Forty years after its release, the second and final Frankie Goes To Hollywood album still divides opinion and remains the record that effectively ended the band.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood exploded out of Liverpool in 1984 with Welcome to the Pleasuredome, a debut that mixed high-concept production, sexual provocation and massive commercial success. Two years later, on 20 October 1986, the band returned with Liverpool, a very different record. The second album swapped much of the synth-driven dance pulse of its predecessor for a harder pop-rock and heavy metal edge.
Produced by Stephen Lipson and mixed by Trevor Horn, it became both a commercial comedown and the last studio statement from the original line-up.
The recording sessions stretched from late 1985 into mid-1986 across studios in Ibiza, Holland and London. Basic tracks were cut over eight weeks at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands, with keyboard overdubs and final mixes completed at Sarm West in London. Lipson pushed the band to play their own instruments, a deliberate shift from the first album where Horn had frequently replaced or heavily shaped performances with session players and his own work. The method was painstaking. Lipson used two 24-track Sony digital recorders, transferring elements between tapes via offsets and building multiple versions of songs. “Rage Hard” alone accumulated more than fifty multitrack versions during the process.
Holly Johnson kept his distance for much of the sessions. Bandmates later said they believed he was finished with the group and even began looking for a replacement. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran was approached and declined. Pete Wylie was also considered. Johnson eventually completed the album. Guitarist Brian Nash later explained that Johnson was dealing with the serious illness of his then-boyfriend Wolfgang Kuhle and had not shared the details with the rest of the band. Jill Sinclair, Horn’s wife and a ZTT co-founder, publicly alleged that Johnson had been uncooperative and largely absent.
Trevor Horn took a lighter hands-on role than on the debut, reviewing material and offering advice through Lipson. He later spent an estimated £500,000 mixing the record, taking the total production cost to around £840,000. The band was so deeply in debt that they needed to sell more than a million copies simply to start earning any money.
Musically, Liverpool leans into rock dynamics. Johnson described it at the time as removing the rose-tinted spectacles of the first album, calling it a more mature and serious record. Tracks such as “Warriors of the Wasteland,” “Rage Hard,” “Kill the Pain” and “Is Anybody Out There?” carry a heavier weight, with additional guitar work from Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin. Betsy Cook contributed backing vocals, while Andy Richards and Peter-John Vettese handled keyboards. Richard Niles arranged strings and brass. The cover photography by Anton Corbijn varied depending on format.
“Rage Hard” led the campaign, reaching number four in the United Kingdom and number one in Germany. “Warriors of the Wasteland” and “Watching the Wildlife” followed as singles. Liverpool itself peaked at number five in the UK and Germany, number seven in Austria and Switzerland, and number eight in Norway. It reached number 88 on the US Billboard 200 and number 72 in Australia. By March 1988 the album had sold around 800,000 copies. It earned gold certifications in the UK, Germany, France and New Zealand, yet still fell short of the expectations set by Welcome to the Pleasuredome.
Critical reaction at the time was mixed to poor. Some reviewers saw the rock direction as an attempt to prove the band could function as a live rock act rather than a studio creation. Others viewed it as an anticlimax. Later reappraisals, including the 2011 double-CD reissue that added session recordings, mixes and covers of David Bowie, The Doors and the Rolling Stones, have been more measured. Steve Howe, who played on the album, said in 2023 that he had hoped Liverpool would make a meaningful impact because the music was strong.
The album marked the end of the classic Frankie Goes To Hollywood era. Johnson left the band not long after, triggering a series of lawsuits involving ZTT. No further studio albums followed under the original configuration. Liverpool remains a document of a group under pressure, shifting direction, and struggling with the weight of sudden success. Forty years on it stands as both a commercial disappointment relative to its predecessor and a fascinating, flawed record that captures a band trying to redefine itself in real time.
Tracklisting
All tracks written by Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, Brian Nash and Mark O’Toole.
Warriors of the Wasteland – 4:53
Rage Hard – 5:08
Kill the Pain – 6:16
Maximum Joy – 5:32
Watching the Wildlife – 4:18
Lunar Bay – 5:42
For Heaven’s Sake – 4:29
Is Anybody Out There? – 7:25
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