Vinyl Junkie #9 - Liverpool

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Just one of those groovy days today, with nothing better to do than hang out, get stoned, and listen to records. And I picked this one up a couple weeks ago, in great condition, for just four bucks! Which really isn't surprising, price-wise, because Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 1986 album, Liverpool can be found used, in pretty much any format, anywhere used records/CD's/tapes are sold. Poor, poor Liverpool. It had the misfortune of being the follow-up to Frankie's wildly successful 1984 double LP debut, Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Produced by Trevor Horn, THE uber-producer of the 1980's and 90's (ABC, Yes, Frankie, Art of Noise, Seal, Grace Jones, Band Aid, Pet Shop Boys, Spandau Ballet, need I go on?,) Pleasuredome was possibly the most hyped album in history. The first record is an 80's alternative masterpiece, from the epic title track, to the tune that pretty much represents the entire decade, "Relax," to their magnificent cover of the classic protest tune, "War," to their own classic protest anthem, "Two Tribes." And the second record is good fun! Liverpool really had no chance following that. It wasn't nearly as hyped, although they did give it a go. They claimed they were making a heavy metal album, and vocalist Holly Johnson told SPIN magazine the album title would be "The Legend of Cathy Curse and the Lipid Dick.") And while the album sold decently, it was largely considered a disappointment for not being "Pleasuredome II." Trevor Horn served as executive producer, letting his engineer, Stephen Lipson handle production duties. Lipson used far fewer session musicians than Horn had on the debut, resulting in a "truer" Frankie record. They didn't make anything remotely resembling a heavy metal record, but the leadoff tune, "Warriors of the Wasteland," is a pretty rocking stab at muscular arena rock (there is a hell of a remix out there, the "Attack" mix, that features guitar god Gary Moore shredding all over it,) and "Rage Hard" (which debuted at #1 in Germany) would have easily fit right in on Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Both easily rank among the band's best. But the rest shouldn't be considered as mere filler. I bought Liverpool, on cassette, the day it was released here in the States. "Watching the Wildlife" immediately caught my ear as a fantastic pop song, "For Heaven's Sake" wasn't exactly single material; it's not quite as musically upbeat as most of the album, but I love it as much as any of their tunes, and "Is Anybody Out There" is a pretty, keyboard-heavy ballad. Liverpool is actually a hell of a lot better than the "Relax" crowd gave it credit for. But, hey, you know, it's just not Welcome to the Pleasuredome. These same people also later ditched their copies of Depeche Mode's awesome Songs of Faith and Devotion because, you know, it wasn't Violator. Whatever. (Info, as if I really needed to verify anything with these guys; Christ, I once dated a girl for a couple of weeks just so I could get access to her "Frankie Say Relax" shirt, verified by Wikipedia)