So I'm sitting through 'Vision Thing' for the first time...

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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biggy
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Vision thing was s**t, granted.
18 years is a long time to still be going on about it though.
Love ? Love is just f**king with a kiss thrown in !!!
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Gary
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vision thing is one of the best albums of the 90's. And tarwater.. sounds like andrew taylor but possibly isnt..
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Purple Light
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Can't be b*llocksed trailing through all these posts since last time I looked so I'll just add my little bit...

Thankyou for bringing Tarwater into my life!!! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:


Oh, & I love Vision Thing. Apart from one song. WYDSM.
“I got lost in the mirror, wondering what could have been, I couldn’t help but kill her, but I couldn’t kill the dream.”
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Spigel
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If you like the way Tarwater sound you might interested in listening to some of the other acts who share the same label as Tarwater.That would be the very fine "Morr music" label from Berlin .
Morr is home to some very fine music indeed with groups like Lali Puna, Ms. John Soda, B.Fleischmann, The Go Find, Múm, Masha Qrella, Electric President, Seabear, Borko, ISAN, Radical Face, Populous, Tied & Tickled Trio, Guther, Duo 505, Tarwater, Couch, Opiate, People Press Play, Bobby and Blumm, Herrmann & Kleine, Christian Kleine, Butcher The Bar, Contriva, The Year Of, Benni Hemm Hemm and more ...
http://www.myspace.com/morrmusic
http://www.morrmusic.com/
Drenchrom
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Had a quick listen on the mysapce page, yes it sounds a little like Eldritch, but then so did The Merry Thoughts. Nice tunes, well worth investigating more.

matt..
johncgarvey
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Since my first SOM album was Floodland, then I went to the earlier stuff, First and Last and Always, then stumbled upon Gift, when VT was released it was quite an adjustment. But I figured that they were trying to build off of Floodland and keep buyers interested. Definitely when More would come on at the club we'd hit the floor if we weren't out there already. I think it's a solid album, but not as solid as Floodland or FALA, but they always say your first love never fades away....
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markreed
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Vision Thing is a great record. They haven't chosen the best mixes of each track (I'd use the 12" mixes of the respective singles, but chop several minutes out of the middle of 'Dr Jeep'). I listened to Tarwater. It ain't Von.
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spot778
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scotty wrote:
EvilBastard wrote:

Oh, and Keef, who secretly loves it but won't admit it :lol:
:evil: :evil: :lol: fuckin' BON JOVI cover LP :evil:
:D

Said it before I'll say it again, it's a poor man's Billy Idol.

I can't fault the writing or playing but it just doesn't appeal as much as the others do.
End of line.
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metal on metal
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eastmidswhizzkid wrote: now: i'm not saying it was a fashion-thing (more likely it's a stage a lot of bands go through in their developement) but when VT came out (and by that i mean the late '80/90s) , it seemed a lot of people were bringing out "metal" albums distinct from their "regular" (previous recorded) styles. off the top of my head ministry's psalm 69 and electric by the cult spring to mind.
Ministry had been heading further down that industrial metal path since The Land of Rape and Honey in 1988 but it is funny you should mention them as I've always thought Psalm 69 was the kind of album Vision Thing could / should have been. It would have completely suited the Sisters' style, Doktor Avalanche bringing a certain mechanised feel to the songs since the early days. (There are even similar lyrical themes on NWO on Psalm 69 - maybe that's why I've always made an association between the two albums).

I think Vision Thing starts off tremendously with VT itself and then Ribbons but it just loses it for me after that. Doctor Jeep has potential but just doesn't get there - faster and harder and it would be brilliant. Most of the album just seems a bit half-arsed to me. I don't completely hate Vision Thing (well, apart from When You Don't See Me, which is just dreadful IMO - sorry!); I just don't ever get the urge to listen to it.
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The thing I've always thought about Vision Thing, is that while all previous material has something about it that makes it uniquely The Sisters, ( I'm not exactly sure what, as it seems to be different from one EP/album to the next), most of the songs on Vision Thing sound like they could have been written/played by any competent rock band. (With the obvious exception of the lyrics & vocals.)


:von: 's voice and lyrics do of course elevate it above the status of an average rock album, but nevertheless I have always found it something of a disappointment compared to the earlier stuff. Ribbons, however, is a fantastic song and easily the equal of any of their other recorded output.

Much the same could be said, in my opinion, for the 'new' songs, though I'd have to hear proper recordings of them to judge for certain.
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Jeremiah wrote:The thing I've always thought about Vision Thing, is that while all previous material has something about it that makes it uniquely The Sisters, ( I'm not exactly sure what, as it seems to be different from one EP/album to the next), most of the songs on Vision Thing sound like they could have been written/played by any competent rock band. (With the obvious exception of the lyrics & vocals.)


:von: 's voice and lyrics do of course elevate it above the status of an average rock album, but nevertheless I have always found it something of a disappointment compared to the earlier stuff. Ribbons, however, is a fantastic song and easily the equal of any of their other recorded output.

Much the same could be said, in my opinion, for the 'new' songs, though I'd have to hear proper recordings of them to judge for certain.
Too bad he didn't have the same people who made James Rays Gangwar sound so awesome working with him on Vision Thing. Honestly I'll take Without Conscience over WYDSM any day.
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Andrei
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Jeremiah wrote:The thing I've always thought about Vision Thing, is that while all previous material has something about it that makes it uniquely The Sisters, ( I'm not exactly sure what, as it seems to be different from one EP/album to the next), most of the songs on Vision Thing sound like they could have been written/played by any competent rock band. (With the obvious exception of the lyrics & vocals.)


:von: 's voice and lyrics do of course elevate it above the status of an average rock album, but nevertheless I have always found it something of a disappointment compared to the earlier stuff. Ribbons, however, is a fantastic song and easily the equal of any of their other recorded output.

Much the same could be said, in my opinion, for the 'new' songs, though I'd have to hear proper recordings of them to judge for certain.
I agree almost word for word, Jeremiah. I love the title track, I love Ribbons, Something Fast, and I'd say "More" is one of my favorite songs by them, by I agree that all the other songs are more or less "okay". I can understand why some people may not be impressed with it, as it's- as one friend said- a 3-star album done by a band whose other albums are 5-stars.

EDIT: It's interesting to see a universal dislike of WYDSM; I've never particularly disliked the song, but now that you mention it, I have always felt indifferent to the song and often find it skippable.
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Prescott
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WYDSM performed live is worse than on the LP. The German Remix is better though. But not by much. It's not horrible, just a very standard rock song of that era.
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stufarq
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Not universal. WYDSM is one of my favourite Sisters songs.
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robertzombie
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WYDSM is great, it's Ribbons I'm always skipping! :lol: :eek:
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Silver_Owl
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robertzombie wrote:WYDSM is great, it's Ribbons I'm always skipping! :lol: :eek:
:eek: indeed. :eek:
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robertzombie wrote:WYDSM is great, it's Ribbons I'm always skipping! :lol: :eek:

reverse! WYDSM sucks
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robertzombie wrote:WYDSM is great, it's Ribbons I'm always skipping! :lol: :eek:
Seconded.
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i skip always both songs
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6FeetOver
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You lot still listen to TSoM?! :eek:

:innocent:

:lol: ;) :P


*Hides*
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Bartek
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rare, rarely than 1,2 years ago. yesterday i had to move back sisters singles from my main shelf, not enough space for my collection.
yeah i know, i'm show off, and i'm shallow
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SINsister wrote:You lot still listen to TSoM?! :eek:

:innocent:

:lol: ;) :P


*Hides*
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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White Like Jesus
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It's been 3 years. I've changed my opinion. VT has some great songs. Like RIBBONS. And the title track is really catchy, and I kind of *like* the guitars now. They're not really supposed to stand out, but be part of the background and overall sound, even though they are pretty high in the mix. Lyrics maintain the high standard that has already been set. What's not to like?
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drivensnow
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I have to admit to maybe Vision Thing being my favorite of the Sisters' albums. Don't get me wrong, I think Floodland is the best album EVER and it's the one I couldn't live without, but based purely on the vague "sound" of the music I think VT really can hit the spot. Maybe another reason I like is admit it is flawed but I kind of know how - it's too repetitive, not atmospheric enough... etc.
Best tracks for me:
Vision Thing, Ribbons, Detonation Bldv., I Was Wrong.
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Machine Regime
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Vision Thing never fails to hit the spot for me. Judging from Edritch's work following that album, it has the kind of sound and production that most meets his own tastes too - at least as they are now.

In reference to the repetitive nature of much of it, let's not forget that the other albums, singles and ep had major reps going through many of 'em also.

Sure, VT was full of samples, but I think that was simply because the best takes were selected from an near-endless sea of takes.

I don't have words to express how good I've always found it, but let's just say it's the only album I've ever bought in all formats.
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