Sisters of Mercy - Classic or Dud

I absolutely adored Floodland and "Ribbons" but my obsession with this band didn't crystalize until I heard "Alice" and their cover of "Gimme Shelter"

my fave sisters tracks so far are "on the wire" and "bury me deep"

So many great Sisters B-sides. "Afterhours" is another B-side fave.

The EPs and First and Last and Always are the best for me. Floodland is good but uneven and Vision Thing is... ehhh.

Maybe it's because I heard the albums (and specifically Floodland) first, but the EPs have always sounded really thin and low-budget to me, almost like demos. I don't enjoy them at all.

but the EPs have always sounded really thin and low-budget to me, almost like demos. I don't enjoy them at all.

that's because there were very cheaply recorded.

there are 2 excellent articles on tQ re the early days of the band that Ned linked to upthread.

I LOVE that thin-ness / low budget aspect. Reptile House's almost zero production just slays me.

The very best song is a b-side because it is, of course, Adrenochrome.

Adrenochrome just keeps getting better with age.

Those tQ articles are being turned into a book on Unbound (due September) and Trevor Ristow's book on the period up to the RAH show (Waiting For Another War) is an absolute blast.

It's that bit in Adrenochrome where it sounds like Keith Levene has turned up, slashed at his guitar for a couple of bars, then realised he's in the wrong room and leaves again while Marty Thau is leaving the knobs well alone because they got set at some point so they're still probably right.

It's the 'huh' tossed in after "freedom".

I LOVE that thin-ness / low budget aspect. Reptile House's almost zero production just slays me.

Same. Plus the songs are just better imo.

I LOVE that thin-ness / low budget aspect. Reptile House's almost zero production just slays me.

Nah. This is a band that was always striving for grandiosity. Working with Steinman was really the only choice. Bob Ezrin as a close #2.

It's Eldritch at his greatest, because he hasn't yet become Von.

I love this song so much. I remember when you had to buy They Shall Not Pass, the CNT compilation, to get hold of it (which wasn't that much of a hardship since it had other good stuff on it including Pink Headed Bug) and then the low quality Body Electric bootlegs. I remember when I finally found an affordable copy - might have been as late as 86? - and even then it was SIXTY FUCKING POUNDS.

Nah, i'm afraid you are wrong. Eldritch might have beeen striving for that but Sisters Of Mercy mk 1 and 2 revelled in their lo fi delight. Early Sisters was way more than just Eldritch's vision.

x post

brad i'm so proud

First time i saw them, Gary Marx was the star of the show. Eldtitch was second fiddle.

I remember when you had to buy They Shall Not Pass, the CNT compilation, to get hold of it

that is how i had it for many years. still never managed to get the 7".

Yeah, to a very large degree they're Gary Marx's band until he moves out of Leeds then they become Andrew's band.

clearly this band is an absolute classic entry into the whole 'i prefer their earlier stuff' cliche.
personally, i prefer the massive bombastic stuff as opposed to the lo-fi recordings, but thats cos i love a big widescreen production.
that said, you cant deny the brilliance of some of the earlier material.

i love both (up to and including floodland) but very much think of them as two distinct bands.

That's absolutely where I am too. I love the Michael Bay aspects of the later era but some of the songs are unmemorable.

Despite this, I've got tickets for the 40th Anniversary show at the Roundhouse in September.

As an aside, the first (goth) club i used to go to as a teenager refused to play any Sisters records as the DJ said the production was so bad (they were all about big widescreen productions). When "This Corrosion" came out they were all over it.

but very much think of them as two distinct bands.

exactly.

my obsession with this band didn't crystalize until I heard "Alice" and their cover of "Gimme Shelter"

― 80's hair metal , and good praise music ! (DJP), Thursday, April 22, 2021 8:34 AM (one hour ago)

omg ... those are so good ... what do you think about their cover of Hot Chocolate's "Emma"?

also lol at the goth club DJ -- Temple of Love is what I consider a Goth Club banger

Also a heads up for everyone that there's a radio sessions album coming out for Record Store Day that will presumably be mixed correctly and not have that massive jump in volume like Psychedelic Sessions used to on Heartland which was an absolute speaker killer.

also lol at the goth club DJ -- Temple of Love is what I consider a Goth Club banger

ahh ... but which version ?

o.g. temple of love forever

I'm glad Steinman never got his hands on "Floorshow, "Body Electric", "Anaconda", "Heartland" or "Body and Soul".
It kind of ruined "Temple of Love" and "Alice" when Andrew made them sound bigger in 92 and 93.

"marian" is so good. turn it up man!

thus proving my point re 'i prefer the earlier stuff' as i really love the '92 version

ahh ... but which version ?

― mark e, Thursday, April 22, 2021 10:23 AM (two minutes ago)

any version tbh

It's like Louie Louie ... when Temple of Love starts playing, you gotta go now (and hit the floor)

ha.
very true.
ooh to hear either version on a big club soundsystem again.
i doubt i will ever get to be in the right place at the right time.

Adrenochrome just keeps getting better with age.

― stirmonster, Thursday, April 22, 2021 9:39 AM (forty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that’s not what I’ve heard

lol

I do think one positive thing about the Q Anon cult is that it made me revisit Some Girls Wander By Mistake and the great joy those songs bring me

also lol at the goth club DJ -- Temple of Love is what I consider a Goth Club banger

it used to drive people crazy, particularly as Sisters were thee band of that scene at that time. If people requested them he'd play Jamaican Dancehall instead but he was such a great DJ and it was by far the best place in town so all the frustrated goths kept coming back. He was taken from us right at the start of the pandemic. :(

that’s not what I’ve heard

Ha!

I do think one positive thing about the Q Anon cult is that it made me revisit Some Girls Wander By Mistake and the great joy those songs bring me

???

please do elaborate.

i generally think The Mission are piss poor but i would go see them for 6 mins and 40 seconds of Marian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pgjCWtMS4E

xp stirmonster -- see the Andrenochrome joke

i know an older post-punk fan who went to see the sisters of mercy live and afterwards told me in earnest that there was so much fog he "couldn't see the drummer"

Since we were talking about books earlier I feel I must inform you all that Wayne's autobiog Salad Daze is one of the most Accidentally Partridge things I've ever read, especially

Physical education, or PE as we knew it, I only ever really liked football and cross-country running. I regularly came second in the school cross-country runs, beaten by Graham bloody McIntyre every time. And he also went out with Barbara Salter for a while, a girl on whom I had a huge crush for ages and who didn't even know I existed. Anyway, I became a rock star, what happened to Graham bloody McIntyre, eh?

omg ... those are so good ... what do you think about their cover of Hot Chocolate's "Emma"?

IT IS SO GOOD

i know an older post-punk fan who went to see the sisters of mercy live and afterwards told me in earnest that there was so much fog he "couldn't see the drummer"

thought i had told this on ILM, but maybe not.
i got to to see SoM in the 00's in Bristol for free.
after 45 mins of their set i had literally not seen anything other than the top part of Andrews head.
walked out and went home.
most boring gig ever.

latterday Sisters: sounds great in the club
early Sisters: sounds great in the car

otm.

I am glad Brad understands the greatness. Now time to chase live bootlegs.

(Reading '91:

Crowd: "You fat bastard!" a la Carter USM

Eldritch: "...I don't think so.")