Warriors of the Wasteland

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"Warriors of the Wasteland"
Warriros Of The Wasteland.jpg
Single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
from the album Liverpool
B-side "Warriors (Of the Wasteland)"
Released10 November 1986 (1986-11-10) [1]
Genre Art rock
Length
  • 3:57 (single version)
  • 4:55 (album version)
  • 9:46 (Twelve Wild Disciples mix)
Label ZTT
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Stephen Lipson
Frankie Goes to Hollywood singles chronology
"Rage Hard"
(1986)		"Warriors of the Wasteland"
(1986)		"Watching the Wildlife"
(1987)
Music video
"Warriors of the Wasteland" on YouTube

"Warriors of the Wasteland" is the sixth single by English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released on 10 November 1986 as the second single from their album Liverpool, it stalled at number 19 in the UK Singles Chart (making it the group's first UK hit not to go Top Five), number 7 in Germany and number 13 in Switzerland.

Contents

Background

Having already referenced Dylan Thomas in "Rage Hard", for "Warriors of the Wasteland" Holly Johnson turned to T. S. Eliot for inspiration, citing Eliot's The Waste Land poem, Mad Max 2 , and the 1979 film, The Warriors as inspirations.

Johnson stated to No. 1 magazine the song was of social inequality saying, "Warriors implies fighting tribal heroes. It is political in that it shows up the divide between those who have and those who have not. Society is designed to keep that division as wide as possible. Rich people and corporate businesses have got it worked out so they launder money and avoid tax while the education system keep a type of ignorance going. I believe in the conspiracy theory, the well to do pay for a better education and always keep control." [2]

The single remix of the song is different in contrast to the album version. The album version is longer, has a extended atmospheric intro which hits a more aggressive metal sound with drums and prominent guitar riffs, while the single version has a more dance oriented groove. The remix was made by Trevor Horn, who produced their earliest releases.

Critical reception

Smash Hits described "Warriors of the Wasteland" as, "the Liverpool louts having lost their winning formula and 'Warriors (Of The Wasteland)' having none of the tongue-in-cheek humour or honest-to-goodness sleaze of earlier efforts. In fact, it sounds like they’ve been listening to too many Iron Maiden records." [3] James Brown of Sounds also gave a negative review calling the song "a predictable piece of rock junk" which he believed showed how Frankie Goes to Hollywood had become "appallingly tame and useless" and "so bloody obviously boring that they have resorted to making competent rock records". [4]

Billboard said of it that "art-rock megaproduction waxes critical of society's inequalities." [5] Record Mirror praised the song saying, "Now they’re trying to be a rock band. This is very amusing and even danceable — if you’ve got a steady pulse — but what does it all mean?" [6]

Chart performance

Despite the promotion, poor record sales caused "Warriors of the Wasteland" to stall at number 19 in the UK Singles Chart which made it Frankie Goes to Hollywood's first single in the UK to not enter the Top 5. It reached no higher than number 7 in Germany for two weeks, number 12 in Ireland and number 13 in Switzerland.

Track listing

All discographical information pertains to UK releases only unless noted.

7"
ZTT / ZTAS 25
  1. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Twelve Wild Disciples mix edit) – 3:55
  2. "Warriors (Of the Wasteland)" – 5:00
12"
ZTT / 12 ZTAS 25
  1. "Warriors" (Twelve Wild Disciples mix) – 9:45
  2. "Warriors" (instrumental) [unlisted] – 4:50
  3. "Warriors" (return) – 1:22
  4. "Warriors" (end) – 3:29
Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
"Warriors" (attack) excerpt
An excerpt from "Warriors" (attack)
Problems playing this file? See media help.
12"
ZTT / 12 ZTAX 25
  1. "Warriors" (Turn of the Knife mix) – 8:09
  2. "Warriors" (instrumental) [unlisted] – 4:50
  3. "Warriors" (return) – 1:22
  4. "Warriors" (end) – 3:29
"Warriors" (Turn of the Knife mix) Turn of the Knife Mix.jpg
"Warriors" (Turn of the Knife mix)
12"
ZTT / 12 ZTAK 25

"Heavy Mental"

  1. "Warriors" (attack mix) – 6:30
  2. "Warriors" (instrumental) [unlisted] – 4:50
  3. "Warriors" (return) – 1:22
  4. "Warriors" (end) – 3:29
12"
Island / 0-96799 United States
  1. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Twelve Wild Disciples mix) – 9:42
  2. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Turn of the Knife mix) – 8:11
A white label release of "Warriors" (attack) Warriors Attack.jpg
A white label release of "Warriors" (attack)
CD
ZTT / ZCID 25

"Warriors" (compacted)

  1. "Warriors" (introduction) – 2:25
  2. "Warriors" (Twelve Wild Disciples mix) – 9:45
  3. "Warriors of the Wasteland" [fewer lyrics] – 5:02
  4. "Warriors (Of the Wasteland)" – 3:57
  5. "Warriors" (Monopoly Re-solution) ['rats in a cage'] – 2:21

"Warriors" (compacted) was re-released on the Sexmix compilation in 2012.

MC
ZTT / CTIS 25

"Warriors" (cassetted)

  1. "A Matter of Life and Death" – 0:04
  2. "Warriors of the Wasteland" [instrumental] – 2:59
  3. "Warriors (Of the Wasteland)" [7" version] – 3:09
  4. "Warriors" (Twelve Wild Disciples) [instrumental] – 8:32
  5. "we're rats" [various noises from 'Introduced'] – 0:43
  6. "Warriors" [excerpts from 'Return'] – 1:27
  7. "Warriors" (Monopoly Re-solution) ['rats in a cage'] – 3:03
Digital download
ZTT
  1. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (7" A-side) – 5:02
  2. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Twelve Wild Disciples mix) – 9:45
  3. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Turn of the Knife mix) – 8:10
  4. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Attack mix) – 6:32
  5. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (return) – 6:18
  6. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (end) – 3:36
  7. "Warriors (Of the Wasteland)" (7" B-side) – 3:56

Charts

Chart (1986–1987)Peak
position
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [7] 23
France (IFOP) [8] 50
Ireland (IRMA) [9] 12
Italy ( Musica e dischi ) [10] 24
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [11] 36
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 26
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [13] 30
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] 13
UK Singles (OCC) [15] 19
West Germany (Official German Charts) [16] 7

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=624.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Bell, Max (25 October 1986). "FRANKIE PART TWO". No. 1. p. 8. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: Warriors (Of The Wasteland) (ZTT)". Smash Hits. 10 November 1986. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  4. ↑ Brown, James. "Performance: Singles". Sounds . No. 20/27 December 1986. p. 37.
  5. ↑ "Reviews". Billboard. 20 December 1986. p. 65. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD 'Warriors' (ZTT)". Record Mirror. 15 November 1986.
  7. ↑ Timo (13 August 2015). "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit FIS - FRA". Sisältää hitin. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque artiste commençant par F". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Warriors of the Wasteland". Irish Singles Chart.
  10. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Frankie Goes To Hollywood".
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Warriors of the Wasteland" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. ↑ "Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Warriors of the Wasteland". Top 40 Singles.
  14. ↑ "Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Warriors of the Wasteland". Swiss Singles Chart.
  15. ↑ "Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  16. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Warriors of the Wasteland" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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