Sisters of Mercy - Classic or Dud

The early eighties were a strange time.

How rockist are instruments perpendicular to nips?

http://www.sixtiescity.com/Media/merseybeat.jpg

Best piece of writing on the Sisters I've ever seen, and I can totally endorse the comments on 'anti-rockism' in the early eighties.

Thanks for posting - a pint of snakebite and black for Mr. M!

it's a great piece but doesn't alice/floorshow actually come after the reptile house ep?

According to this, no:

3. Alice b/w Floorshow
a. 7" Merciful Release MR 015 Nov 1982
ROGI:"kenny giles walks on water" "for spiggy-flash that ash"
COVER ART SOURCE:
Henri Matisse's Nude Blue in gold on black.
NOTES:
Produced by John Ashton of the Psychedelic Furs. Entered the
Independent Chart at #26.
PERSONNEL: SIS 1

4. Anaconda b/w Phantom
a. 7" Merciful Release MR 019 Mar 1983
ROGI: "nothing" "spiggy rides again"
COVER ART SOURCE:
Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies in silver on black.
NOTES:
Produced by Andrew Eldritch. Single of the Week in Sounds.
PERSONNEL: SIS 1

5. Alice/Floorshow b/w Phantom/1969
a. 12" Merciful Release MR 021 Mar 1983
ROGI: "im westen nichts neues-jesus loves the sisters" "for
spiggy(foreign field)" "mein irisch kind. wo weilest du?"
COVER ART SOURCE:
Same as the 7".
NOTES:
Alice, Floorshow and 1969 produced by John Ashton. Phantom
produced by Andrew Eldritch. 1969 originally by the Stooges.
Released in response to import copies of the American 12"
showing up in the UK at greatly inflated prices. First part of
the ROGI is the German title of Erich Maria Remarque's 'All
Quiet on the Western Front'. Fourth part is lines 33-34 of T. S.
Eliot's poem, 'the Wasteland'.
PERSONNEL: SIS 1

6. the Reptile House E.P.
Kiss the Carpet/Lights/Valentine/Fix/Burn
a. 12"EP Merciful Release MR 023 May 1983
ROGI: "for spiggy-paint it black"
COVER ART SOURCE:
Taken from a National Geographic magazine.
NOTES:
Produced by Andrew Eldritch. First 5,000 came with a lyric
sheet. Single of the Week in Sounds. Some copies are violet on
crimson instead of pink on black. Not listed is Kiss the Carpet
(reprise), which is the same as the drum intro to Kiss the
Carpet that opens the ep. Original pressings have MR023 on the
spine where 'made in england' is on the repressings.
PERSONNEL: SIS 1

man back in the day we always thought - my girlfriend and I, the secret SoM fanclub of Claremont - that Reptile House sounded so much cruder & earlier than the more accomplished-sounding Alice/Floorshow EP. weird.

Reptile House was one of my first "what the fuck's wrong with my turntable?" records.

The Michigan militia Hutaree, whose members have been charged for an alleged plot to attack police, burns a U.N. flag in a video posted on the group's YouTube page.

The clip dated June 30, 2009, and described as "UN in America," shows flames engulfing a U.N. flag in slow motion, over the sound of "First and Last and Always," by the 80s goth-rock band Sisters of Mercy.

Hutaree members wielding assault rifles then hoist the group's own flag, emblazoned with a dagger and two pillars forming an "H," a pair of red spears, and "CCR," the acronym for Colonial Christian Republic.

Like I said on ILE, a following lost and blind indeed.

should have used Vision Thing instead

Eldritch will be stoked - he used to opine in interviews that Detroit was the best town in America because it most closely resembled Leeds

Something like this was linked on Gawker or Wonkette recently. But the song in question was Marianne. I thought it was rather a strange choice.

should have used Vision Thing instead

Let us attempt an exegesis:

"twenty-five whores in the room next door" = Steele and his creative use of RNC funds

But the song in question was Marianne. I thought it was rather a strange choice.

"No no, we meant the OTHER version."

This is the Marianne one. First and Last and Always is on the same channel. And, uh, Poker Face.
http://www.youtube.com/user/hutaree#p/u/3/Apmn9xMxiZ4

are flames eating the UN flag the new crying eagle? can we get a youtube of it set to the benny hill theme?

Oh dear.

man I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a band who should have taken the advance for their first album, squirreled it away in offshore banks, fled the pursuing tentacles of their creditors without making FALAA, & gone down in history as a band with a 100% perfect track record

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4403460336_894957a38c.jpg

assault rifle just out of frame

I thought it was the Joanna Newsom album that one was supposed to hug.

man I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a band who should have taken the advance for their first album, squirreled it away in offshore banks, fled the pursuing tentacles of their creditors without making FALAA, & gone down in history as a band with a 100% perfect track record

But then you'd be missing out on some great material. Besides the heroic failures of this band and the various offshoots are part of their greatness. Maybe you needed to experience them doing "He's Got The Whole World in His Hands" with the Patricia Morrison/Tony James line-up to appreciate that fully.

lol andrew

I still think Vision Thing is one of the greatest metal albums of all time.

Yeah, "1959" is a real `banger.

man I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a band who should have taken the advance for their first album, squirreled it away in offshore banks, fled the pursuing tentacles of their creditors without making FALAA, & gone down in history as a band with a 100% perfect track record

the thing that is totally 100% wrong about this stance is that we never would have gotten "This Corrosion"

Yeah, "1959" is a real `banger.

...except that's on Floodland.

But then you'd be missing out on some great material. Besides the heroic failures of this band and the various offshoots are part of their greatness.

there's good stuff on both FALAA & Vision Thing for sure, but they were ironclad prior to that. Where are the weak tracks prior to that? the EP run is seamless, even the super-primitive "Adrenochrome" is pretty great. the albums bloats & they never tighten their game back up. they are sort of exhibit A if you want to make the case that success is dangerous. for a band who never quite achieves the greatness of their debut but keeps not-quite-living-up in ever more interesting ways, gimme the Gun Club every time.

and yeah I partied hard when "this corrosion" hit no doubt, it's a great jam, but I'd give it up to have a band who was perfect for two years and then stopped

I wouldn't, because if the band is enjoying themselves and making money, that is more important than preserving my nostalgia

even the super-primitive "Adrenochrome" is pretty great.

Hah that's probably my favourite early Sisters track! Pretty great, tsk.

like, I wish The Cure had never recorded Wild Mood Swings but I would never, ever say I wish they just stopped recording, period

ditto with Prince and MPLSound/whatever the fuck that other terrible album was called

naw I wouldn't say that with the Cure at all though! with the SoM it's not nostalgia, it's how it kinda sucked to keep pretending they were still as good as they'd been just a year before - loved having such kickin good songs here & there, hated hearing a band that was filler-free have album filler and then play it live I'm lookin at you "a rock and a hard place"

actually tho from a more mature standpoint yeah I agree with "you guys are getting paid? go get yours, short man in sunglasses"

There was really nothing more disheartening than seeing The Cure play in 1997 and dancing half-heartedly to "Club America" and "Strange Attraction" and thinking, "wait, these are wretched, terrible songs and I'm only putting in effort to like them because Robert Smith wrote them".

Although I think that was the tour where they played "Like Cockatoos"? Which was fucking awesome so that made up for subjecting the audience to "Mint Car".

*MUST* you mention "Mint Car"

^_^

Hahahah

OTM although the 1996 tour was one of their best tours - with some really wtf setlists.

This is true, great set design as well.

anyway, I'm really not buying J0hn D's argument - but maybe that's because I came to them later in the game. I guess there's a whoel thread's worth of discussion on this point, but not sure why I'd want a fantastic band stop before they turning just very good (and that's not at all how feel about the Sisters). I guess for my generation a band like Curve would be a pretty good analogy.

in the sense that they could have stopped after a run of flawless EPs, but for what exactly? some abstract track record?

...except that's on Floodland.

GAH! You're right. I will wear all white today in penance.

even the super-primitive "Adrenochrome" is pretty great.

Hah that's probably my favourite early Sisters track! Pretty great, tsk.

Agreed, it's arguably their finest hour, for my money.

I will wear all white today in penance.

Tones on Alex.

"Adrenochrome" is so not my favorite Sisters song

like, I'd ride for "Doctor Jeep" first

now, "Kiss the Carpet" OTOH is fucking choice slowburning menace from start to finish

Although I think that was the tour where they played "Like Cockatoos"?

Saw this played live in 2004 and didn't have to sit/dance through a single Wild Mood Swings track to get there. ;-)

Adrenochrome>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Dr. Jeep

I thought they played "Want" in 2004? (which is okay as it's one of the three/four songs on WMS that don't make me want to stab kittens)

also guys I'm not trying to say "Doctor Jeep" is an essential part of the Sisters discography for me with that statement

Miss you
Hiss you
STABCATS