Three star

TREADING a very fine line between smooth sophistication and all-out cheese, the former Spandau Ballet frontman begins his first attack on the album charts fresh from being crowned the Reborn in the USA king.

True Ballads is a mixed bag of covers, Spandau tracks and material either written or co-written by the housewives' favourite himself.

Covers of Save a Prayer, She's Gone, Slave to Love, Free Fallin', I Can't Make You Love Me, Wonderful Life and The First Cut is the Deepest are cool and classy, showcasing Tony's vocal talents and carving out a favourable image to kick start his solo career.

Only When You Leave and Through the Barricades are a welcome reminder of Tony's Spandau roots and True is still an absolute blinder of a song 20 years after first being a hit for the kilt and eyeliner-wearing Ballet boys.

Self-penned songs She and Dance With Me are strong but veer Tony dangerously close to crooner city while After All This Time, theme to the BBC series Down to Earth, does gets better listen by listen but is still as middle of the road as you would expect for a TV theme tune.

It's a safe album with some clever song choices but hopefully his next one will include more original material with more of an edge to it.

MC