The Sisters of Mercy, "First and Last and Always"

Gosh! i can clearly remember that day at school and the anticipation of buying it and then getting home and listening to it over and over. It certainly doesn't feel like 30 years ago. I think it's a flawed album and the production spoils it in many ways to the point that i'd probably prefer to listen to the live versions from that time but there's a lot of great songs on it. I reckon Marian will win but it's going to be Some Kind Of Stranger for me.

Always preferred the Wayne songs on side one, but I listened to this last week and side two hit me hard. Going to mull on this one

oh man I could pick any of five songs on here

Remember buying this the week it came out and feeling slightly let down by it - they had played the weekend before kicking off the final tour and showcased a lot of this material which were definitely the weaker parts of the set. Allowing for repeat plays of the record helped, and the inevitable flood of bootlegs exposed some of the production weaknesses which let me appreciate the songs a lot more. I played it a good few times at the last series of reissues and time has certainly been kinder to it than I worried it might.

I have never understood the love for Marian, it's just an umpty-tum work of nothing to me. Some Kind Of Stranger was my favourite when it came out, and more than likely still is (which I'm sure a couple of plays will confirm). Possession is the real dark horse here, didn't see the appeal bitd but love it now.

every time i put this record on i expect to have grown out of it or find it embarrassing or something and every time i am wrong

I also remember lots of rumours before the tour kicked off that this was the end, and hearing this felt like it to me.

I need to make a Sisters of Mercy mix for my sullen commuting days

Oh god I was just listening to this a couple of weeks ago and surprised at how much better it was than I remembered it.

First impulse was to vote for Amphetamine Logic but then realised I'd got it mixed up with Floorshow (Christ the basslines on the E.P.s were just to die for...) but I also have a lot of affection for Walk Away (I hear the echo on that in my mind) and the guitar riff on the title track.

30 years. Christ I'm old.

the first three songs are indelibly burned into my brain

it stings sometimes

it burns mummy it burns

"No Time to Cry" might be my pick, but I'll have to listen again before voting. I've been listening to Floodland a lot lately and meaning to give this one another chance.

Leaning towards Some Kind of Stranger too, though I think I've played Nine While Nine just as much.

Mariaaaaa-eh-aaaaa-eh-aaaaaa-aaaaaaan

I considered this album a huge disappointment at the time, given how incredible the preceding run of singles had been, and looking at the tracklist now I still feel that way. Voting "Walk Away" but probably because when I first heard it, it was the A-side of another incredible single (backed with "Poison Door," which was also excellent, and one other whose name escapes me)...

but most of these songs for me sound like hastily-written lesser versions of the incredible run that led up to them.

(the one that escapes you is "On The Wire" btw)

a solid jam better than a fair bit of F&L&A!

shoutout to "Nine While Nine"

title track is great too

This is exceedingly tough, so I'm going to go for the first one that bowled me over and forced me to pay attention to the rest: "Marian." Stirmonster calls out the production a bit, and I can see his point, BUT I find it also makes it more fascinating for it. So dramatic!

re the production, this is one of those albums which is supposed to sound like shit on CD isn't it? iirc the German vinyl pressing is supposed to sound OK and all other issues are awful. I do actually have the German LP but never listened to other versions to compare it.

kannst do mich schreien hören?
ich bin hier allein

^ just about all the german i can speak now

I have the Original Album Series CD version and it sounds pretty lifeless compared to others in that set. That's a big part of what's blocked me from listening to it much.

i'd forgotten just how much i enjoy the ridiculous no! no! no! backing vocals on no time to cry

I have a sessions version with what seems to be a guide vocal where the high pitched vocals are completely ludicrous. It is my favourite one.

The title track had the working title of Scottish One, which makes me think they always thought it sounded a bit like Big Country.

Hmmm I don't know which pressing of the record I have. Will have to check later. But it sounds pretty good to me. Or like it's supposed to at least?

sisters of auchtermuchty xp

One more thing—big shoutout to SoM for being so fun for us deep baritone and bass-voiced folks to sing along to.

otm

I listened to the whole thing today, which lead to listening to early The Mission tracks which lead to bad, bad things (OK, Fields of the Nephilim)

Decided after careful evaluation, I was gonna go with Amphetamine Logic for sounding most like the E.P.s

But then I also discovered that The Mission's Wasteland sounds completely different from The Mission UK's Wasteland! The American version having beefed up bass and this shuffly sort of very late 80s dance beat added in. The Mission UK one being the awesome one I must have danced to too many times at dodgy goth nights we won't mention.

But now I have the sudden urge to wear a bolo tie. o_0

Another shoutout to Nine While Nine.

was never a fan of wasteland but if i'm honest with myself i still like garden of delight / serpent's kiss / severina

<i>First And Last And Always</i>: the Poll

i didn't vote in that poll, will in this one.

ah ha! i note i've changed my tune since 2008. i guess in the interim years i've reverted to my teenage taste.

i wd like to vote for the last 3 tracks in one gulp but failing that i'm really torn

I've gathered that a lot of people dislike Hussey but his backing vocals are often the highlights for me.

For MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

lolol

Took me a few seconds to get that, Aldo.

This is the thread where you post in the style of Wayne Hussey

Voted for Walk This Way. :-)

having become of age in ls6 in the late 80s, i was kind of blind to this band as i felt the need to rebel against the postcode love.
however, there were certain tracks that became embedded within my system to the point that last year i got the remasters.
and yeah.
wtf re the debut album.
even in its remastered form it sounds like shit.
is there a story behind the reason as to why ?

i always attributed its sound to the fact that eldritch was taking vast amounts of amphetamines when he mixed it which is never a good idea. no amount of remastering can ever undo the horrible mix. "walk away" and "no time to cry" sound better as dave allen mixed them but even then he always struck me as an odd choice of producer.

An anniversary piece from The Quietus the other day, in case you missed it.

Still planning on voting Some Kind of Stranger.

When I first saw that "For MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" I thought it was the final line from Torch on Floodland…

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i was able to listen again before voting and agree that this is all about the last three songs. since i can't vote for all three will throw my vote to "Some Kind of Stranger."

the thing about the production on this album is that it's actually great & it is all other albums that sound like shit

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

SHOCKED!

wtf

http://www.andrewliles.com/discography/first-monster-last-monster-always-monster/

Andrew Liles (NWW/C93) has marked the anniversary by recording his own version of the album and blimey I like it a lot.

Forty years!

https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/sisters-of-mercy-first-last-always-anniversary-review/

i always attributed its sound to the fact that eldritch was taking vast amounts of amphetamines when he mixed it which is never a good idea. no amount of remastering can ever undo the horrible mix. "walk away" and "no time to cry" sound better as dave allen mixed them but even then he always struck me as an odd choice of producer.

― stirmonster, Saturday, March 14, 2015 8:11 PM (nine years ago)

didn't know that about the Allen tracks but boy does it make sense

i saw them on this tour 40 years ago yesterday. https://sisterswiki.org/Sun,_10-Mar-1985