KICKLINE, ARE WE GOING TO BE BAD?, BETTER REPTILE

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.
Depprocksfarfar
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Listening to the three new songs from yesterday and in my humble opinion; this new version of the Sisters has brought back the melodies! And thank God for that! They have been gone far to long now. With Dylan first joining, i was afraid we were heading even more in a "metal" direction. Glad to be proven wrong. Dylan Smith is bloody perfect for the Sisters! Most of us have been here for ages and something is FINALLY actually happening! :notworthy:
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Todashi
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Wow.

The new songs are great. Colour me surprised. This is all very encouraging -it speaks to a confidence and freshness that hasn't been there for a long time.

Can I be the first to suggest I'd happily go see a gig where JUST the unreleased songs were played. They have more than enough now.
g44fr
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I'm speculate a lot about (maybe too much) the 'etc..' Maybe, it does mean 'and the others unreleased songs'. And the new album could get this track listing

- Crash And Burn
- Slept
- Still
- Arms
- Far Parade
- Will I Dream?
- We Are The Same, Susanne
- Romeo Down
- Summer
- KICKLINE
- ARE WE GOING TO BE BAD?
- BETTER REPTILE
- SHOW ME
- JUST ACHING

b sides
- come together
- war on drugs
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markfiend
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g44fr wrote:...
- We Are The Same, Susanne
- Romeo Down
- Summer
...
I think that if we were ever going to get official recordings of the Pearson-era songs we'd have had them by now.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
g44fr
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Yes you right. But show me intro sounds like Suzanne riff. Maybe they reconditioned some good ideas.
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czuczu
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Nothing we've heard from this new batch is as good as the 97-98 stuff or the early noughties songs.

Where are the wonderful basslines and drums patterns?
Or lyrics that you can't fit on a postcard?

Am a bit underwhelmed :(
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DomConway
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abraxas wrote:So I, for one, now regret not having brought a ticket for the roundhouse
I actually had a ticket in my hands but had to sell it. Serious bummer :cry:
the only thing to fear is fear itself
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Todashi
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It's kind of funny to me to read some of the negative comments on the new 'new' songs. Some people really are impossible to please.

That or they're just not able to let things be what they are - it's 2019, any new songs are going to reflect who and what the sisters are now. Taken on that basis, these are great.

And we haven't heard all of them yet.

(TL/DR Catchy, hummable songs with an air of menace = the sisters.)
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Planet Dave
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Todashi wrote:It's kind of funny to me to read some of the negative comments on the new 'new' songs. Some people really are impossible to please.

That or they're just not able to let things be what they are - it's 2019, any new songs are going to reflect who and what the sisters are now. Taken on that basis, these are great.

And we haven't heard all of them yet.

(TL/DR Catchy, hummable songs with an air of menace = the sisters.)
Ah it's always been like this, it's normal Sisters community fare to have a good wide base of opinion. I'm sure there were plenty who went 'WTF?' quite loudly when The Reptile House came out. There were certainly many who went 'erm' when Mr Christo joined, not least cos his playing and sound were feckin awful. Apparently there were loads who were glad to see the back of Adam (why, I'll never know but hey). Heated debate regarding all things Sisters is as timeless as The Sisters themselves.

I'm with you btw, hummable with a hint of menace indeed. I had trouble dealing with a job interview a coupla hours back cos Show Me was buzzing incessantly around my skull, far more entertaining than spouting BS about equality & diversity in a care home setting. :lol:
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robm
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Wow they are actually new songs not just hashtag trolling. o_O

I need to hear "Better Reptile" recorded in a bigger venue and the synth piano on a couple of them stretches Goth plausible deniability past the point of the European festival circuit but "Show Me" is already one of my favourite Sisters songs. They are all a wonderful blend of old and new.

There is life after chainsaw guitars.
copper
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czuczu wrote:Nothing we've heard from this new batch is as good as the 97-98 stuff or the early noughties songs.
I would have to agree.
czuczu wrote:Where are the wonderful basslines and drums patterns?
Or lyrics that you can't fit on a postcard?
Pretty much everything he said three years ago jives with the new songs.

Sparse lyrics.
Von wrote:I would probably ... written less words in the songs because it’s hard to sing too many words.

I wish every time that I go on stage how much easier I could have made this. I think how many words do I have to sing on stage tonight and it’s too many!
Space.
Von wrote:I think it’s been a gloriously two dimensional rock n roll band for long enough... I’m a huge fan of John Carpenter... Part of me wants to be like Comsat Angels ... a band who does rock and space.'
You can definitely hear the Carpenter vibes in some bits. And space, too.
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Dr. Moody
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Was saying to a friend earlier I heard John Carpenter elements in it, hadn't realised he mentioned it as an influence.
It's great to see new momentum, enjoying the new sounds and looking forward to seeing them on Saturday. Shame it took so long, but better late than never.
Just record them properly and let us hear them in decent quality.
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H. Blackrose
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markfiend wrote:
g44fr wrote:...
- We Are The Same, Susanne
- Romeo Down
- Summer
...
I think that if we were ever going to get official recordings of the Pearson-era songs we'd have had them by now.
Er, we did get an official recording of one of the Pearson-era songs (although not a Pearson song).
"We're Hawkwind and this is a song about love." - :von: , 1993

"We will miss them when they are gone" - M. Andrews, 2024
Bartek
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There is absolutely no reason why lyrics couldn't be shorter. Brevirty is the highest form of poetry. Afterall AE is not a lawyer who neeeds to cover all areas and use way too many words to say something that can be said quicker without verbosity.
Brevity is the soul of wit.�

~ W. Shakespeare, Hamlet

As for music, I do adore Rome Down, War on Drugs and Susanna, in my opinion these are one of the best, but there's no Adam, Mike and (sadlly missed) Chris Sheehan; different musicans, different sensitivity, inspirations, skills, music-wise. I'd rather judge this music by itself, afterall in terms of music style each album is not form the same shelf apart widely take genre: "rock and roll".

But what I like is a fact that brevity in words comes along with brevity in music and, yes, that AIR. Air is what i like the most in music, because it's so easy to overdo, over-write and over-play in music, then you got ... prog-metal. Even though, that all new songs need some polishing and some work to be done.
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markfiend
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H. Blackrose wrote:Er, we did get an official recording of one of the Pearson-era songs (although not a Pearson song).
Of course. I stand corrected.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
copper
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About those writing credits.
LTW: Do you prefer being in a band to working in isolation?

Eldritch: Being in the Sisters I can do both. I can work for 6 weeks on three minutes of music and give it to the lads and say what are we going to do with it. I’m not sat at the back like a stupid drummer! When it’s a collaborative process, and when something is going on, it’s great, and I have the power of veto if it’s not.
Show Me, Better Reptile and Kickline could therefore be songs to which :von: worked out the skeleton and asked Ben and Dylan for riffs to fill some of that space. This would, to some extent, explain why Dylan has a credit while Chris doesn't.

On AWGTBB, the elephant in the room is Mike Varjak. Either he's back writing (unlikely) or the song was written/demoed in around '97-'98. Very :von: to allude to an old new song and then stop short of playing it live.


To further hone some timelines, :von: expressed interest in new music before the Nov 2016 shows. In March 2017, Ben and Chris started playing with Ghost. The tour, at least for Chris, went on until August. Dates for TSOM and Ghost at time did not exactly collide, but if he was doing both, it got tight once or twice.

Chris went back with Ghost next May, with a bigger tour starting in October 2018. His Sisters time in 2017-18 was mostly limited to touring. :von: may have meant business all along, but for once he had an alibi, the need to recruit and break in a new axeman.

So Chris' absence in the credits may have been purely circumstancial. For what it's worth, their time together enabled both to move on as musicians.


Interesting times, indeed.
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jost 7
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Just listened to ingos antwerp files with eq added. Honestly, all 4 are nice songs to listen to, Of course all wip. Dylan is always low in the mix, but when bringing him up and basses down things turn out promising.

As everywhere, once you start to record one might find out about whats missing
love is just a shot away
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Phantasmagoria
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Dr. Moody wrote:Was saying to a friend earlier I heard John Carpenter elements in it, hadn't realised he mentioned it as an influence. .
This is exactly what I meant when I mentioned in another thread how the new material reminded me of Italian horror prog-rock gods Goblin. Goblin's soundtracks to Profondo Rosso and Suspiria were a big influence on John Carpenter back in the day. There's definitely something there... maybe it's in the underlying menace and/or repetitive riffs, both things I really like about the new Sisters songs.Whatever it is, I like that sinister edge to the sound they have right now...
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markfiend
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Oh yeah the Suspiria soundtrack :notworthy:

Ahem. Sorry. As you were.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
GC
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I think the new songs are pretty well OK...I think I need a few listens or to let them grow. That said three kind of half finished songs is still quite depressing when you think that in the same few months Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and New Model Army also bring out full beautiful CD's (As they do every two years or so) Even Leonard Cohen is bringing out a new CD.

So if this is the culmination of 10 years of songwriting it is a little disappointing.....a dribble rather than fireworks.
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Swinnow
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Talking amongst old friends I've often used NMA as an example for the way forward for The Girls. They could even meet at Owlcotes to share a brew and compare notes ;)

Also, I gather Headingley Rugby stadium, newly upgraded, can now hold a few gigs each year. The two of them would make a fab bill on the annual sunny saturday in Leeds.
....if I have to explain, then you'll never understand....
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Todashi
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So what are the odds we'll get the other two unplayed songs on this outing?

Can you see them playing Kickline with lyrics? Are We Going to be Bad and Just Aching?

Far Parade?

: )
“I don't want people to come and see our gig because of the magnificent things I'm doing with my hips, but it's their evening, you know. They have to have fun. I'm a little bit naive."
GC
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Todashi wrote:So what are the odds we'll get the other two unplayed songs on this outing?

Can you see them playing Kickline with lyrics? Are We Going to be Bad and Just Aching?

Far Parade?

: )
I think that "Are we going to be Bad"is AE describing his teasing of the audience with titles not songs. "Just Aching" is our reaction.

:)
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czuczu
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GC wrote:
Todashi wrote:So what are the odds we'll get the other two unplayed songs on this outing?

Can you see them playing Kickline with lyrics? Are We Going to be Bad and Just Aching?

Far Parade?

: )
I think that "Are we going to be Bad"is AE describing his teasing of the audience with titles not songs. "Just Aching" is our reaction.

:)
Yep
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Nikolas Vitus Lagartija
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Swinnow wrote:Talking amongst old friends I've often used NMA as an example for the way forward for The Girls. They could even meet at Owlcotes to share a brew and compare notes ;)

Also, I gather Headingley Rugby stadium, newly upgraded, can now hold a few gigs each year. The two of them would make a fab bill on the annual sunny saturday in Leeds.
What a great idea. If only there was a friendly old Leeds promoter who could put the gig on...
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