Who are the best Sisters substitute?

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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bearskin
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mh wrote:Has nobody mentioned Play Dead yet?
See Post #29. Another great band who haven't released anything for over 20 years.
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mh
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bearskin wrote:
mh wrote:Has nobody mentioned Play Dead yet?
See Post #29. Another great band who haven't released anything for over 20 years.
Ah, OK. Somebody did. No harm in mentioning them again I suppose. ;)
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DocSommer
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I think most "The Merry Thougts" stuff sounds abd even looks (artworks) closer to the sisters than anything else, that's why it's probably the best substitute out there since most of the other bands that had been called here might be nice to listen but sounds too different.

And there's that Abrimaal guy..
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Re: TMT

There's a difference between "substitute" and "p!ss-poor copyists"...
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markfiend wrote:Re: TMT

There's a difference between "substitute" and "p!ss-poor copyists"...
True. Oh so true.

Von is actually quite a gifted songwriter, I think. When I want something TSOM-esque, I gravitate toward other gifted songwriters. The Merry Thoughts are, honestly, just a bad band. Utterly dull--dullwitted, unoriginal, and very, very boring.
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markfiend wrote:Re: TMT

There's a difference between "substitute" and "p!ss-poor copyists"...
yup :lol: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
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DocSommer
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markfiend wrote:Re: TMT

There's a difference between "substitute" and "p!ss-poor copyists"...
wouldn't bet on that :lol:
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Sorry, trying not to step on any toes, but, I heard ToP suck live, and this comes from my band mate who is one (of many, i'm sure) of their biggest fans. I heard the albums are decent, but do they really suck live? Also he says they sound nothing like Sisters, I only heard one song and that was good enough, didn't feel any groove so I gave up. Maybe I'll try again. Am i missing out? I'm confused :D
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mh
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10-E Rabid wrote:suck live
Appropriate Sisters substitute then! ;D :lol:
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sultan2075 wrote: Von is actually quite a gifted songwriter, I think. When I want something TSOM-esque, I gravitate toward other gifted songwriters. [...]
Absolutely! I thought Catalyst was right in this interview recently, where he says Eldritch is one of the most under estimated pop song writers.
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Sita wrote: Absolutely! I thought Catalyst was right in this interview recently, where he says Eldritch is one of the most under estimated pop song writers.
Second that. Very underrated. Even if the man doesn't want to release any more/new Sisters records, it would be good to know that his talent isn't just wasting away - I'd like to think that he's composing something - even if he just does anonymous stuff like film music or writes for other people under a pen-name.

Come to think of it - does anyone know what Von does do with his time?
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bearskin wrote:
Sita wrote: Absolutely! I thought Catalyst was right in this interview recently, where he says Eldritch is one of the most under estimated pop song writers.
Second that. Very underrated. Even if the man doesn't want to release any more/new Sisters records, it would be good to know that his talent isn't just wasting away - I'd like to think that he's composing something - even if he just does anonymous stuff like film music or writes for other people under a pen-name.

Come to think of it - does anyone know what Von does do with his time?
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Serious answer: I'd imagine he reads, enjoys life, and hangs out with people who don't give two shits about TSOM. That's what I'd probably do if I were him.
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sultan2075 wrote: Serious answer: I'd imagine he reads, enjoys life, and hangs out with people who don't give two shits about TSOM. That's what I'd probably do if I were him.
So, he's in semi-retirement then? I can't imagine him still hauling around a band that hasn't released anything for generations when he's 60...
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You'd have thought he'd have embraced the internet and used it to his advantage, but no, no new recordings. Nothing for everyone.
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bearskin wrote:
sultan2075 wrote: Serious answer: I'd imagine he reads, enjoys life, and hangs out with people who don't give two shits about TSOM. That's what I'd probably do if I were him.
So, he's in semi-retirement then? I can't imagine him still hauling around a band that hasn't released anything for generations when he's 60...
I assume he's able to live a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle without the indignity of labor outside of the live stuff. When he needs an infusion of cash, he can always call the youngsters to go on tour or hit the festival circuit.
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Dan wrote:You'd have thought he'd have embraced the internet and used it to his advantage, but no, no new recordings. Nothing for everyone.
Hmmm, yeah... It's a lose-lose situation.

Weird. It's not as if the "new" songs aren't great either. Yes, I know he's said that 'why release new material, why bother with record company stuff when all our gigs sell out anyway, without any new releases for decades'... but when you clearly have a talent - and a market to get it out to..why not?

Like you said, it could be done from his favourite armchair.
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sultan2075 wrote: I assume he's able to live a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle without the indignity of labor outside of the live stuff. When he needs an infusion of cash, he can always call the youngsters to go on tour or hit the festival circuit.
The 'live stuff' is still good for now, but come a few more years and it will start to get a bit silly - a bloke in his near-60s touring with a 'band' that aren't really a band as they don't get together and actually create... if they released some of the material I could see it still working - maybe even cut down on the whole World Tour of Whenever I Feel like It, and play the occasional select gig.

One thing I'm not wholly comfortable with either is the whole 7th-on-the-bill-at-large-Festival thing. Since when did Slipknot get better than TSOM? It's purely down to current product - if the Girls released some product they could pick and choose their gigs and not have to appear on the second stage somewhere.
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bearskin wrote:
sultan2075 wrote: I assume he's able to live a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle without the indignity of labor outside of the live stuff. When he needs an infusion of cash, he can always call the youngsters to go on tour or hit the festival circuit.
The 'live stuff' is still good for now, but come a few more years and it will start to get a bit silly - a bloke in his near-60s touring with a 'band' that aren't really a band as they don't get together and actually create... if they released some of the material I could see it still working - maybe even cut down on the whole World Tour of Whenever I Feel like It, and play the occasional select gig.

One thing I'm not wholly comfortable with either is the whole 7th-on-the-bill-at-large-Festival thing. Since when did Slipknot get better than TSOM? It's purely down to current product - if the Girls released some product they could pick and choose their gigs and not have to appear on the second stage somewhere.

I feel pretty embarassed for the Christo and Catalyst whenever they're doing interviews for the Sisters - they know that the interviewers know that they don't know s**t about what's going on in the mind of Herr Grande Fromage and so they go off on irrelevent tangents about what new kettle they've bought for their father-in-law or something, having not yet themselves actually earned that level interest from anybody - nothing personal, guys. That kind of thing is earned by creating, not just basically covering other writers' work.

They know we all know Sisters circa 2006-2011 have been writing bollock-all together, and the current line-up is basically a bit of a standing joke not just with us 'hardcore sisnerds', but with the general gig/festival-going public, who are evidently still up for the retread thing to a point, but I imagine also actually have a lot on.

It seems from 'Arms' that the current incarnation of the girls has promise, but their talent is indeed being wasted churning out the same old tunes over and over like someone who's hit their head or something. If new works aren't worth the effort, and we're not worth the effort, then it's all about the money for them - in which case more fool us for paying to see the live sets. We'll learn.

The life Von is living is entirely his own affair, of course, and as James Ray once said, you'd think we'd already had enough from him... but we all know he's still capable of creating the best Sisters stuff yet... he's more experienced, better read, better travelled and better-looking than ever (er, well, scratch that last part), so if he still wants to give it, the best is yet to come... until he's so old they gotta wheel him out on stage a ventilator... and the two Chris'es (or whoever) are having to say to us 'Er, I think what Mr Eldritch is trying to say is....'

Hmm... actually, aren't we already virtually at that point..?
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Machine Regime wrote:They know we all know Sisters circa 2006-2011 have been writing bollock-all together,
Not what I've heard. Just saying like.
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markfiend wrote:
Machine Regime wrote:They know we all know Sisters circa 2006-2011 have been writing bollock-all together,
Not what I've heard. Just saying like.
Out of interest, what have you heard?
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Many bands proved and proves that album can be recodred and released without having record contract signed. example: PIL - made money on touring and now they're in studio, without signed record contract . But we talked about this many,many, probalby too many times before. I personaly don't give a flying quack about how-good-he-was because it's past. Nothing new and ground breaking live, 2 songs per 5 years and both mediocre. Few covers is not a new song(s), it's nothing spectacular, and yes i do remember that covering is/was very imporatnt part of TSOM. blah, blah.
About Chirs and Ben: they're adult and are long enough in TSOM to know (their) stiutation, so speculations are needless. It's business - they got their own bands and being in TSOM is money and marketing/promotinal deal/jump-start.
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Bartek wrote:Many bands proved and proves that album can be recodred and released without having record contract signed. example: PIL - made money on touring and now they're in studio, without signed record contract . But we talked about this many,many, probalby too many times before. I personaly don't give a flying quack about how-good-he-was because it's past. Nothing new and ground breaking live, 2 songs per 5 years and both mediocre. Few covers is not a new song(s), it's nothing spectacular, and yes i do remember that covering is/was very imporatnt part of TSOM. blah, blah.
About Chirs and Ben: they're adult and are long enough in TSOM to know (their) stiutation, so speculations are needless. It's business - they got their own bands and being in TSOM is money and marketing/promotinal deal/jump-start.
Lovely as Ben and Chris seem to be, it'd probably be a good idea for Von to have to work with a non-Yes man - someone who's an even worse dictator than he (allegedly) is.

Von: Alright, Bert - I think we haven't haven't toured Timbuktu yet, and I think they're probably gagging for a bit of the old "wall of sound" treatment -

Bert: Ah, Von - I've been doing some thinking...

Von: *Sigh* - Look, what did we say about who's meant to do the thinking around here?

Bert: No, no - I know, it's just that... well, me and the lads, we've been talking, and there's all those fans out there who've been waiting-

Von: Wait a second - is this going where I think it's going? 'Cause I'm warning you, Bert - don't go there...

Bert: It's time, Von. Lord knows you're not getting any younger -

Von: Stop saying that! I am ageless! I am in my prime, doing exactly what I want to d-

Bert: Sorry, Von, but the decision has been made... the die doth cast... we're taking you to a top security compound, there'll be all the computer games and cats you can shake a stick at... but the bottom line is, you'll be there to work...

Von: Stop it! Stop saying these terrible things!

Bert: You've lost your roots, Von... you were a good man once - an inspiration recording artist - they called you... Andrew.

Von: That name no longer has any meaning to me - I've got a back catalogue as long as your arm, and we'll keep spinning it out into eternity, got it?

Bert: The back catalogue is gone, Von. We got you plastered on Mojitos last night so we could burn it. The whole discocraphy, wiped off the face of the earth. Did I mention we could do that?

Von: You did... what?

Bert: Now, about that album...

Shoulders slumped, head bowed, cursing Bert's name to the very hounds of hell, Von cranks out Inter Alia, the very antithesis of SSV and the best record ever. So there.
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Machine Regime wrote:
They know we all know Sisters circa 2006-2011 have been writing bollock-all together, and the current line-up is basically a bit of a standing joke not just with us 'hardcore sisnerds', but with the general gig/festival-going public, who are evidently still up for the retread thing to a point, but I imagine also actually have a lot on.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. The sound that Ben and Chris make today is just as good as any that was made before. I also believe that they are much more involved than just playing as a hired hands.
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Sita
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I'm not embarrassed for Chris and Ben, on the contrary, plus, I like that they don't take themselves and/or interview situations so seriously.

Whenever I hear the complaining about lack of records, is everyone aware that Eldritch put out four very different records in a short span of time? That's not the same thing as putting out the same record over and over again. For example, Bryan Ferry's Olympia recently - nice, but exactly the same thing he did before, and before, and before... Eldritch set the stakes high, and who knows whatever the reason is that he hasn't done it a fifth time. There is this whole unflattering "Eldritch character profile" circulating, just based on some very few interviews that were contradictory even at the time. Fact is, noone knows the man and his reasons.

Amen!

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For over twenty years now, for sound and attitude, it's always been a particular 'Big Three' for me; Sisters, NMA, and Killing Joke.. I've never been interested in finding a Sisters sound-alike.

Then for added wit and poetry, the work of Mr. Nick Cave in all it's guises..
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