#atozchallenge #wis K is for Kill the Pain

Frankie Goes to Hollywood was ZZT Records' ridiculously famous band and primary moneymaker in the mid-80s, thanks to their many hit singles, campy videos, and their 1984 debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. As mentioned previously, they did end up putting a damper on some of the other ZZT bands (Propaganda and The Art of Noise, to name two), as all the money was being filtered to FGTH's promotion.

By 1986, however, many had written them off as all flash and little substance. What had been excellent dance floor tracks in 1983 and 1984 seemed a bit dated and hokey just a few short years later. The quintet regrouped to record a follow-up, and had decided on a much grittier sound with more serious lyrics, a complete 180 from the overbearing campiness of the previous album. Unfortunately, two things were against them when it was released in October of 1986: it was panned by nearly all the critics, and an evergrowing turmoil within the band itself. By the time they finished the tour for Liverpool, they'd broken up.

Despite what the critics say, I actually found this to be the better of their two albums--it's much stronger musically and lyrically, without all the ridiculous pomp. Its much more serious and socially aware Frankie. A few of the tracks have dated a bit, such as the ones like "Warriors of the Wasteland" that hint at Cold War paranoia, but overall I find it a much easier album to listen to.

I think that's it right there--while Pleasuredome was distinctly an album to put on at parties and at the clubs, Liverpool was an album to listen to at home. That's what I did, anyway. I owned the first album on vinyl and couldn't quite get myself into it, as it just seemed a side too long with too many meaningless segues. This one on the other hand, I listened to on my Walkman quite a bit. Around 1985-1986 I'd started listening to a lot of tapes on headphones as I fell asleep (this was just before the college radio discovery), and I finally bought this one, it got some pretty heavy rotation, along with Cream's Very Best of and Pink Floyd's The Wall. Right about the time my music obsession kicked into high gear, come to think of it.