Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Category handler Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Bang!1985studioWelcome to the PleasuredomeWelcome To The Pleasuredome.jpgyesIllustration by Lo Cole<ref name="artofztt.com" />Frankie Goes to Hollywood Template:Start dateJuly 1983–1984* Manor (Oxford)

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Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by the English band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released on 29 October 1984 by ZTT Records.<ref name="NME19841013">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million.<ref name="NME19841013" /> It actually sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album was also a top-10 seller internationally in countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.

The album was commercially successful and contained new versions of the songs from the group's singles from the same year ("Relax" and "Two Tribes", plus B-side "War"), as well as several cover versions. Trevor Horn's production dominated the record so thoroughly that the band's own instrumental performances were often replaced by session musicians or Horn himself.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Frankie's second album, Liverpool, actively featured the full band.

The ballad "The Power of Love" subsequently provided the group with their third consecutive UK number-one single.

To celebrate the album's 30th anniversary, in October 2014, ZTT through Union Square Music released a limited edition (2,000 copies only) box set titled Inside the Pleasuredome, available exclusively from the website pledgemusic.com. The box set contains rarities on 10" vinyl, as well as a book, a DVD, a cassette (featuring 13 mixes of "Relax" and its B-side "One September Monday") as well as a new 2014 remastered version of Welcome to the Pleasuredome on 180g vinyl. Template:TOC limit

Sleeve artEdit

The cover art was conceived by ZTT owner Paul Morley and illustrated by graphic artist Lo Cole. The front cover featured an illustration of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood band members; on the back of the album was an illustration of a large animal orgy; and the inner gatefold artwork was an image of a procession of animals entering the head of a very large phallus. The sleeve art proved controversial, and the printing company refused to print the album covers. Cole was forced to alter the orgy image by adding green fig leaves to cover the offending animal genitalia.<ref name="artofztt.com" />

The album's alternative CD cover, and some of the promotional material, used a different image to the vinyl release, instead utilising Peter Ashworth's photograph of the band in a jungle setting built by Ashworth in his studio.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical receptionEdit

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Reviewing Welcome to the Pleasuredome for Sounds, Carole Linfield praised Frankie Goes to Hollywood for merging "the hip with the witless" on an album of "overkill, overjoy and overcompensation", summarising it as "pretentious rubbish for which we're rewarded with almost illicit ecstasyTemplate:Nbsp... Frankie makes gullibility fashionable."<ref name="Linfield"/> "By next week I'll be tired of it," commented Richard Cook in NME, "but today this 'play' is funny, sharp, gorgeous."<ref name="Cook">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Jim Reid of Record Mirror felt that while the album "would have made a brilliant single LP", it is still "superbly produced and head and shoulders above the rest", observing "intelligence, real sexual glamour and a sense of fun" distinguishing the band from other contemporary pop acts.<ref name="Reid"/>

In the United States, Rolling Stone critic David Fricke found that the album's songs are "too oftenTemplate:Nbsp... merely alluring fragments", while concluding that it "revels in its own subversiveness with such audacious glee that it is impossible not to be captivated, if not entirely convinced".<ref name="Fricke"/> The Village VoiceTemplate:'s Robert Christgau was less impressed, calling the group "a truly great hype" but ultimately only "a marginally competent arena-rock band who don't know how to distinguish between effeminacy and pretension".<ref name="Christgau"/>

Retrospectively, AllMusic reviewer Ned Raggett said that Welcome to the Pleasuredome, divorced from "the hype, controversy, and attendant craziness surrounding Frankie", "holds up as an outrageously over-the-top, bizarre, but fun release", as well as "more a testament to Trevor Horn's production skills than anything else."<ref name="Raggett"/> For Pitchfork, Sasha Geffen wrote that the album's impact "rang out into the years that followed, emblematizing the '80s and loosening the way for bands like Erasure, who would carry a similar torch into the rave years."<ref name="Geffen"/>

Track listingEdit

All songs written and composed by Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, Brian Nash and Mark O'Toole except where noted.Template:CN Template:Tracklist Template:Tracklist Template:Tracklist Template:Tracklist

PersonnelEdit

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Additional personnel

J. J. Jeczalik – keyboards, programming, software
Andy Richards – keyboards
Luís Jardim – percussion
Anne Dudley – keyboards, string arrangement on "The Power of Love"
Stephen Lipson – guitar
Steve Howe – acoustic guitar on "Welcome to the Pleasuredome"
Trevor Horn – programming, backing vocals, bass guitar

Production

Produced by Trevor Horn
Engineers – Stuart Bruce, Steve Lipson
Mastering – Ian Cooper

Technical

Cover concept - Paul Morley<ref name="liverpoolecho.co.uk">Liverpool Echo: Peter Ashworth interview: Frankie Goes to Hollywood</ref>
Illustration by Lo Cole<ref name="artofztt.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cover photography - Peter Ashworth<ref>Liverpool Echo: Peter Ashworth interview: Frankie Goes to Hollywood</ref>

ChartsEdit

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Weekly chartsEdit

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Weekly chart performance for *Welcome to the Pleasuredome*
Chart (1984–1985)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	7
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	10

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Year-end chartsEdit

1984 year-end chart performance for *Welcome to the Pleasuredome*
Chart (1984)	Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	51
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	39
UK Albums (Gallup)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	10

1985 year-end chart performance for *Welcome to the Pleasuredome*
Chart (1985)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	47
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	17
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	84
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	18
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	11
UK Albums (Gallup)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	33
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	41

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CertificationsEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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BibliographyEdit

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External linksEdit

Welcome to the Pleasuredome (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

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