RSD Reptile House

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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eastmidswhizzkid
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Gaijin wrote: 23 Feb 2023, 23:25 I hear it has a new mix of Kiss (Reprise)... ;D
my less than optimistic guess is that they ruin it and go for the fade out a la SGWBM.
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Gaijin
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^^ The 2017 version is correct in that regard actually.

The track record for cock-ups with reissues is excellent though. :innocent:
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Phantasmagoria
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My copy of the Reptile House is so worn to s**t now... and it's rare that I get to buy a new Sisters record these days. So I'll probably get it because it's a tiny bit exciting to buy any new record, quite frankly. I'm a sucker, a target market - I accept that. But buying more Sisters records gives a hope that someone somewhere might see that there's money to be made in releasing something new that we really - really - want. Doesn't it?
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Rantz Hoseley
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Now I have to figure out what local record shop I can hit in LA/The Valley that ISN'T Amoeba.

(Amoeba is a lovely shop, but the thought of going there on RSD gives me the crawleys)
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Phantasmagoria wrote: 06 Mar 2023, 01:25 My copy of the Reptile House is so worn to s**t now... and it's rare that I get to buy a new Sisters record these days. So I'll probably get it because it's a tiny bit exciting to buy any new record, quite frankly. I'm a sucker, a target market - I accept that. But buying more Sisters records gives a hope that someone somewhere might see that there's money to be made in releasing something new that we really - really - want. Doesn't it?
Yes, Buying the BBC CD and The Sisterhood is in large part encouraging Andrew to think there might be some money in releasing “new” material.
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Moderate Mick wrote: 19 Feb 2023, 21:38
Nyth Grandbeard wrote: 16 Feb 2023, 21:09 I’m pretty excited about all the movement in the Sisters-sphere with the previous release of the BBC sessions, Gift, and now a Reptile House Reprint. Would be cool to get an official reprint of something like Damage Done for a future RSD release
Absolutely agree, but I suspect beyond Wake as an audio CD and download release, after all nobody is buying dvd’s anymore, then that is likely to be it.

Do I give up waiting for new stuff and end my self imposed live boycott and start buying the bloody tee shirts…
You mean you haven't given up waiting for new stuff?! Wow. I won't pretend that I don't often get a little bit of hope every so often... The last big one was the Silver Bullet tour with the cd re-issues. I defo thought that was going to be the moment...
The original promise around "Gift" with the RSB Beeb sessions also made me wistful but the heel dragging with Gift pretty much killed off whatever optimism remained. If I were you, I'd end the boycott and get the tee-shirts! Who knows - maybe that's what he's been waiting for!

But back in Record Store Day land, a vinyl/audio version of Wake would be a great RSD idea. I can already visualise it - Black box with head and star logo and 18.06-1985 in black and gold. Inside, gatefold vinyl with similar cover art to the video, inner is a picture of the stage from the crowd showing hands (and bodies) raised in ecstatic release. Insert with fold out advertisement poster, handbills from the show, post cards. Bonus 7 inch with the second encore... Anything with a bit of thought and attention to detail would be very welcome. The BBC Session could have done with a bit more design.

As for The Reptile House, it is great that it's coming out but I find generally find RSD becomes very reductive when it just re-releases material to create a new collector market. And as others have said, it's not like TRH is hard to get in the first place, so hopefully it's given a sympathetic sonic whoosh for additional reverberation.
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I think I essentially given up on new stuff. I agree about the heel dragging.
Lots of people seem to have a downer on RSD don’t they?!
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It's a nice looking item and fans of the band that enjoy luxury items deserve a chance to buy it new. Whether or not it is money well spent remains to be seen.
"The lambs are dead and the cows explode"
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jost 7
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just picked it up. vinyl looks nice but the labels are cheap and s**t, which hurts. next to 45 EUR. nevertheless, nice to have.
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Got my copy. It has an Insert and It sounds very good...remastered for sure... Kiss never sounded better
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mh
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Got one too. I was pleasantly surprised at the insert, I was expecting something else and never thought they'd do that (but was hoping that they would).

Yes, it sounds remastered. I don't think the original sounded great, it was very bass-light owing to the amount of music to fit on a 45rpm record, and I might have preferred this re-release at 33rpm with the full bass range restored, but nonetheless this is still the best-sounding version of the EP and as close to definitive as you're going to get.

I was told it's selling strongly and hopefully that bodes well for similarly handsome editions of the other classic 1983 material. Rhino missed a trick by not issuing their SGWBM box set in this format, and it's time to put that to rights.
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Only found the copy I bought in the main record shops in Dublin this afternoon. Haven't listened yet but, man - 40 blips?! There were RSD releases selling cheaper including The March Violets... And that was a double.

Considering the RSD been sessions was pricey too, have they released that just for the simple joy of having a 'new' release to buy, Sisters fans are primed for exploitation!
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Phantasmagoria
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Yeah, I picked it up today too - an expensive purchase considering the sole reason I bought it was to experience the very brief thrill of purchasing a "new" Sisters record. I"m really pleasantly surprised at just how good it sounds though - I'm sure this will be my main listening copy from now on. Picked up the March Violets and Virgin Prunes at the same time, which were both much cheaper despite being 2 discs apiece. Still, it is what it is - it sounds good, it has an insert which my original was always missing and, let's face it, the smoky vinyl does look rather sexy.
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Holofernes
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I picked one up in the US for $22 despite having an earlier copy... I do love the smokey vinyl.

The US site details for the release showed:
40th anniversary of influential mini-album The Reptile House EP. Out of print on vinyl since 1983, and now on smoky vinyl with a poster insert. Features the original line-up of Andrew Eldritch (vocals), Craig Adams (bass), Gary Marx (guitar), Ben Gunn (guitar) and Doktor Avalanche (drums).
but the "poster" inside was a simple lyrics sheet. Nice enough though, happy with it.

The shop here had about 20 copies(!) which was a surprise, and they were playing "Floodland" as I walked in, so it all felt right.
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mh
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It's more than just a simple lyric sheet, it's a faithful reproduction of the original lyric sheet that was in the first 5000 of these back in 1983: https://sisterswiki.org/The_Reptile_House_EP

I was being coy about identifying it up above as I wanted to keep the surprise for anyone who's yet to pick one up, but the cat's out of the bag in other quarters too, so may as well talk more openly.
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Just as I thought I would have to buy a copy from some ebay seller for stupid money, I found a record shop in Glasgow had one copy left over from Saturday and kindly put it to one side for me...not sure why I needed another copy to go with my two original copies, but hey-ho!!!
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Phantasmagoria
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mh wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 21:04 It's more than just a simple lyric sheet, it's a faithful reproduction of the original lyric sheet that was in the first 5000 of these back in 1983: https://sisterswiki.org/The_Reptile_House_EP
Yeah, that was a great touch - if you're going to reissue The Reptile House then including the original insert is absolutely the right way to go. I appreciated that, as I've owned a copy of the original since way back in the day, but I never previously had the lyric sheet. Nice to have at least a reproduction of it now.
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Have my copy, along with March Violets and Motorhead.

Anyone confirm the changes compared to the original release?
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Holofernes
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mh wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 21:04 It's more than just a simple lyric sheet, it's a faithful reproduction of the original lyric sheet that was in the first 5000 of these back in 1983: https://sisterswiki.org/The_Reptile_House_EP
I hereby amend my statement to "A stupendous lyric sheet"! :)
Alice138
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Does this reissue have the same dynamic range as the original pressing?
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Alice138 wrote: 28 Apr 2023, 12:14 Does this reissue have the same dynamic range as the original pressing?
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mh
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Alice138 wrote: 28 Apr 2023, 12:14 Does this reissue have the same dynamic range as the original pressing?
It's on vinyl so it's not brickwalled, if that's what you're asking. You can't brickwall vinyl the same as CD; the needle would just jump right out.

I haven't yet done a rip and comparison, but I might over the weekend if time allows. Robert Zombie is generally the best person for these though, and is very knowledgable in this regard, so I'd be surprised if he didn't already have something in the works.
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eastmidswhizzkid
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Couldnt resist it when the only shop i looked in had it. was it £37 well spent? well it was certainly spent, and i wanted it so... i would probably have spent that on a mint original with insert if i came across one so no complaints. its been 30 plus years since i bought a brand new vinyl record -so long i can only guess at what it was. the last Sisters vinyl i got new would have been the Doctor Jeep 12".
I'm happy anyway.
Well I was handsome and I was strong
And I knew the words to every song.
"Did my singing please you?"
"No! The words you sang were wrong!"

:bat:
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eastmidswhizzkid wrote: 28 Apr 2023, 16:34 Couldnt resist it when the only shop i looked in had it. was it £37 well spent? well it was certainly spent, and i wanted it so... i would probably have spent that on a mint original with insert if i came across one so no complaints. its been 30 plus years since i bought a brand new vinyl record -so long i can only guess at what it was. the last Sisters vinyl i got new would have been the Doctor Jeep 12".
I'm happy anyway.
Well, also it's smoke grey marbled ... who could ever resist that ... :wink: ...
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