The Collection es un álbum de Spandau Ballet, publicado en 1997 por EMI Gold. El disco incluye 14 canciones, entre ellas «To Cut A Long Story Short», «Paint Me Down», «The Freeze» y «She Loved Like Diamond».
Sobre el álbum
Hacia finales de los años 90, con el inicio de una cierta nostalgia por la década de los 80, apareció The Collection. Este álbum se diferencia de otros recopilatorios por su criterio de selección, que parece menos centrado en seguir estrictamente la cronología de los sencillos. En su lugar, la compilación mezcla grandes éxitos con temas de álbum y alguna versión en directo o remix, ofreciendo una experiencia auditiva ligeramente diferente.
El disco puede sorprender incluso al oyente familiarizado con la banda. Al yuxtaponer una canción de su primera etapa, como "The Freeze", con una de su última época, como "Raw", se aprecian mejor los contrastes y la evolución de su sonido. La inclusión de joyas ocultas junto a los éxitos inevitables le otorga un valor añadido para quien busca ir un paso más allá del típico grandes éxitos.
"The Collection" puede verse como un intento de recontextualizar el legado de Spandau Ballet, presentándolo no solo como una banda de sencillos, sino como un grupo con una sólida obra de álbumes. Ofrece una narrativa alternativa a su conocida historia de éxito.
Listado de Canciones
- To Cut A Long Story Short3:22
Letra
Soldier is turning See him through white light Running from strangers See you in the valley War upon war Heat upon heat To cut a long story short I lost my mind Sitting on a park bench Years away from fighting To cut a long story short I lost my mind Standing in the dark Oh I was waiting for man to come I am beautiful and clean And so very very young To be standing in the street To be taken by someone Questions questions Give me no answers That's all they ever give me Questions questions Oh look at the strange boy He finds it hard existing To cut a long story short I lost my mind To cut a long story short I lost my... Mi-i-i-i-ind! - Paint Me Down3:44
Letra
Paint me down Paint me down Paint me down I'm walking into studio Consider strange appeal Paint me in the home I'm brushing up on sketchbook Designs for love, unreal Paint me in the home Oil and skin, you'll need to buy it Consider what I mean She sinks beneath the moving pictures Prepare the brush for me I'm craving with this need Paint me down Paint me down Paint me down I'm soaking up the surface Conceiving new idea Paint me in the home She's oiling up her subject But all still life is here paint me in the home All the boys with framed dimension A cover up on lust He'll take his pain and paint it over Prepare the brush for me I'm craving with this need Paint me down Paint me down Paint me down - The Freeze3:33
Letra
Blue sing la lune sing lagoon, these visions are making me stay, the artist pretending it's art, the question is where do you pay, unpack my case one more time, I'll cancel my train once again, destiny give me a day, erogenous zones win again. Blue sing la lune sing lagoon, these visions are making me stay, the artist pretending it's art, the question is where do you pay, unpack my case one more time, I'll cancel my train once again, destiny give me a day, erogenous zones win again. Blue sing la lune sing lagoon, these visions are making me stay, the artist pretending it's art, the question is where do you, do you pay. - She Loved Like Diamond2:54
Letra
She ran the risk from unity Obsession dies alone with tragedy She loved like diamond She loved like diamond And cut so hard, she died A passion course that leads to pain An acid taste that laced her soul again She loved like diamond She loved like diamond And cut so hard, she died Another path, I've run them all The rain has cleared the stains, no trace at all She loved like diamond She loved like diamond And cut so hard, she died She loved like diamond She loved like diamond And cut so hard, she died - Lifeline3:21
Letra
Changing her colors she's off to the shore She rides the soul train and he fight the law There's a power in his voice and it makes her feel so sure So live and live in love One day he'll build a statue with his hands So gentle when he tries to understand This subterfuge he never really planned Now you're living in the lifeline We're moving In the lifeline We're walking In the lifeline We're throwing So live and let live in love Exchanging their letters their exits begun With deathless precision he's aiming his gun A democracy of sorts that justifies the sum So live and let die in love Neither has the ghost of a chance Those decisions only can be made once You never really know just what you're giving ‘Til you're living in the lifeline We're moving In the lifeline We're walking In the lifeline We're throwing He could have built a statue with his hands So gentle when he tries to understand You never really know just what you're giving ‘Til you're living in the lifeline We're moving In the lifeline We're walking In the lifeline We're throwing to you But I'm not living - Gold (Live)4:05
- Coffee Club (Remix)6:47
- Foundation (Live)3:56
- Highly Re-Strung (Remix)5:29
- Reformation4:54
Letra
Bleak and tired Western skies Silence crashing with quiet lies Shattered glass reflects elation Reformation, Reformation. I saw you running through my dreams Question held me to the scene Your face was wet with perspiration Reformation, Reformation. There's something wrong There's something wrong Man is something that must be overcome Quick, snap, break, crack, complication Reformation, Reformation. I saw you running through my dreams A sun that burst through a cloudy scene Shattered glass reflects elation Reformation, Reformation. Bleak and tired Western skies Silence crashing with quiet lies Shattered glass reflects elation Reformation, Reformation. - Pleasure3:31
Letra
Pleasure's in my car even in the bar as I'm searching in the love that's strong breathing in the song, I'm learning (I am learning) Pleasure in the sand warm within the hand she's holding it is on the screen adventures at ninteen, I'm searching I am searching in my heart Pleasure in my heart never let us part for pleasure work,work today never let them pay for pleasure leave or lose her from my heart. Pleasure is your name I accept he blame for falling it is down the phone living in your home,I'm calling (I am calling) Pleasure is a word when love is left unheard,it's burning it is on the screen adventures at ninteen, I'm searching I am searching in my heart. Why do you feel like breaking my heart? What made you feel like breaking my heart tonight? Now I am crying,now I am crying. Pleasure in my heart never let us part for pleasure work,work today never let them pay for pleasure leave or lose her from my heart. - Nature Of The Beast5:15
Letra
It is the key to all the doors It is the crashing on the shores It lives in your steering wheel It hides in the wind and rain With voices as cold as steel It's calling your name It is the smile upon his face It is the winning of the race It lives in the red-alert It lives in the power game It's easy to take to heart But harder to tame This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) Without all this heat They'll be dancing west to east This is the nature of the beast It is the glowing in his eyes It is the reason for his lies Oh, how many know you're there Oh, how many play your game He's always the man to dare You're always to blame It is the need to understand Oh, it is the trigger in his hand It lives in the uniform It grows from the need to gain With faces so old and torn It's calling your name This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) Without all this heat They'll be dancing west to east This is the nature of the beast It lives in the red-alert It lives in the power game It's easy to take to heart But harder to tame This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) Without all this heat They'll be dancing west to east This is the nature of the beast This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) This is the nature of the beast (This is the nature) - Innocence And Science4:26
Letra
Water from my mind Breaks the ropes and binds Water comes from inside And frees me Innocence and science Metal sings my name Poisoned love sustained Metal breaks me inside And frees me Innocence and science I will never forget - Raw3:46
Letra
I've been running 'round town for a new identity I've been dreaming hot dreams of insecurity I've been chasing my heart through the streets of my mind I've been clinging to the bed the sweat is turning me blind Well, I'm plugged all the holes and sealing all the cracks I'm like a galvanized nerve, I just can't seem to relax She's got fire on her breath and chilly on her lips Teeth around her neck and she's got jazz on her hips There's a flash in my brain like a shot from above It's a strange idea of love Like a wolf at the door, like a scratch of a claw She says, "Come on, baby, I want it raw" A wolf at the door, a scratch of a claw "I want it raw" Well, I'm driving out of town, I'm on the verge of a storm I'm sucking my St. Christopher and trying to keep calm A mambo mama on the back of my heels And this incantation can trap my wheels There's a heat in my car, there's a fog on my screen I've never felt so scared, never dreamt such a dream There's a man on the corner preaching fire above It's a strange idea of love Like a wolf at the door, like a scratch of a claw She says, "Come on, baby, I want it raw!" A wolf at the door, a scratch of a claw "I want it raw"