For my 1st post, I'll be talking about 'Under The Gun'

THE place for your Sisters-related comments, questions and snippets of Sisters information. For those who do not know, The Sisters of Mercy are a rock'n'roll band. And a pop band. And an industrial groove machine. Or so they say. They make records. Lots of records, apparently. But not in your galaxy. They play concerts. Lots of concerts, actually. But you still cannot see them. So what's it all about, Alfie? This is one of the few tightly-moderated forums on Heartland, so please keep on-topic. All off-topic posts will either be moved or deleted. Chairman Bux is the editor and the editor's decision is final. Danke.
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White Like Jesus
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Greetings.

I'm a new Sisters fan. I admit I don't know a whole lot about the band. I used to frequent goth clubs and heard the hits played all the time (This Corrosion, Dominion, Alice, a few others). A friend of mine, who is a huge fan, showed me the b-side 'Afterhours', which I personally love. So, I decided to do some reading up on them, as well as sampling a few tracks from the internet.

One of the things that caught my fascination was reading fan reviews/reactions to the greatest hits comp, specifically the song 'Under The Gun'. There seemed to be a lot of hate built up towards it, so that interested me enough to check it out.

Anyway, I ended up playing the song again and again. It hooked me. Now, I know their other songs don't sound exactly like this, but because of this song, I want to buy their albums. But more importantly than that, I want to discuss the negativity that this song seems to generate.

What the f**k?!

The melodies are great! Great synth lines, great simple guitar, great dueling vocals. Sure, it's bombastic as hell, but isn't 'This Corrosion' at least 10 minutes long and has a chorus of children singing in it? (I've made this comparison before and gotten negative feedback from SoM fans...'Don't compare that song to This Corrosion!!!' etc) Sure, it's slickly produced, but it was 1993. Production can change with the times. That's why an 80s synth album like Floodland isn't going to be replicated again anytime soon. I actually think the slick production serves the song better.

It's also one of their 'different' songs. 'Afterhours' is different because it's a noise/mood music experiment, UTG is different because it's a 'mainstream' sounding pop song with a female vocalist.

So it's pop, it's bombastic, it's different...but it's still dark! And the lyrics aren't bad at all! I say give it another chance.

I feel kind of strange that this is the song that drew me into the band, but there you go.
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Silver_Owl
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Image
Welcome aboard and an interesting first post.

It's not one of my favourites but each to their own....
Go back in time to The Reptile House and compare the 2.
Which albums to buy? All of them of course.... ;D
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mh
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Hi and welcome. :D

So what's your take on YCBTO, then?
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Silver_Owl
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mh wrote:Hi and welcome. :D

So what's your take on YCBTO, then?
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weebleswobble
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FFS don't start that again :lol:

welcome White Like Jesus, although I'm sure he wasn't :innocent:
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robertzombie
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elo :)
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White Like Jesus
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I'll have to get back to you on YCBTO. Judging by what I've read in the 'worst sisters songs' thread, that one isn't too well-liked either!

Also: Andrew Eldritch hates America! :)
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Bartek
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ahoy ! :D

I'm with You about UTG, v.good song with a not-so-good production.
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White Like Jesus
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Hom_Corleone wrote:Image
Welcome aboard and an interesting first post.

It's not one of my favourites but each to their own....
Go back in time to The Reptile House and compare the 2.
Which albums to buy? All of them of course.... ;D
Reptile House, eh? I'll have to downl...er, legally check out that one too!
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White Like Jesus
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Bartek wrote:ahoy ! :D

I'm with You about UTG, v.good song with a not-so-good production.
Sometimes, I just feel like a slick pop song, I guess. As long as it's dark. You don't like the production?
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mh
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Various live takes on it certainly seem to work better than the studio version. I sped up the studio version by about 10% once and it was also an improvement.

Overall I don't think it's a bad song. Has it's potential, but in the form it was released in, doesn't really show it. Plus it's not really worthy to go down in the history books as the last Sisters song, is it?
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
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White Like Jesus
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Gettin' the post count up early.

I dunno. I heard the live version on Youtube, and although it's admittedly not the best sound quality, I like the original arrangement more.

I also like the brooding buildup of the first half better than the last half of the song, even though the lyrics on the last half are GREAT.

Now, don't banish me to the isle of bad taste.
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sultan2075
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White Like Jesus wrote:I'll have to get back to you on YCBTO. Judging by what I've read in the 'worst sisters songs' thread, that one isn't too well-liked either!

Also: Andrew Eldritch hates America! :)
YCBTO is a tender and subtle love song, probably one of the most beautiful things Andrew has ever written. I don't know why these barbarians can't see that. Their hearts must be two sizes too small.

As for Under the Gun, it's a fine tune! I quite like it--I also like the half-cover/half-original aspect of it. That being said I do think it's a shame that it is more than likely to go down in history as the last studio recording of TSOM, but that's at least in part because I would love to hear shiny, polished studio versions of Summer and Crash & Burn.

Alas, I doubt we ever will.
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Ozpat
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Welcome to HL! Enjoy.... 8)

Nice first post.
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splintered thing
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Hello there!!!
Yep... not the best song in the history of the world, but not YCBTO either :innocent:

Welcome and enjoy the ride!!
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Hexe Luciferia
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hello and welcome! :D
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stefan moermans
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welcome to the mahouse. Once entered, no escape is possible. :eek: But he, why would u try :D :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
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Planet Dave
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Excellent first post, you could only have upped the controversy angle by coming on here and saying, oh I dunno, Alice is sh1t or something.

I'm with you, Under The Gun is a corking track.

Oh and welcome to HL.
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silentNate
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mh wrote:Plus it's not really worthy to go down in the history books as the last Sisters song, is it?
Agreed. Really dislike it if I'm honest- the guitars should be higher in the mix and the synth line just isn't very interesting :?

Welcome aboard- Jesus was most likely to be more asian than caucasian however :innocent:
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Nic
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Welcome to the madhouse. :wink:
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Petseri
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White Like Jesus wrote:I'll have to get back to you on YCBTO. Judging by what I've read in the 'worst sisters songs' thread, that one isn't too well-liked either!

Also: Andrew Eldritch hates America! :)
Welcome to HL. You post non sequiturs; you may fit in nicely.

P.S. Go with your gut feeling on YCBTO.
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BillyBadBreaks
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I quite like UTG, but then again I like Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under :?

PS Aye up lad!
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dtsom
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welcome!!!

i do like under the gun. and i like the help of TERRY NUNN

what i don´t like is the arragement of the live version that they did in 1993 and 1997
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Syberberg
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I like UTG. And YCBTO.

What I like about UTG, apart from the stonking second half, is the interplay between the two voices through the beginning section. The hopeless romance in Terri Nunn's vocal and the utter contempt in Andrew's. It's a great juxtaposition and superbly delivered.
I don't necessarily agree with everything I think.
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BillyBadBreaks
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YCBTO is a musical enema :urff:

OK, I do play it occasionaly but I NEVER listen! :wink:
You still think swastikas look cool
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They're coaches, businessmen and cops
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