Songs that didn't "work" live?

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.
Post Reply
User avatar
AdrenaChris
Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 186
Joined: 17 Apr 2009, 21:59
Location: Ing-er-land

I was just listening to a recording of Flood II from the 93 Crystal Palace show. I don't get why they chose to use that flimsy electric piano sound during the intro. The song just isn't the same to me without that huge, chorus drenched bass playing that signature hook. Of course once it gets going, it becomes a whole lot better. Do they still do that? Its been about 6 years since I saw them so I can't remember....hoping for round 2 in 2015!

While we're on the subject, what songs in you guys opinions don't work as well live as the studio versions? I think it'll probably be a small list as most of the Girls songs do/did (depending on who's side you're on...I thought the 2014 performance of Blood Money was pretty nice) come across fantastically well live :von:
Top
User avatar
Norman Hunter
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1870
Joined: 29 Sep 2004, 12:41
Location: Leeds
Contact:
Contact Norman Hunter

The live reworked version of When You Don't See Me for me never cut it. Or the slowed-down Body Electric. Or Flood I - but there again I don't like the original.
Four strings good, six strings bad
Top
User avatar
Nikolas Vitus Lagartija
Overbomber
Posts: 2485
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 23:35
Location: Scotland
Contact:
Contact Nikolas Vitus Lagartija

Norman Hunter wrote:The live reworked version of When You Don't See Me for me never cut it. Or the slowed-down Body Electric. Or Flood I - but there again I don't like the original.
Totally agree on all points. Many of the more recent covers (e.g. John, I'm Only Dancing, A Gift that Shines) aren't as good as the originals either, IMHO. Most of the Reptile House songs don't translate well either. Hmm, I seem to have dissed about half of the set list already !
Top
User avatar
robertzombie
Overbomber
Posts: 4382
Joined: 05 Sep 2005, 12:49
Location: London

The early 90s reinterpretation of Floorshow, and the recent Rock and a Hard Place.
Top
User avatar
mh
Above the Chemist
Posts: 8123
Joined: 23 Jun 2003, 14:41
Location: A city built on rock 'n' roll

I thought the recent reworking of Floorshow fell quite flat. Mixing in Phantom was a cool idea, but the end result just didn't have enough of what made each song truly great, with each working against the other too.
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
Top
User avatar
Pista
Cureboi
Posts: 17629
Joined: 25 Jun 2006, 15:03
Location: Lost In A Forest
Contact:
Contact Pista

The current re-invention of Marian doesn't work for me.
It totally misses the intricate details that make it such a great song.
Cheers.
Steve
Just like the old days
TheCureCommunity
Top
User avatar
Gaijin
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 845
Joined: 27 Jan 2015, 23:14
Location: Zululand

mh wrote:I thought the recent reworking of Floorshow fell quite flat. Mixing in Phantom was a cool idea, but the end result just didn't have enough of what made each song truly great, with each working against the other too.
Eh? I'm intrigued. Please provide details on when and when and I'll take a look.
Top
User avatar
LyanvisAberrant
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 757
Joined: 18 Mar 2013, 21:58
Location: Where the wild roses grow.
Contact:
Contact LyanvisAberrant

This corrosion has never worked live. ever.

On the positive other end of the spectrum you've got the new and updated version of A rock and a hard place (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QVMVds_IJ4) that is just bloody amazing.
The original version doesn't come close. (the end chorus when he used the Delay to his advantage... pure genius)
A man with a fictitious grin pondered the terrain in which he flooded with anguish, for this is England. The lion cannot be tamed, this is the game.
Top
User avatar
mh
Above the Chemist
Posts: 8123
Joined: 23 Jun 2003, 14:41
Location: A city built on rock 'n' roll

Gaijin wrote:
mh wrote:I thought the recent reworking of Floorshow fell quite flat. Mixing in Phantom was a cool idea, but the end result just didn't have enough of what made each song truly great, with each working against the other too.
Eh? I'm intrigued. Please provide details on when and when and I'll take a look.
Here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOANDRzjdw8
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
Top
User avatar
AdrenaChris
Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 186
Joined: 17 Apr 2009, 21:59
Location: Ing-er-land

^ some good singing there ("A rock..")! Has he been getting lessons? You'd think after chain smoking every day for 30 years his voice would be utterly shagged (and indeed there are some very shagged sounding vocals out there on various recordings...)

Also watching some of this 2014 footage, it looks like Eldritch is really enjoying being on stage more than in recent memory? I know he has always strongly preferred mainland audiences.
Top
User avatar
LyanvisAberrant
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 757
Joined: 18 Mar 2013, 21:58
Location: Where the wild roses grow.
Contact:
Contact LyanvisAberrant

AdrenaChris wrote:^ some good singing there ("A rock..")! Has he been getting lessons? You'd think after chain smoking every day for 30 years his voice would be utterly shagged (and indeed there are some very shagged sounding vocals out there on various recordings...)

Also watching some of this 2014 footage, it looks like Eldritch is really enjoying being on stage more than in recent memory? I know he has always strongly preferred mainland audiences.
Yeah, in 2014 he was just enjoying it more. He smiled on stage, would you believe it. And I don't think he would ever get vocal coaching. it would be the right choice, but not a realistic one. Heck "i've managed this long without an ounce of singing knowledge, why should I start now?"
A man with a fictitious grin pondered the terrain in which he flooded with anguish, for this is England. The lion cannot be tamed, this is the game.
Top
User avatar
Gaijin
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 845
Joined: 27 Jan 2015, 23:14
Location: Zululand

Thanks for the links to Floorshow & Rock gents. Hate that Floorshow got 'edited'.
"The lambs are dead and the cows explode"
Top
User avatar
Pista
Cureboi
Posts: 17629
Joined: 25 Jun 2006, 15:03
Location: Lost In A Forest
Contact:
Contact Pista

Yep.
Floorshow's just not the same without a couple of really good screams ;D
Cheers.
Steve
Just like the old days
TheCureCommunity
Top
abridged
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1431
Joined: 08 Sep 2008, 10:27
Location: Derry
Contact:
Contact abridged

Must admit I really liked the slowed down Body Electric. :oops:
The Chancer Corporation
Top
User avatar
mh
Above the Chemist
Posts: 8123
Joined: 23 Jun 2003, 14:41
Location: A city built on rock 'n' roll

abridged wrote:Must admit I really liked the slowed down Body Electric. :oops:
I'm fond of it too. Some of the reworked classics are actually quite good in their new incarnations; NTTC also works well these days, for example.

I'm gonna nominate Rain From Heaven as another that doesn't work. For sure I was there the first time they played it, and got all caught up in the excitement as much as anyone else, but looking back after a few years I'm inclined to call it a brave experiment more than anything else.
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
Top
User avatar
Victim of Circumstance
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1205
Joined: 06 May 2008, 20:31
Location: Dead but not gone

I don't like the slow BE, some of the new instrumental cover versions and the early nineties version of Floorshow (although this my favourite Sisters song). Pista's right, without the screams it's only half of what it used to be. I still remember my first gig (Detmold '84) and you can hear on the bootlegs how great Floorshow was back at the time 8)

@NVL The Reptile House songs are great when performed live IMO, especially Valentine and Fix :wink:
Kommt Zeit,
kommt Rat,
kommt Attentat.
Top
paint it black
Black, black, black & even blacker
Posts: 4966
Joined: 11 Jul 2002, 01:00

all of the more recent versions are too short and too hurried. still the beeer and the company make up for that

even Rain which started brill, is rushed through now

You're wrong about TC. First time we heard it live, real bass, huge intro was very very nice. Same with the extended TOL - now it's about 30 seconds long lol
Goths have feelings too
Top
RockNRoll Mercenary
Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 237
Joined: 01 Oct 2012, 16:01
Location: London

This Corrosion for me doesn't work, the recording is too grand for the live output to copy.

Maybe it's because I haven't found a decent recording of it but Romeo Down doesn't work live as well as the new version of No Time To Cry.
'Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future'- Oscar Wilde
I'll see you tomorrow.
Top
User avatar
Being645
Wiki Wizard
Posts: 15272
Joined: 09 Apr 2009, 12:54
Location: reconstruction status: whatever the f**k

mh wrote:
abridged wrote:Must admit I really liked the slowed down Body Electric. :oops:
I'm fond of it too. Some of the reworked classics are actually quite good in their new incarnations; NTTC also works well these days, for example.

I'm gonna nominate Rain From Heaven as another that doesn't work. For sure I was there the first time they played it, and got all caught up in the excitement as much as anyone else, but looking back after a few years I'm inclined to call it a brave experiment more than anything else.
I agree - the slow version of Body Electric in Leamington was just ever so soft and wonderful ... really a lovely surprise ... *sigh.

Rain From Heaven was also played there and it started great in 2010 but then lost with every gig over the XXX Tour. For quite some time they laborated on/with? (should train prepositions again) it. However, in Belfast or Dublin in 2014 they played a version that was surprisingly good ... :notworthy: ...

No Time To Cry is ok and out of discussion for me anyway - can't tell the tears I've cried and I don't regret a single one of them. So what. Where the emphasis of a version is not on that part I like it. Was not always the case, recently. Fact is however, that on the studio recording that aspect is too balanced to judge in any direction, at least to my ears. So I tend to like it.

Blood Money and especially Valentine worked very well most of the time in 2014.

Those dynamics of A Rock And A Hard Place from the studio recording, the combination of Doktor-conducting and Vocals ... none of the live versions touched it even slightly. Measures of impression and expression couldn't help, though sometimes, at least a silent breath rose from the imbroglio of verbs, adjectives and sounds ... :wink: ... * Maybe I should give a try to the versions linked to further above.

Romeo Down and especially Summer have, IMO, reached their best over the XXX Tour.

The longer I think about Misirlou, the better the joke becomes ... :lol: :notworthy: :notworthy: :lol: ...

... and I prefer The Sisters version of Gift That Shines by far over the Lorries version. But to me it's not a song one can perform over a long time in the same quality. That's just asking too much. And I'm glad, they didn't try too often in 2014.
Top
User avatar
streamline
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1664
Joined: 26 Oct 2005, 09:09
Location: Right Next Door To Hell...

Under the Gun was dire live
________________________________________

I trust you trust in me to mistrust you
Top
User avatar
Pista
Cureboi
Posts: 17629
Joined: 25 Jun 2006, 15:03
Location: Lost In A Forest
Contact:
Contact Pista

streamline wrote:Under the Gun was dire live
Yes it jolly well was
:notworthy:
Cheers.
Steve
Just like the old days
TheCureCommunity
Top
User avatar
mh
Above the Chemist
Posts: 8123
Joined: 23 Jun 2003, 14:41
Location: A city built on rock 'n' roll

streamline wrote:Under the Gun was dire
Fixed that for you. ;D
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
Top
User avatar
Pista
Cureboi
Posts: 17629
Joined: 25 Jun 2006, 15:03
Location: Lost In A Forest
Contact:
Contact Pista

mh wrote:
streamline wrote:Under the Gun was dire
Fixed that for you. ;D
:lol:
Cheers.
Steve
Just like the old days
TheCureCommunity
Top
User avatar
AdrenaChris
Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 186
Joined: 17 Apr 2009, 21:59
Location: Ing-er-land

I'm inclined to agree about Corrosion. Still, I really like the Dark Xmas version, and the Bremen 92 one really benefits from Tim's lush 12-string. bring that back I say!
Top
User avatar
stufarq
Popweazle Piddlepoop
Posts: 3209
Joined: 19 Jan 2008, 17:09
Location: my own imagination

I'll refrain from what you all know I want to say, and just nominate Giving Ground. Adding guitars is a good idea, but emasculating the bass, which is so central to the sound of the original, wasn't. Changing the bass line so the whole thing sounds monotonous and repetitive was a terrible idea. And, dare I say it, James Ray sings it much better than Von.
Any more of that and we'll be round your front door with the quick-setting whitewash and the shaved monkey.
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Sisters Chat”