Frankie Goes To Hollywood Maximum Joy

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's first double album was a huge hit. Their second offering also met with some success, although it is not as well remembered. And yet, on many accounts, Liverpool can be considered as an improvement over its predecessor. For one thing, the album is shorter, more conventional. While Welcome to the Pleasuredome had some strong material, the length weakened the whole in many places. Here, the band focused on eight tracks and the result is somewhat more convincing. "Warriors of the Wasteland," "Rage Hard," and "Watching the Wildlife" were all minor hits back in 1986, and the other tracks are, for the most part, of the same quality, with perhaps "For Heaven's Sake" standing out as a favorite. Again, Trevor Horn was involved in the production (the band was signed to his famous Zang Tuum Tumb label, so it's no big surprise) – thus the production is impeccable, as one would expect from a Horn-produced album. Worth a listen if you like the band or have an interest for '80s music – of which this is not such a bad sample.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood were one of the biggest-selling pop groups of the 1980s, as well as the most controversial. Their debut single, 'Relax', went to No. 1 in ten countries around Europe and its follow-up, 'Two Tribes', was the definitive cinematic soundtrack to the Cold War. They also had a sensitive side ('The Power Of Love'), a rocky side ('Born To Run') and a playful side ('Do You Think I'm Sexy?'). Listen to Frankie afresh, from all sides, with this essential collection.

Club Mixes 2000 is a remix album from '80s one-album wonder Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Wisely, only two songs out of the 16 here are not from Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Otherwise, this takes the biggest hits from that album and tries to twist them into techno anthems. And, for the most part, the songs translate fairly easily into that genre. Because of the songs' over the top nature and charismatic arrangements, it's possible to pick and choose some outrageous material from the originals and plaster it onto these techno tracks. Those unfamiliar with the material may find this to be rather boring, as many of the songs are featured several times under different remixers. But unlike the Disco albums that the Pet Shop Boys released to a harsh public, these songs are more well-rounded and tend to play out more naturally than those collections. Overall, this is a decent album that does get repetitive, but contains enough good remixes to make it recommendable to fans of the band.

Number 1's The Ultimate Collection features 100 hits that reached the much-coveted top UK chart top spot. Each of the 5 CDs features a carefully sequenced selection from one of 5 decades from the 60s right up to the noughties. Featuring a stunning array of rock, pop and soul anthems this is the very best of the UK chart in one poptastic box set.