A Merciful Release [Box set]

This box-set collects together the three albums by the Sisters of Mercy released on Merciful Release via a Warners imprint and reissued in November last year by Rhino. Having bought all three albums at a reduced price I would have no reason to buy this, but if you haven't so far, then its well worth getting - the track listing is the same as the currently available versions of First and Last and Always, Floodland, and Vision Thing.

First and Last and Always (1985) was the Sisters of Mercy's debut album that followed several e.p. and single releases that had found them a devoted fan base. This was the sole album to feature founder members Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx, with later members Craig Adams & Wayne Hussey. The album as a whole feels divided into two, the first side generally written by Eldritch and Hussey, as the latter half is composed by Eldritch & Marx. `Black Planet' is the dark opener that would be poorly reworked as `Dance on Glass' by The Mission on their debut LP - the lyrics look forward to the radiation clouds present on `Floodland' and Eldritch makes a dark joke by manipulating the "Turn on, tune in..." tag associated with Timothy Leary. Both single `Walk Away' and a reworked `A Rock and a Hard Place' are very poppy, emphasising Hussey's past in Dead or Alive. Second single `No Time to Cry' is a rare band composition and like several tracks here shows a keyboard sound that would be developed on `Gift' & `Floodland.' The first half closes on `Marian (version)' which is the darkest Eldritch-Hussey song with a hypnotic quality that drags the listener in to feel like the narrator...The second half opens with the title track which advances on the territory of `Body and Soul' and is followed by the dirgey `Possession' - the sole fruit of the short-lived trio Adams-Eldritch-Hussey. The debut concludes with a classic triad of `Nine While Nine', the burnt-out `Amphetamine Logic', & the epic ballad `Some Kind of Stranger' The Rhino reissues comes with all of the b-sides of the two singles, `Long Train' (originally a limited edition of `Walk Away' later on `Lucretia My Reflection'), and a demo version of `Stranger.' *****

Following a messy split and the `Gift' LP by the Sisterhood, a solo Eldritch with faithful drum machine recorded the apocalyptic `Floodland' with a number of collaborators including Jim Steinman, James Ray & Patricia Morrison. Released in 1987 amid the Cold War, Chernobyl and visitations of a drowned world, `Floodland' is probably the masterpiece. A much more epic, keyboard-based work it feels like the previous Sisters with aspirations that feel on one hand Pink Floyd, the other...er, Meat Loaf? The three singles `This Corrosion', `Dominion' (here with the extended `Mother Russia' rap in the style of Bowie's `We Are the Dead') and `Lucretia...' are all classics - though the epic version of `Corrosion' here is quite draining! It might be about someone called Hussey incidentally!!!...The two-part `Flood' is great, `I' keyboard driven and sounding not that far from Suicide, while `II' features more guitar while both share lyrics. There's another sequel in the form of `Driven Like the Snow', a relative of `Nine While Nine' made implicit by lyrical references and its title. A complete diversion is found with `1959', another ballad, here performed solely with piano making it feel like a relative of Depeche Mode's `Somebody.' The final track `Neverland (a fragment)' was a bit inconsiquential, now in the bonus track sequence there is the full-length version that has been performed recently by the band live. The other bonus tracks veer from the so-so (`Torch' and `Colours' - the latter a re-recording of the track found on `Gift') to their excellent cover of Hot Chocolate's `Emma' (which had been a live favourite for the earlier incarnation of the band). *****

Further line-up changes occurred and the keyboard heavy sound was traded in for one that had the guitars up to 11r - 1990 saw the release of `Vision Thing' and the return to live performance for the first time in five years for the "band." VT is very obvious, like certain Cult records of the era or Iggy Pop's `Instinct', only the Steinman-assisted `More' features keyboards akin to the previous album - a ridiculous song like `Paranoid Android' or `Stay Together' that is probably far too long - Eldritch's trademark "rap" is great when it comes and the end (complete with piano recalling the intro to `The Sun Always Shines on TV'!) is thoroughly addictive. I want more!...There are several standard rock tracks - `Dr Jeep', `Detonation Boulevard', `When You Don't See Me' and the title track - very effective and very obvious. Better are the two ballads `Something Fast' (the kind of song you wished Bowie had recorded between 1984 and 1991) and `I Was Wrong' - which is great if a bit indebted to The Cure's `In Your House.' The greatest track here and sort of a blend of earlier Sisters and `Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)' is `Ribbons', which is also repeated in a slightly faster (if no less effective) version in the bonus track sequence...The rest of the bonus tracks are decidedly average - a dull extended `Dr Jeep', a not very remixed `When You Don't See Me', a faithful live version of `Something Fast', and the poor b-side `You Could Be the One' - which is as bad as the worst stuff on `Midnight to Midnight.' Either *** or **** dependent on the mood in all honesty.

An odd release this since many will now have these reissues - I'm sure fans would like to see a box-set which could include previously unheard live recordings (the 1984 version of `Adrenechrome' from Utrecht is great), fave covers like `Jolene' and `Knockin' on Heaven's Door', the thus far unreleased Peel Sessions (including `Good Things', `Emma' & `Floorshow'), the `Body and Soul' e.p. in full, the `Under the Gun/Temple of Love' singles from the 90s, the early MR-releases, and who knows what else lurking in the vaults?

An excellent box set with a noticeable improvement in audio courtesy of the remastering, rendering First and Last and Always even more spooky and Floodlands writ even larger in Super-Panavision. Never cared much for Vision Thing but it's growing on me. I hope it isn't Eldritch's final word and that we get some new material from him soon. The packaging is well-thought out and the sleeve notes are insightful and.....funny! So buy it!

Pureists will prefer the old 12" singles from the early 80's that were assembled into 'some girls wander by mistake', but anybody who heard just one or two tracks on the radio or saw an epic video on MTV should start with this.
It includes the extended versions of all 3 mainstream studio albums with my personal choices being the very first track 'black planet' which gives you a taste of most of which will follow, the epic 'some kind of stranger' the non-single tracks on Floodland and 'Ribbons' on Vision Thing.
Don't go cheap and get 'a slight case of overbombing' (singles album) as the sly genius of the more testing tracks will be missing.
Once you are hooked - search out 'The Gift' by the Sisterhood (vinyl only).
These are 3 different albums with individual feel, recorded over 15 years - find your own gems in the best box set I own!