Parade

by

Spandau Ballet

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It's a little passe, but I don't care. This album is pure pleasure. It's a teeny bit pompous, due to Tony Hadley's vocal stylings, but in a charming way. It's a little bravado, a little posing, a little like a man who refuses to grow up. The 16 year old who writes furtive love poems under the desk. The boy who, like a good school boy should, paid his dues and finally got to the big stage. So he's only ten years too late. It doesn't matter because it's still, well, True...

There is a surprising versatility in the material. You will hear torch songs ("I'll Fly") and pop-funk ("Highly Strung") and drama ("The Nature of The Beast"). Yes, it's totally 80s. But Tony Hadley is the quill. The man can sing. I see he won a British tv game show recently, in which several "has-beens" are put on the road in America, and voted off over the course of several weeks. It's a shame he's reduced to this, because he is a treasure. Maybe he just tried to hang on too long. It's a shame that people like him and songs like these are considered cheesy, because it really is good stuff. Just enjoy it. Like riding a moped, it's fun until somebody catches you doing it.

...whether you'll like it or not is open to debate. 'Parade' (the new 2 CD 1 DVD edition of 'True' features the 2003 master) was remastered by Andy Walter, notorious for his work on the Duran Duran special editions of a few months ago. Mr Walter favours the over-compressed route which means 'Parade' is LOUD but also trebly, tinny and hard on the ears after a bit. The original CD of 'Parade' was so very dreadful, however, it still manages to be an improvement! Subtle it ain't, so if you hated the recent Duran's, I wouldn't bother with this...

Packaging is a bit lacklustre too. 'Parade' is in a rather flimsy digipak sleeve (similar to the Belinda Carlisle Sp Ed of 'Heaven And Earth' last year, features NO sleevenotes, lyrics etc of any kind just a nasty fold-out piece of paper with a few photos adorning it. The 'True' packaging is a little better having a pouch for the DVD and looking a little more like it wasn't knocked up in 10 minutes.

I should say something about the music! 'Parade', of course, was the follow up to the multi-platinum 'True', destined not to be as successful but still a decent set. A lot of the songs sound like 'True' and 'Gold' wannabes but it's a good, solid album that people remember fondly and, it has to be said, this was the last time a Spandau album would feature on the charts so heavily.

So, you pays your money etc... If you don't mind a bit of compression, this new remaster will sound good to you, but if you yearn for a more natural, 'musical' sound, you'll probably be disappointed in this 2 CD set.