"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is the debut studio album by the English synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released on October 29, 1984, by ZTT Records. Initially issued as a double vinyl album, it quickly secured a number one spot on the UK charts due to reported advance sales exceeding one million copies, though actual first-week sales were around a quarter of a million. The album also achieved top-10 status internationally in countries like Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand.
Commercially successful, the album included updated versions of the band's singles released that year, such as "Relax" and "Two Tribes," along with the B-side "War" and several cover tracks. The production, overseen by Trevor Horn, was so dominant that many of the band's own instrumental performances were replaced by session musicians or Horn himself. In contrast, the band's second album, Liverpool, featured more of the band's actual performances.
The ballad "The Power of Love" from the album became the group's third consecutive UK number-one single.
In celebration of the album's 30th anniversary in October 2014, ZTT, in collaboration with Union Square Music, released a limited edition box set titled Inside the Pleasuredome. This exclusive set contained rarities on 10" vinyl, a book, a DVD, a cassette with 13 mixes of "Relax" and its B-side "One September Monday," and a remastered version of Welcome to the Pleasuredome on 180g vinyl.
The cover art, conceived by ZTT owner Paul Morley and illustrated by graphic artist Lo Cole, featured illustrations of the band members on the front and a controversial depiction of an animal orgy on the back. The inner gatefold showed a procession of animals entering a large phallus. This sleeve art caused controversy, leading the printing company to refuse to print the covers. Cole had to modify the orgy image by adding green fig leaves to obscure the animal genitalia.
