Welcome To The Pleasuredome

*1984. English synth-pop. *Relax (go to it) is the only song I know - and candidly I had no idea who sang it before this. *I was expecting something a little more satirical or silly from these guys? I guess I don't know much about them, but I kind of figured they were a fake/parody band like the Oneders or Spinal Tap? *Several covers amidst original stuff (including Born to Run and War, for some reason). *This was way more enjoyable than I expected - a perfectly fun listen. I still feel like I'm missing some sort of joke though. RATING - 6.5/10

Way better than I thought it would be. Did fall off a bit at the end

The almost 14 minute long Welcome to the Pleasuredome track is incredible. The slappy electronic bass in the intro is wonderful. Really enjoyed this album though it does kinda fall off a bit in the middle. Power of Love is obviously an absolute classic. Decent album!

Sounds like the soundtrack for an 80's musical, but I didn't know the story line. Some of the songs were interesting but none were enjoyable.

An interesting album with some recognizable songs

I was familiar with "War" having been referenced on Seinfeld, and had heard Bruce Springsteen's cover of "Born to Run". Two Tribes was probably my favorite track. The album blends together towards the end but I enjoyed it more than expected.

Very weird. Way too long. Didn't finish

I’m not usually a fan of 1hr+ records as they often fail to sustain my interest. But this was an outlier in that regard because honestly what a record. I’ve long been a fan of Frankie’s bigger hits (the 12” version of Two Tribes might be my favourite 12” ever, if you’ve not heard it, make it a priority.) but even the lesser known on this record such as the title track, The Ballad Of 32 etc. are absolutely brilliant in their own right. I’d also go on record to say that Born To Run cover is one of the best Springsteen covers done. Unapologetically gay, unapologetically socialist, unapologetically scouse. Love it.

Heard some before; 3; Came into this expecting a one-hit wonder with "Relax," but found that a good chunk of the rest of the album was fun to listen to. I especially thought that "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" was interesting - lots of different instruments and riffs based around the same melody, very punchy production, with a build and release throughout the 13 minute track. The rest of the album has a very bright and punchy production with makes for a fun listen, but not something that I would necessarily want to listen to over and over. Favorite Track: Relax

Almost offensively 80s. Relax might be a “must hear” single but this is NOT an essential album.

뭔가 평범한 느낌이긴 했는데 듣기 쉽지 않은 앨범이었다. It felt somewhat ordinary, yet it wasn’t an easy album to listen to.

I felt like I was being held hostage by this album.

Conceptual

This was a solid listen. I enjoyed having it on in the background. Even if I wasn't paying attention to what was going on, everything sounded pleasant to my ears. I'd give this a 3.5, but will round up cause I found the lead's vocal to fall nice on my ears.

Too many covers

This one kind of vibes, but it does overstay it's welcome and some of the covers feel very out of place. Seems like they could have cut a few of those to make a more consistent overall album. Welcome to the Pleasuredome and Including the Balled of 32 were both pleasant "new to me" songs (though Pleasuredome could have been half the length), and obviously Relax holds up.

This album slaps. Awesome covers too

A synth pop experience... I remember not really liking it the first time I heard it, but it really grew on me.

Soy tan pero que tan gay...

Nopety-nope.

I can give this album some credit for being out in a closeted world at the time. This is not my kind of music and the covers and second side really lost me.

3/5 - This was quite a trip, since I knew nothing of this band except for Relax, which is classic. The Born to Run cover was pretty great, because he was all in on the vocals, but I guess he's all in on just about everything on this album. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I enjoyed this more than most 80s stuff I haven't heard before.

A few catchy moments, a fair bit of guff too though. They tried to have fun and I applaud that, of course. However, it’s so corny and so 80s.

full of songs I know I already like and a huge range of sounds, I'm a huge fan.

Incredibly fun

musicals arent def my thing

I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS! This album is weird. We have a 14 minute intro to easily the best song on the album, which is apparently a remixed version? I think I've only ever heard this one. Later we have some forgettable covers, some weird erotically charged songs and some other songs that pull from a number of genres but generally aren't that great. But lets get this straight: Frankie goes to Hollywood works as a perfect bit for the movie Zoolander. Just remember: Do as you are trained... AND KILL THE MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. To be fair I expected to dislike this more than I did. There were more straight up songs but not anything I really cared about. Not like you. I care deeply about you.

This started out pretty strong. I really liked the first couple tracks. Things evened out to a 3 by the end.

sympathique

This was a group I only heard hit songs from never listened to a full album. I was pleasantly surprised they had some diversity with their songs. Lead singer has good vocals n the band plays tight.

A gem of its time

Original songs fantastic, covers not so.

It does take some balls to make your debut album a double album and then pad it with covers. And that San Jose cover is not good. But the first half made me smile with that big 80s drum machine sound. Not a standout overall for me.

Fav: Including the Ballad of 32 L: San Jose, The Only Star In Heaven 2 The start was interesting but either this was made to be taken in small doses or it really hit a wall. I think I've overdosed on the 80's after listening to this. Cover: 4 Pretty cool except the weird logo and the font is weird Name: 3 What was up with the obsession with domes? Minecraft Parody: Wish (The LAN Was Up), The World is Creative

I knew that I really liked The Power of Love but the whole album was great. Welcome to the Pleasuredom was an amazing surprise of a track and I really liked the Born to Run cover. I didn't care for San Jose (The Way) but not enough that it distracted from the album as a whole.

extraño cuanto menos

most of it sounds like the music the Jack Nicholson Joker plays on his boombox.

I enjoyed this more than I expected. I’ve heard Relax (Come Finding) loads of times of course, but it was only today that I realized it’s a battle cry against premature ejaculation. The Born To Run cover is faithful and excellent: it’s well performed and understands that when you cover a perfect song you don’t change too much, just sing the hell out of it. This album was a fun ride. What happened to Frankie?

So, this is kinda all over the place. Welcome to the Pleasuredome was super cool. Relax is what it is. Then we get this bizarre cover of War. Two Tribes is a dance banger for the apocalypse. Oh, I don't want to hear Born to Run in any form. Now Burt Bacharach?? All over the place. Man, the way this started I thought I would be pleasantly surprised. Power of Love sounds vaguely familiar.....oh, Within Temptation covered it. Is that why I know it? Oh neat, all my symphonic metal peeps also did a cover for a benefit in 2014.

Yeah this one slapped

#156 average track rating: 3.7 | favourite: Two Tribes, Welcome to the Pleasuredome | least favourite: Sane Jose (The Way) this album just made me want to move to the bass (looking at you, 'welcome to the pleasuredome') the whole time, it was so much fun! this is such a delight of an album, fantastically constructed and so influential within the UK (understandably). this album is bold and inventive, no matter if you like synth-pop or otherwise. it's bizarre in many ways, but just feels so good to listen to. i would have gone crazy to this in the club if i was alive in '84. a win for us gays. ಄ albums remaining: 933 ಄ albums I agree with being on the list: 69 [+1 Welcome to the Pleasuredome] ಄ albums I would consider for my list: 35 [+1 Welcome to the Pleasuredome] ಄ albums I would not include on my list: 121

You ever wonder how much cocaine was used during the making of this album? Because I think it was a lot.

In isolation, I've always quite liked the big hits from this album. But when listening the the album in full I disliked so much about it. Why does it start with a weird instrumental, then go straight I to a 13 minute title track? Why are the song lengths all over the place? Why is there some shit covers sandwiched in the middle? Who put this mess together? 2* only because of some catchy choruses.

One legendary song. One bloated 13:40 song. Some covers. I think you really need to be a Frankie fan to dig this album.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes to Hollywood is an outstanding album. I genuinely wish I’d listened to the whole thing years ago because there is so much more here than the handful of massive singles everyone knows. What really struck me is the anger and attitude running through it. Songs like “Two Tribes” and “Relax” have an incredible amount of energy, and there’s a real sense of a country and world that felt broken. The politics, Cold War anxiety and frustration of the time are all over the album, but it never forgets to be great pop music at the same time. I loved pretty much everything about this. Even the covers work. On another album they might feel like filler, but here they seem to have a place in the tracklisting and add to the whole journey of the record. I particularly enjoyed their version of “Born to Run”, which I really wasn’t expecting. And then there are the hits. “The Power of Love”, “Two Tribes” and “Relax” are just brilliant. Three completely different songs that show how much more there was to Frankie Goes to Hollywood than I probably gave them credit for. “Relax” and “Two Tribes” in particular are absolute 80s pop gold and still sound fantastic today. This album is enjoyable for so many reasons. It’s ambitious, angry, fun, political, completely over the top in places and packed with brilliant music. What a great album. Favourite tracks: “Relax” and “Two Tribes”. Absolute 80s pop gold. “The Power of Love” isn’t far behind. Least favourite track: Nothing. Everything is worth a listen and even the covers earn their place. Album artwork: Brilliant album cover. Bold, strange and completely fitting for the album.

I didn't know this band. Some good tracks and most were easy to listen too. A good album overall.

My favourite yet, the bass is unreal lol

3.9

Well... - 54 The World Is My Oyster - 45 Snatch Of Fury - 73 Welcome To The Pleasuredome - 85 Relax - 87 War - 73 Two Tribes - 78 Tag - 32 Fury - 76 Born To Run - 89 San Jose - 75 Wish The Lads Were Here - 72 The Ballad Of 32 - 40 Krisco Kisses - 69 Black Night White Light - 73 The Only Star In Heaven - 78 The Power Of Love - 83 Bang... - 69

This album started with such an awesome freaking vibe. While welcome to the Pleasuredome isn't a song I'd voluntarily listen to again, mainly because of how long it dragged on, the song was extremely cinematic with switches in beat/style + a contrast between naturalistic sounds in the beginning to 80s synth and chant-like rock at the end. I liked the antiwar sentiment of war and the cover of born to run was amazing. The rest of the songs experimented with music styles, some of which were lovely, some out of place and some stereotypical 80s music.

This album is completely unhinged. There's a born to run cover in the middle of an album that is an ode to gay sexual desire? Absolutely brilliant. No notes.

Would be a 4 if they had cut out 3/4 songs, the rest is great.

Synthy

I am not the greatest fan of this but Relax is an all time great

2,5 stars

Frankie says relax!!

Interesting album. Had low expectations after the first time and then it got better. Lots of variety across the tracks including some unexpected covers.

This was a waste of well over an hour

A lot of this album is just fine covers. I didn't enjoy the originals much either.

Good 3. Nice!

ziemlich „synthi“. 80er pur. zuviele schlechte cover füllen das album.

Gute alte Zeiten

i quite like Trevor Horn. He produced a few amazing records. This would be one of them.

nice enough

What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Skämt åsido, gravt ointressant förutom två låtar.

Var så himla taggad ca 20 minuter in, men sen blev det magplask.

Fan kunde varit så bra!! Men något saknas lite för krångligt 3/5

Nope. This was not worth my time. So horny for no reasonable

It was really nothing. A fine cover of an already iffy song. I don't want anymore of this type of music.

This was not an album. Like Jacob said, list slop. Getting such fatigue for things in my life and this album just adds tremendously to the mound of nothingness. No more synthy British pop rock. I can’t even give this a one because I didn’t listen to it in full

Listslop not worth revisiting

01) The World Is My Oyster (Including Well, Snatch of Fury) - 7,0 02) Welcome to the Pleasuredome - 9,0 03) Relax (Come Fighting) - 10,0 04) War (...and Hide) - 8,5 05) Two Tribes (For the Victims of Ravishment) - 10,0 06) (Tag) - / 07) Ferry (Go) - 8,5 08) Born to Run - 8,5 09) San Jose (The Way) - 7,5 10) Wish (The Lads Were Here) - 8,0 11) The Ballad of 32 - 8,0 12) Krisco Kisses - 7,5 13) Black Night White Light - 8,0 14) The Only Star in Heaven - 7,5 15) The Power of Love - 10,0 16) ...Bang - 7,5 TOTAL: 8,37 (84/100) Current ranking: 207/1043

Like the previous two albums, this one features some innovations (here, propulsive club beats produced for the stadium show), but is nit so interesting overall. There are several covers — all of which are good. The big hits are focussed on sex acts (i prefer a lot more suggestion and a lot less detail). But the covers leave my feeling like this band only had 1-2 original hits in them, for this album. Not that impressive. A 2.

Sehr viel Charme / Charakter

Not a fan. Not for me and it felt like it aged poorly. Most of the album sounded the same to me

This was unexpected. Obviously I knew the big hits, Relax & Two Tribes, but then this is a double album, over an hour long. And the second track, but the first real song, is a 13 minute title track. Prog meets 80s dance & synth but somehow good, I think? Later on we get a version of Ferry cross the Mersey, they are from Liverpool after all, and a bonkers but great version of Born to Run. I did not see that coming. I can't decide whether I love it or hate it. But I'm glad I listened to it, mightn't have otherwise.And I think 3 stars fits.

Relax slaps but it's an outlier here

BANGER!!! idk what was going on most of the time but BANGER!

Pleasurable

There are elements to this that are pretty cool, generally the last half with tracks like “Krisco Kisses”, “Black Night” & “The Only Star” is pretty dope. But this album overall feels like watching an award show. I like the intro but damn that pleasuredome song just goes on and on and gets super annoying. Overly long and just way too many detours - and if course a little Springsteen tribute and some hollow statements about war and peace and stuff. Overall, the first half of the album is, for me, kinda skippable, but the second half is pretty good. “Power of Love” is a lovely 80’s ballad, but it sounds like the singer is kinda struggling at times. Intro (world is my oyster) and outro (bang) are really cool. Generally he sounds like he’s fighting someone while recording this, which is kinda fun I guess. 6/10

I knew a couple songs but never listened to the album. It's really a diverse, innovative and wonderful album.

What a strange album. I was expecting lots of sordid songs about kinky sex. There's a bit of that, but lots of slightly average covers.

When I started listening to this in bed my cat got up and left. Super fun, though.

Such a good listen really loved this, its just a good time on a album

meh, dacht een paar leuke nummers te krijgen met kende er maar 1. en die was medium

Only one song worthwhile

2.5

This is definitely an album that started really good and ended up just okay. I honestly think the first two sides are fantastic in fact if it was just the first six tracks on the first record it would be 4½★ 27 min Ep There is something I really dig about Fierce political pop and you don't hear it all that much where the anger and the tension are brought forward by the beats and to me "Pleasuredome", "Two Tribes" and even the cover of "War" (though I'm a bit more mixed on that one) really fulfilled that itch that rarely get scratched for me. Also the big hit "Relax" is still a banger to me. Unfortunately there's another 40 minute record waiting that starts off horrendously with three atrocious covers the least of which is Born To Run, for the mere fact that quite frankly they really didn't do anything to it other than use the same arrangement with a bit of amped up keyboards but it literally sounded pretty much exactly like the Specteresque production of Springsteen's. The other two were just lame but at least they changed it up a bit. The rest of the album which are all Originals was okay i did like the instrumental "Ballad of 32" and "Black night White Light", but "Power of Love" it's really not much more than a snoozie synth-pop ballad to me I didn't do much for me even though it was a hit. All in all something that started off really great ended up being pretty much a 3½★ album (7.45) ★★★½

Too long and.uneven, but the hit is nice. 3 stars

Meh. This is just an album of cheesy 80s synthpop. "Relax" and "Two Tribes" are okay, but the rest is pretty forgettable, save an unexpected cover of "Born to Run". 2.5 stars.

Immense album, even if a lot of the tracks on sides 3 and 4 are clearly way below par. Trevor Horn is a magician by taking the 4 or so actual good songs the group had in the tank and smearing it into a bountiful bacchanalian near-masterpiece of 80s synthpop. Relax, Two Tribes and The Power Love are some of the best, catchiest, most charged songs of the decade whether sexually, politically or emotionally and the side-long opener is an extra level up or 5 in magnificence. “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a badgerdome erect! HOO HA. HOO-HA HOO HA. HOO-HA It’s a long way from home welcome to the badgerdome!”

1.6/5 Some ok songs but the ones I liked the most were covers so I'm taking points off for that.

Never heard this album - just Relax. Very enjoyable and different than I expected. 3.5/5.

When I was in college we had dorm parties and we would play the beginning two songs of this album and dance around like idiots. We drank a lot of beer at those parties and looking back, I realize it was the alcohol that allowed me to enjoy this album. I don’t drink anymore.

Some nice synthy goodness in here but I found it to drag a bit.

The way the keys and basslines flirt with each other on this album is sublime. Great covers, really exceeded so many of my expectations

So much more political than I remembered! I recall Ronnie and Gorby in the video, but it's all over this! I like it more know ha

4 stars

Can we all agree that if you're putting two covers on your record it's ineligible from being considered a classic.