''Through the Barricades'' is the fifth studio album by English new wave band

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European D ...

, released on 17 November 1986 by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in the United Kingdom and by Epic Records in the United States. The album reached number seven and remained on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

for 19 weeks. It spawned three UK commercially successful singles: "Fight for Ourselves" ( 15), "How Many Lies" (No. 34) and the band's final top-10 entry, " Through the Barricades" (No. 6).David Roberts ''British Hit Singles and Albums'', Guinness World Records Limited The lyrics to the title track were inspired by love prevailing over the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the murder of a member of the crew in the Troubles, by a British soldier.

Reception

In a mainly critical retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Dan LeRoy claimed: "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." LeRoy argued "the production and mix prove the undoing of this effort. 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." However, he praised the title-track, which he said "became a deserved hit."

Track listing

Personnel

Spandau Ballet

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the ban ...

– lead and backing vocals *

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music ...

– guitars *

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also ...

– bass *

John Keeble John Leslie Keeble (born 6 July 1959) is an English pop and rock drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet. Early years Keeble was athletic as a child, playing both football and cricket. He bought ...

– drums *

Steve Norman Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English band Spandau Ballet. Biography Early years Steve Norman was born in Stepney, east London, and w ...

– percussion, saxophones

Additional musicians

* Toby Chapman – keyboards, synthesizers * Ruby James – backing vocals * Shirley Lewis – backing vocals * Helena Springs – backing vocals

Technical

* Spandau Ballet – production * Gary Langon – production, engineering * Stephen Wissnet – engineering assistance * Andy Pearson – drum technician * Catherine Bell – project coordination * Jackie Vickers – project coordination * Zoe Vickers – project coordination * Gary Movat – design * Assorted Images – design * Nick Knight – sleeve photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums CBS Records albums Epic Records albums Spandau Ballet albums