Search - Spandau Ballet :: Gold: Best of Spandau Ballet

Wonderful 24-Bit Digital Remastering From Capitol Records!

Jason W. Bellenger | Byron Center, Michigan, USA | 06/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm surprised how few reviews have mentioned the excellent 24-bit digital remastering featured on this excellent Spandau Ballet single disc retrospective from Chrysalis/Capitol Records. I bought this disc over 7 years after it's original release, since I could not find any mastering credits on the Internet citing any upgrade in sound. However, I finally took a chance and purchased the release, expecting great sound since it's released by Capitol Records. I was not disappointed!



The flatness and dullness of those '80s masters are long gone. Capitol has given these recordings life! Hits such as "Communication" and "Musclebound", for example, sound punchy and clean with their crisp drums. Ballads such as the classic "True" and the overlooked "Through The Barricades" have never sounded better with their underlying bass and soaring vocals. While the liner notes do not cite any mastering engineer the sound has obviously been upgraded using Capitol's 24-bit remastering technology -- a technology that surfaced a year before the time of this release, giving older recordings much added width, clarity, kick, and brightness.



Note that all versions featured here are not the album versions. Some tracks are featured in their 7" single edits/versions, including "Gold", "Instinction", "The Freeze", and "Musclebound". Capitol also licensed two tracks from the band's 1986 Epic/Sony release, 'Through The Barricades'. The first two hit singles from that project, "Fight For Ourselves" and the title track, make an appearance at the end of the disc. "How Many Lies", the third single from 'Barricades', is missing in addition to any tracks from their 1989 'Heart Like A Sky' effort. Considering that this is a Chrysalis/Capitol release fans should be satisfied with the two non-Chrysalis tracks included since they are licensed from another label.



In America, Spandau only hit the Billboard Hot 100 four times (three of those entries made the Top 40), while in the U.K. it was a totally different story. From 1980 to 1989 the band hit the U.K. Top 50 a total of twenty times! All seventeen tracks included here charted in the U.K. Top 50, with "She Loved Like Diamond" being the only one to miss the U.K. Top 40. Fifteen of these tracks landed in the U.K. Top 20, and ten of them made the U.K. Top 10!



Most Americans probably think of the band as a group that sang mostly ballads and pop gems, such as "True", "Gold", and "Only When You Leave". However, their early material from 1980 - 1982 consisted of new wave rock, pop, and synth productions. Tracks like the funky "Chant No. 1" and electronic "The Freeze" sound nothing like the music that was to come from 1983 onward. Give yourself a chance to discover the European hits, and you'll be surprised to hear that the band has much more to offer!



Highly recommended."

Spandau Ballet is Pure GOLD

ActionRezultsRecords | 11/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Spandau Ballet's album `Gold' is really all that! Gold has all the great tracks from the 80's & 90's. When I first opened the album I was thrilled to see a six page cover insert with photos of the Spandau gang from their early teen years and an intriguing band biography. The tracks `Gold' and `True' are my favorite tracks because they have a smooth glowing glam-pop sound bursting with Kemp's retro-whining vocal style (which is indicative of the early 80's). The sound and mood of 'Gold' is similar to that of some of the tracks on (My Friends Left Me for Dead). If you are a Spandau Ballet fan, this album is a must-have and a fine collection piece."