau Ballet. Will this album be like a graceful dance, or should you put the shields up? Read on…

Spandau Ballet - Through The Barricades (1986) album. — Spandau Ballet – Through The Barricades (1986) album.

This 9 track CD opens with Barricades – Introduction, setting us into a thunderstorm, rain, and lone footsteps in a back street somewhere as synths, piano, and guitars gently usher us towards…

.. the growling guitars of Cross The Line. This track drops us straight into the drama of 1980s music that Spandau Ballet, with Tony Hadley on vocals, can deliver with perfection. He sings confidently as the guitars from Gary Kemp chug against a hard simple beat, matching their power with his vocals, with a few bursts of saxophone as the track builds.

With nothing much more than a breath, then we’re into Man In Chains. Tony wastes no time to get back on the mic for this up-beat track. The bass and guitars have a wonderful shared riff that gives us a really nice catchy feel, and the track gallops along wonderfully, until about 3mins 10s, when the group give off James Bond Theme vibes before dropping back in with all the saxophone.

How Many Lies is next, and the intro is a sheer contrast, with it’s almost heavenly ‘ooh’-ing vocals. The beat is much more gentle here, at least initially, and this gives Tony even more opportunities to show off his vocal range. The track does grow to belt out some harder sounds, before mixing things up as it heads to the end. The track stood as the album’s third and final single, but stalled at #34.

That’s followed by Virgin which punches hard with some hard beats, belting female vocals, and racing guitars. ‘We are virgin!’ sings Tony in the catchy chorus. The backing vocalists really sound great here, and should be used more in this album, but here at least, they sit as a perfect companion and contrast to Tony’s big vocals, and the burst from the saxophone.

Next up is lead single Fight For Ourselves, and this starts off as an almost call-to-arms with the repeated ‘Everybody! We gotta fight for ourselves’ line, which I can imagine people singing along to in clubs and stadiums. Tony shines as usual, and this track feels quite pop-ish. Again, the backing vocalists get some perfect placement too, and this helps to keep the track exciting. It’s worth watching the video for some wonderful acting at the start of the track. The track reached #15 in the UK singles chart, but deserved better.

Then it’s Swept, which starts off sounding like it’s going to be a slow ballad before it takes a dramatic switch as a guitar is thrust into the mix and the vocals go big. It turns out to be a mid-tempo track, with a weird almost psychedelica moment in the middle. Thankfully some daytime-TV-esque saxophone arrives to return us to reality and the song resumes.

That leads on to Snakes And Lovers, which sounds quite bouncy and pop-ish to start with, and the beat works right into this. The synths help to keep this track light, verging a little towards the Moroder territory. As a result, whilst the track sounds good, and at times the lyrics sound a bit silly, it doesn’t quite sound like it belongs amongst the rest of the tracks here.

The album closes with the titular and second single Through The Barricades, and this gives us a beautifully gentle track, with Tony’s emphatic vocals flanked by acoustic guitars until later when he and they burst in the lyrics. The track is loaded with references to life in 1980’s Northern Ireland, which the band had become much aware of. This single performed best, taking the group to #6 in the UK charts. It’s a nice track to close with.

Spandau Ballet’s lead single ‘Fight For Ourselves’ (1986).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a belting album that gives us a blast of great mid-1980s rock and pop music.

There’s no Gold or True here, but the highlights here are definitely Fight For Ourselves, which really goes for it, but also the more gentle moments allow Tony’s vocals to shine in the title and closing track Through The Barricades. There are no stinkers here, but in its weakest moments, the lyrics are a little hammy, and tracks like Swept and Virgin feel a tiny bit stifled.

It’s a great romp though, and one that really needs to find its way into your ears.