In the same way that what has become known as "punk" today has very little in common with the Sex Pistols or the Damned, so todays Gothic sound is a world away from its roots. The Sisters of Mercy were always seen as the premier band of the Gothic movement, a dark and image consious wave of sound that formed in the late seventies and blossomed with the eighties.
As a band the Sisters summed up what the movement was all about and this album captures the times in all its glory. Unlike todays Gothic sound, which seems to be an off shoot of metal, the original sound was under pinned by a dance feel, due to the relience by most bands on the use of a drum machine in place of a human player.
Fronted by the enigmatic Andrew Eldritch, the Sisters took the dark, romantic and mystical image to the extreme. Live shows were dark, dry-ice festooned affairs were for the most part the band were barely visable.
First and Last and Always took the elements of the live shows and represented them for the home stereo. The packaging of the album sums up what you are about to recieve, basically a black album cover with red writting and the minimal of design work, just a picture of the band in shades and black leather in front of a Detroit adult movie theatre. The first thing that hits you about the music is its cold, detached and clinical quality.The drum machine drives the music along overlayed by razor sharp guitar riffs and a brooding heavy bottom ended bass. Eldritch grumbles almost spoken lyrics of an ambiguous nature, relating to lost loves and broken dreams. At times you can hear the pain in his voice, the screams of a wronged man, a man worn down by the cruel ravages of love, a man broken. The spoken style adds a reality to the performance, this is no over produced singer being delivered through the modern techniques of the studio, this is you and me at our most alone, the despair you feel in the dark of the night.
The primitive nature of the low budget recording works to the musics advantage, adding to the cold and under produced nature of the songs, something that some bands today spend a fortune trying to achieve.
Critics have always accused the Sisters of being overly depressive, if you take the time to experience the music you will see the error in this accusation. Admittedly the songs do revolve around unrequitted love and dark passions, but this is also true of the Gothic writers of the past and they are allowed the monicker of Romantics.This then is a revival of that genre but set to the machinary of the industrial age, the result is the modern stark equivilant of the windswept moors and ruined abbeys of Jane Austin and Lord Byron.
It is not an album that requires a detailed analysis of the tracks, it should be considered a sound track for an age or state of mind. It is an over all package that either appeals to you or not, there is no in between, and for this reason the Sisters had the most loyal fans in the industry, many of home would listen to nothing else but this one band.
If the re-invention of the gothic romances set to the cold detachment of the modern world appeals to you then First and Last and Always, the first and best of the Sisters albums, is the only place to start.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
As stated, great summation of the band's sound, but perhaps should have reviewed the sound of the album. Otherwise excellent, you say a lot in few words.
smellonie 02.01.2005 18:09
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........................dear old Dr Avalanche. What other band even bothered to name their drum machine?
lazcorp 17.10.2004 04:37
A clear and well-thought out review of one of my favourite albums of all time - and well-timed as Gary Marx's new album of 1995 (yes, 1995) Sisters tracks has just been released.
Sep 26th, 2004
very helpful by (100%):
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