Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome (1984)

Artist...............: Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Album................: Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Genre................: New Wave
Source...............: Cd
Year.................: 1984
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy
Codec................: Flac
Information..........: TntVillage
Covers...............: Front
Total Size...........: 426 Mb


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Rewiev
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Strip away all the hype, controversy, and attendant craziness surrounding Frankie -- most of which never

reached American shores, though the equally bombastic "Relax" and "Two Tribes" both charted well -- and

Welcome to the Pleasuredome holds up as an outrageously over-the-top, bizarre, but fun release. Less well

known but worthwhile cuts include by-definition-camp "Krisco Kisses" and "The Only Star in Heaven," while

U.K. smash "The Power of Love" is a gloriously insincere but still great hyper-ballad with strings from

Anne Dudley. In truth, the album's more a testament to Trevor Horn's production skills than anything else.

To help out, he roped in a slew of Ian Dury's backing musicians to provide the music, along with a guest

appearance from his fellow Yes veteran Steve Howe on acoustic guitar that probably had prog rock fanatics

collapsing in apoplexy. The end result was catchy, consciously modern -- almost to a fault -- arena-level

synth rock of the early '80s that holds up just fine today, as much an endlessly listenable product of its

times as the Chinn/Chapman string of glam rock hits from the early '70s. Certainly the endless series of

pronouncements from a Ronald Reagan impersonator throughout automatically date the album while lending it a

giddy extra layer of appeal. Even the series of covers on the album at once make no sense and plenty of it

all at once. While Edwin Starr's "War" didn't need redoing, Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" becomes a

ridiculously over-the-top explosion that even outrocks the Boss. As the only member of the band actually

doing anything the whole time (Paul Rutherford pipes up on backing vocals here and there), Holly Johnson

needs to make a mark and does so with appropriately leering passion. He didn't quite turn out to be the new

Freddie Mercury, but he makes a much better claim than most, combining a punk sneer with an ear for hyper-

dramatic yelps.



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Tracklist
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01. The World Is My Oyster
02. Snatch of Fury (Stay)/Welcome To The Pleasure Dome
03. Relax (Come Fighting)
04. War (And Hide)
05. Two Tribes (ForThe Victims Of Ravishment)
06. Including The Last Voice
07. Born To Run
08. Happy Hi
09. Wish (The Lads Were Here)
10. Including The Ballad Of 32
11. Krisco Kisses
12. Black Night White Light
13. The Only Star In Heaven
14. The Power Of Love
15. Bang