| Diamond | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 March 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Studio | Jam, Eden, Sarm West, Utopia, AIR, Abbey Road and The Town House (London) | |||
| Length | 39:16 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | Richard James Burgess | |||
| Spandau Ballet chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Diamond | ||||
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Diamond is the second studio album by English band Spandau Ballet, released on 12 March 1982 by Chrysalis Records. As with their debut album, Journeys to Glory, all songs were produced by Richard James Burgess and written by band guitarist Gary Kemp. The music was inspired by a variety of genres, including the renewed interest in funk around Soho, American film scores with roots in eastern Europe, the second side of David Bowie's Low album, Pink Floyd records and the mood pieces of another English new wave band, Japan.
Burgess, Kemp and lead singer Tony Hadley had difficulties over the course of making the album. After the first song written for it, "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)", became the band's biggest hit, Kemp found it harder to churn out material to complete the project. Burgess began to exercise control over Hadley, who struggled with the vocals to the point of losing his temper and needing to take some time off. The recording sessions involved six different studios because of Burgess's busy schedule, and the band's decision to have a separate box set of 12-inch remixes of every song on the album in addition to the 7- and 12-inch single versions took even more of his time.
The next two singles, "Paint Me Down" and "She Loved Like Diamond", did not perform well, but another track from the album, "Instinction", was remixed by Trevor Horn and made the top ten in the UK. Because the new single had more of a pop feel than anything Spandau Ballet had released before, the nightclub crowd that the band had initially intended to represent lost interest in them, but Kemp then felt free to write pop songs on future projects without wondering if it was something their fans could dance to.
Diamond reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and received Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry. Side two of the album, which Kemp intended as film music, did not impress reviewers and was widely criticized. The band was unhappy with how the entire album turned out and decided to end their relationship with Burgess. Horn was interested in some material Kemp had started for their next album but clashed with drummer John Keeble during rehearsals and decided to move on. Spandau Ballet chose to have Tony Swain and Steve Jolley join them in producing their next album, True, which was a huge success.
Diamond was re-released in a remastered and expanded two-disc special edition on 8 March 2010.