Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome – 40th Anniversary Review Deluxe Box Set with Atmos Blu-ray and Release from 1984, CD, vinyl..

[Jean.Francois]

hello,
Welcome to the Pleasuredome, released in 1984 and produced by Trevor Horn, is the first album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, a double opus blending synthpop, funk, and rock, marked by ambitious and provocative production.

To mark its 40th anniversary, the album has been given a major reissue, including a deluxe box set featuring 7 CDs and a Dolby Atmos Blu-ray mixed by Steven Wilson, now widely recognized as a leading figure in Atmos mixing, as well as a new vinyl edition crafted from his fresh stereo remix.

For this review, 16 versions were compared, including cassette, vinyl, CD, and Blu-ray editions, spanning from 1984 to 2025.

The good news for those who want to listen to the original version is that it remains available on CD, vinyl, cassette, and even on streaming platforms, while preserving its original dynamic range, an important point (as shown by the waveform of the 1984 Tidal version below).

Regarding the version included in the 40th Anniversary box set, its dynamic range is reduced, with DR11 compared to DR14 for the original version. However, the Tidal Super Deluxe version corresponding to this box set is the most compressed, with a DR9 (as illustrated by the waveform below).

As for Steven Wilson’s new stereo mix, it offers a more modern tonal balance with more pronounced bass (see the spectra below), but this comes at the expense of high-frequency detail, which is one of the defining characteristics of the album’s original sound.

Steven Wilson delivers a new reference Dolby Atmos mix for this Frankie Goes To Hollywood album. The mix makes perfect use of spatialization and the immersive potential of the format, with sounds distributed throughout the entire space and subtle movement of certain instruments. Everything remains coherent and true to the spirit of the original music. A truly immersive experience to discover when listening on a multichannel Dolby Atmos system.

I invite you to listen to the different samples so you can form your own opinion. This will allow everyone to find the version that suits them best, whether they prefer a more contemporary-sounding remix or the album’s original sound, available across various formats.

You can also find the full analysis (including all graphs and measurements) HERE (link).



Enjoy the listening.
Jean-François

 

[Descartes]

hello,
Welcome to the Pleasuredome, released in 1984 and produced by Trevor Horn, is the first album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, a double opus blending synthpop, funk, and rock, marked by ambitious and provocative production.
View attachment 490933

To mark its 40th anniversary, the album has been given a major reissue, including a deluxe box set featuring 7 CDs and a Dolby Atmos Blu-ray mixed by Steven Wilson, now widely recognized as a leading figure in Atmos mixing, as well as a new vinyl edition crafted from his fresh stereo remix.

For this review, 16 versions were compared, including cassette, vinyl, CD, and Blu-ray editions, spanning from 1984 to 2025.

The good news for those who want to listen to the original version is that it remains available on CD, vinyl, cassette, and even on streaming platforms, while preserving its original dynamic range, an important point (as shown by the waveform of the 1984 Tidal version below).
View attachment 490928


Regarding the version included in the 40th Anniversary box set, its dynamic range is reduced, with DR11 compared to DR14 for the original version. However, the Tidal Super Deluxe version corresponding to this box set is the most compressed, with a DR9 (as illustrated by the waveform below).
View attachment 490929


As for Steven Wilson’s new stereo mix, it offers a more modern tonal balance with more pronounced bass (see the spectra below), but this comes at the expense of high-frequency detail, which is one of the defining characteristics of the album’s original sound.
View attachment 490931


Steven Wilson delivers a new reference Dolby Atmos mix for this Frankie Goes To Hollywood album. The mix makes perfect use of spatialization and the immersive potential of the format, with sounds distributed throughout the entire space and subtle movement of certain instruments. Everything remains coherent and true to the spirit of the original music. A truly immersive experience to discover when listening on a multichannel Dolby Atmos system.
View attachment 490932


I invite you to listen to the different samples so you can form your own opinion. This will allow everyone to find the version that suits them best, whether they prefer a more contemporary-sounding remix or the album’s original sound, available across various formats.

You can also find the full analysis (including all graphs and measurements) HERE (link).



Enjoy the listening.
Jean-François

Thank you still awaiting to review my copy!

 

[BJL]

A couple of points --

the blu ray was, and may still be, available singly from the SDE shop, for those not interested in the multiple disc package. The SDE blu ray has exclusive content, a 25 minute stereo "supernova" mix of Pleasure Dome, also done by Steve Wilson.

the Atmos stream on the blu ray (streaming as well?) is true Atmos; it is not rendered to a 7.1.4 channel locked stream, as is sometimes the case. If you have greater than 7.1.4, the Atmos stream will take advantage of the additional positions for greater positional accuracy and some additional fine detail. The quality of mix, in my opinion, is as Jean-Francois states in his review, Steve Wilson has outdone himself, whatever you may feel about the music, this is demo quality Atmos, up there with Yello Point & Touch, and a very few others.

 

[DSJR]

No interest at all for a surround or whatever version (it's bad enough to get two bloomin' channels to work properly most of the time (have you seen how 'enthusiast audiophiles set up their rigs - in bathroom acoustics these days It seems). Good luck to you who DO like a full surround experience and have the time and skills to set the channels up right (Steve Wilson still uses smallish Genelecs for his surround mixes I believe, but no idea on a sub though as well as Focal Trios by the look of it for stereo in his recent posh home-studio layout)

What I have done though, is to finally buy the CD after forty years of messing about as I have an original two-LP set bought at the time of release. I found a new mint '85 issue on Island/ZTT and hope it's the 'right' one without compression (no mention of a later mastering, so hope I'm okay here).

 

[DSJR]

The 1984 - 85 CD I have (XTT-Island) is very light in the bass on this tatty old rig, so I'd politely suggest perhaps that a later CD with the 'extra' lf eq'd in may well be better in actual fact...

 

[Descartes]

Good lord! The ATMOS mix of that album is absolutely phenomenal and makes me wish that more of the classic rocks from the 70 & 80s were in ATMOS
Thinking of
- Supertramp
- Depeche Mode
- Eurythmics
- Queen
Just to name a few

 

[Chrispy]

LOL still have my 45 of Relax. Lot of people didn't really listen to the lyrics

 

[DSJR]

LOL still have my 45 of Relax. Lot of people didn't really listen to the lyrics

Very few of my 'HiFi friends' listen to lyrics at all. The recent very sad passing of Maire Brennan of Clannad fame, caused me to revisit a much-loved song from the album Macala and when I tried to explain how I still feel listening to it (intense grief at the time and remembrance tears today), they don't seem to get it at all...

Relax was the shock track, Two Tribes was the video I suspect (great to 'dance' to in my Isobarik days ) and the Power of Love is a favourite of both of us here and despite the furore at the time, we find it deeply respectful to the video subject matter and a beautiful song regardless (my Lord, we need some love in this world right now, but I digress).