Through the Barricades

Through the Barricades
Studio album by Spandau Ballet
Released November 1986
Recorded September 1985-Summer 86 in Munich, Germany & the South of France
Genre Pop rock, blue-eyed soul, new wave
Length 40:00
Label Epic, CBS Records
Producer Gary Langan/Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet chronology
The Twelve Inch Mixes
(1986)		 Through the Barricades
(1986)		 Heart Like a Sky
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Through the Barricades is the fifth studio album by Spandau Ballet. It was released in November 1986 by Epic Records. The album reached number seven and remained on the UK album chart for 19 weeks. It produced three UK hit singles: "Fight For Ourselves" (#15), "How Many Lies" (#34) and the band's final top ten hit, "Through the Barricades" (#6).[2]

The song lyrics were inspired by love prevailing over the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the death of a member of the crew in the Troubles.

Reception

In a mainly critical review for AllMusic, 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."[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Kemp.

No.TitleLength
1."Barricades ‒ Introduction"  1:17
2."Cross the Line"  4:07
3."Man in Chains"  5:40
4."How Many Lies?"  5:21
5."Virgin"  4:23
6."Fight for Ourselves"  4:22
7."Swept"  4:53
8."Snakes and Lovers"  4:36
9."Through the Barricades"  5:58

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1986 UK[3] 7

Singles

Year Song Chart Position
1986 Fight For Ourselves UK[3] 15
1986 Through The Barricades UK[3] 6
1987 How Many Lies UK[3] 34

References

  1. 1 2 LeRoy, Dan. "Spandau Ballet: Through the Barricades > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  2. ↑ David Roberts British Hit Singles and Albums, Guinness World Records Limited
  3. 1 2 3 4 "SPANDAU BALLET - Artist - Official Charts". Retrieved 23 January 2013.


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