Liverpool (album)

Johnson was distant from the band during the sessions and was unhappy about the album's focus on rock over dance. Jill Sinclair, Horn's wife and one of the ZTT founders, later alleged that Johnson had been uncooperative and absent for most of the sessions. Johnson's distancing and disinterest came to the point that the band members concluded he was "finished and were in the market for a new singer". The session studio recordings were made in Ibiza, Holland and London. ==Production==

The album's production was handled by Trevor Horn's engineer Stephen Lipson, who urged the band to play their own instruments on this album (Horn having replaced many of the band's performances and arrangements with his session musicians or his own performances on Welcome to the Pleasuredome). According to Nash, the band was given contradicting information, with Horn considered as a producer or executive producer. The band was so much in debt that they had to sell at least a million copies to start earning "a penny". ==Music==

Liverpool features a more hard rock and heavy metal sound than its predecessor. Frankie Goes to Hollywood have not released any more studio albums since Liverpool. The cover photo was different depending on what format was purchased (LP, cassette, or compact disc). ==Release==

The album was a commercial disappointment compared to the band's previous effort, though it charted generally high at No. 5 in the United Kingdom and Germany, No. 7 on the Austrian and Swiss music charts and No. 8 in Norway. It produced the top 5 single "Rage Hard" (No. 1 in Germany), top 20 single "Warriors of the Wasteland" and top 30 single "Watching the Wildlife". By March 1988, the album had sold around 800,000 copies. On 20 June 2011 was released a 2xCD reissue including session recordings, mixes and covers of David Bowie, the Doors and Rolling Stones. ==Critical reception==

In the 80s and 90s the album received poor critical reception. The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote: "Like most of the era's one-hit wonders, the group did make a second album, though God only knows why anyone would want to hear it." == Track listing ==

;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 • Trevor Horn – executive producer • Betsy Cook – backing vocals • Barry Diament – mastering • Stephen Lipson – guitar, keyboards, producer • Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin – guitar • Heff Moraes – assistant engineer • Richard Niles – string arrangements, brass arrangement • Andy Richards, Peter-John Vettese – keyboards • Anton Corbijn – photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==