Through the Barricades is the fifth studio album by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 17 November 1986 by CBS Records. The band was continuing their efforts to replicate the sound of their live performance on a studio album that they had attempted unsuccessfully with their previous album, Parade. They were also wanting to address any misconceptions about their music that came from the success of their first US hit song, "True", and reshape the style of their music to that of a rock band. The title song, which details the struggles in a relationship, was chosen as the album title because of how they felt they were being perceived. Through the Barricades was also their first album with the label after leaving Chrysalis Records because of the downturn in their popularity in the US after "True".

Through the Barricades reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart and achieved platinum certification for sales of 300,000 units there. Several reviews were critical, faulting either the production or the songwriting. The band was disappointed in the chart performance of the singles. The title song fared best, reaching number six in the UK, but was the only one of the three to make the top ten. The label neglected to release any singles in the US for several months after it had done so elsewhere, and the band found themselves in the same place of not feeling like they were getting the exposure there that they wanted. The fact that members of the band were approached during the making of the album to pursue acting was seen as the start of the band's breakup, which came after the release of their next album, Heart Like a Sky, in 1989.

Spandau Ballet's 1983 single "True" became their first song to make the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, where it peaked at number four while also spending a week at number one on the magazine's Adult Contemporary chart. However, before their next single, "Gold", was released there later that year, the band's lead guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp acknowledged that the softer style of "True" could give people a very limited understanding of their music. He hoped their upcoming US tour to support the True album would disabuse that part of their audience of the notion that the rest of their songs sounded the same. The band addressed this concern again in 1985 when they toured there with the British-American supergroup The Power Station as a way of, as Billboard described it, "gaining more rock credibility".

At the time they were already taking action against their label, Chrysalis Records. In his autobiography I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau, Kemp wrote, "America was not going to plan. 'Gold' had been a hit, although not as big as 'True' ... While we were selling large amounts in Europe and the rest of the world, Chrysalis America were not pulling their weight." Their next two US singles, "Communication" and "Only When You Leave", also did not chart as well there as they did elsewhere, which left Kemp sure Chrysalis was to blame. The band sued the label in 1985 for not supporting and promoting their work. In the settlement Chrysalis lost their rights to any new recordings by Spandau Ballet, who then signed to CBS Records in 1986.

For their CBS debut, the band "wanted a bigger, meatier sound, one more suitable to the arenas we were now playing." This desire to expand their sound began during the True tour when the band noticed that their chemistry on stage had improved. They decided back then to have their next album capture that feeling of performing live. They continued working with True album co-producers Tony Swain and Steve Jolley on its follow-up, Parade, but Kemp felt that album failed to achieve the new sound they were after. In an interview with Number One magazine in 1986, he reasoned, "I think we were a bit afraid of making a big jump after True. The trouble was that Parade the record wasn't like we did it live. People went home and were disappointed by the record."

We're a rock band now.

The band spent time in Dublin, and Kemp began writing the songs for their next album there over the course of six months in 1985. During that time, they socialized with the members of Def Leppard, who were also living there. Kemp credited them for influencing the arena rock sound on the album. He also credited Live Aid because he felt it made fans want to see live performances, explaining, "People are sick of sitting at home watching pretty people in videos. They want to get out of their homes and be part of it."

I think it's our best album because we were playing so well on it.