Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by English synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released on 29 October 1984 by ZTT Records. 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. It actually sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week. The album was also a top-10 seller internationally in countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. While commercially successful, the album also drew criticism for containing new versions of all of the songs from the group's (already much-remixed) singles from the same year ("Relax" and "Two Tribes", plus B-side "War"), as well as a surfeit of cover versions in lieu of much new original material. It was later revealed that 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. Frankie's second album, Liverpool, actively featured the full band. However, the album's evergreen 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 entitled 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. Sleeve art
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. Track listing

All songs written and composed by Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, Brian Nash and Mark O'Toole except where noted. Personnel
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
 Holly Johnson – lead vocals
 Paul Rutherford – backing vocals
 Brian Nash – guitar
 Mark O'Toole – bass guitar
 Peter Gill – drums

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 – backing vocals, bass guitar

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

Technical
Cover concept - Paul Morley
Illustration by Lo Cole
Cover photography - Peter Ashworth

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

External links

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

1984 debut albums
Albums produced by Trevor Horn
Frankie Goes to Hollywood albums
Island Records albums
ZTT Records albums
Obscenity controversies in art