"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.

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." 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." 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". Billboard said of it that "art-rock megaproduction waxes critical of society's inequalities." 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?"

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

Charts