Heartland

Well.

the latest Depeche Mode album, which can be seen as some kind of success for such longtime geeks, sold 1200 copies in the Netherlands. Imagine how little of that money is going to mr. Gore or Gahan, even if they wrote the songs. An album these days is a joke if you're in it for the money and your name isn't 50 Cent or Kanye West.

Gore & Gahan get their respect by fans who go see them during very good gigs in very large areas. They earn money with THAT. They make records through artistic ambition.

Now, go figure. The latest TSOM album, whatever it will be, will sell no more. I bet AE sells less than that Modern Talking 'reggae versions' album. With or without major. Face it. And it's the money that still raises Vons fist and makes him mumble. The money, which is earned through gigs paid by you and me... always. And THAT could be a great album title.

AE has no more artistic ambitions in 2008. Shows up in the smoke, hops on the bus, feeds the cat. It's a job, no art.

But do we care? Must we strike, cry, leave MyHeartland.co.uk, will we no longer buy tickets at smaller venues, do we have to stop singing along with Alice? no. So let's stop this!! No album please!! The Sisters is a live band, a rock and roll band, and they made 3 nice albums.

I still prefer The Sisters of Mercy way more than any s**t newie.

My opinion is that from Eldo's opinion there is no point in making a new album because there aren't enough folk out there who would buy it.

Obviously on Forums like this there are people who would sell their souls for the long overdue much awaited next instalment, but in the real world the Sisters are something that came and went in the 1980's.

The venues get packed out, but as has been pointed out, the majority are just there for a greatest hits nostalgia trip. It's not as if things get upset with any variety in the stage act.

I went to see Gary Glitter in the early 80's (long before his proclivities were known) and the bloke went down a storm in front of a full house - all his old songs, all the old routines just slower and fatter. If he stopped halfway to "introduce one from his latest LP" - he would have just annoyed the crowd - and the huge majority wouldn't have bought his LP, no matter how good it was. It was not what they were there for

Is proclivity the right word?

Obviously on Forums like this there are people who would sell their souls for the long overdue much awaited next instalment, but in the real world the Sisters are something that came and went in the 1980's.

and that is the unconvenient truth.

dinky daisy wrote:The Sisters is a live band

Shame they're not very good at it anymore

million voices wrote:
Obviously on Forums like this there are people who would sell their souls for the long overdue much awaited next instalment, but in the real world the Sisters are something that came and went in the 1980's.

At last!!!!

Hello million voices, you're alright.

Each incarnation of the band in recent years has had cheaper members.
All he has left is the name so I'm sure that deep down he doesn't want to soil the name by releasing an album so sub standard that it could be a Polish tribute album. No offence

He had a chance in 95 to get back the best guitarist he's ever worked with. He didn't even reply to the man's letter.

million voices wrote:
Obviously on Forums like this there are people who would sell their souls for the long overdue much awaited next instalment, but in the real world the Sisters are something that came and went in the 1980's.

In that case there must have been an extreme timewarp or 2006 was a measurement error of my calendar.

Did anyone read the news about the upcomming new EMI boss?
"Save money&raise efficiency" was what he generally said. I read that as "Find more room cleaners who will play The King for a day and cash in on their expense".
SSV was as clear a statement as it can get that is not going to get treated like a ball in a game. So until the environment becomes better for bands in general, I don't think we'll see a new album. And is Eldo the one to blame? I'd say not bloody likely. Einstürzende Neubauten are without a record label now. After how many years? Twenty? More? Radiohead, who delivered big money for a long time, are without a label.
It would possibly be a nice way of feeding the audience to offer downloads. But they have to be sorted out as well. there hardly will be rookie companies that are able to deliver just what the Sisters need.
For evidence read this, it's been along a few days and surely still a decent view of the situation. If the Sisters weren't Andrews saturday job he'd be pretty bad off. Face it folks, the big days of the rock'n'roll era aren't there at the moment. When musicians get replaced by sequencers as some folks invent a genre that sells by ruminating samples of old hits with some bloke or chiqua plappering along with it you can't make rock music. Its production costs are higher as you need real people really playing! As long as crap sells, you won't see anyone throw it on a field as dung for the next harvest.
Beat up the teens for that, they deserve it anyway.

Sisters Shmishters, I'm getting into acid-dub-grebo

dinky daisy wrote:

Obviously on Forums like this there are people who would sell their souls for the long overdue much awaited next instalment, but in the real world the Sisters are something that came and went in the 1980's.

and that is the unconvenient truth.

It certainly is not....

The nineties were very succesful.

_emma_ wrote:

Popoooo wrote:We can't pay 30 euros for a nebulous and depressing show that has got reason to be only for the money and the payment of the bill.

Nobody and nothing can force you to do that if you don't want to, so?

It's true, but whatever from this man I don't approve this behaviour.

Popoooo wrote:

_emma_ wrote:

Popoooo wrote:We can't pay 30 euros for a nebulous and depressing show that has got reason to be only for the money and the payment of the bill.

Nobody and nothing can force you to do that if you don't want to, so?

It's true, but whatever from this man I don't approve this behaviour.

He might not care....

eotunun wrote:SSV was as clear a statement as it can get that is not going to get treated like a ball in a game. So until the environment becomes better for bands in general, I don't think we'll see a new album....
Face it folks, the big days of the rock'n'roll era aren't there at the moment. When musicians get replaced by sequencers as some folks invent a genre that sells by ruminating samples of old hits with some bloke or chiqua plappering along with it you can't make rock music.

I heartily agree with you in principle, especially on the point that there's no reason for Von to want to follow up with anything that's not going to be as big as Vision Thing at the very least. And no-one wants him to be Axl Rose and keep promising an album and never delivering. (Yeah, he promised singles, but I think we've established that was Adam P's problem.)

On the other hand... the very basis of the Sisters is "replacing a musician with a sequencer" - originally a drummer, then bass and keyboard players. The Sisters came out of a movement that was a reaction against the Dinosaur Band era - the era of ELP going on tour with a full orchestra, etc. - and they were always first and last and always a parody of Big Rock music cliches. Now that Big Rock Music is dying, perhaps Eldritch thinks he's proved his point. The thing is also that you have to keep up with the tech to keep ahead of the play, and all the available evidence suggests that Von's music-tech skills reached about 1993 and got stuck there.

If the end of big record company budgets is done, that may mean the end of the Sisters, but given the above I think it would be a completion of their essential m*****n (heh!), not a failure. Would we really like Von to become a Mick Jagger-style living joke? The sustainable music of the future will always be what you don't need a big budget, or a rehearsal room you can play acoustic drums in, or even any instruments other than a microphone, a laptop and a MIDI controller.

Some of us don't even need the MIDI controller.

Nah, I think the whole "parody" thing is just to mask any inabilities. The only thing they're capable of parodying now is themselves.
Either put out a new album with the new guitarists, or stop pretending you're going to.

biggy wrote:
He had a chance in 95 to get back the best guitarist he's ever worked with. He didn't even reply to the man's letter.

Wayne?

H. Blackrose wrote:SSV was as clear a statement as it can get.
Face it folks, the big days of the rock'n'roll era aren't there at the moment. - the era of ELP going on tour with a full orchestra, etc. - The thing is also that you have to keep up with the tech to keep ahead of the play, and all the available evidence suggests that Von's music-tech skills reached about 1993 and got stuck there. Would we really like Von to become a Mick Jagger-style living joke?

I paraphrased you for speed, forgive me ~ you haven't a fuckin' scooby son, where do you want me to start?

paul wrote:Perhaps he's afraid to release new material. After 15 years of not releasing anything I can imagine he's anxious to bring out a record that isn't half as good as the first three albums.

Bot on the other hand: he doesn't give a s**t

i'm with paul with it. he's just afraid. i can smell his fear right here...

H. Blackrose wrote:The sustainable music of the future will always be what you don't need a big budget, or a rehearsal room you can play acoustic drums in, or even any instruments other than a microphone, a laptop and a MIDI controller.

Sorry, Blackrose. I listened to the music of the authors of the blog article. If that's the future of music, I consider it a wise idea to invest in a fleet of trucks specially designed to carry stage equipment for rock bands.
There is thunder and expression coming from strings and pickups only they can produce. Looking at all the chimera designs between bass and guitar bands use today (Just one extreme example here..) I dare to predict that these instruments still have a long life on stages ahead of them.
For the Synth Euphoria: Synths have been in use for how long now? 40 years? Contemporary music without them wouldn't work the way it does-But they stick to their genre when being the main instrument. Each kind of instrument has its very own ability.
Finally, The Sisters: What drummer had to be replaced? and: When in the history of The Sisters was there a keyboarder playing on stage?
..maybe except for a cardboard model on Peter's Pop Show.

psichonaut wrote:

biggy wrote:
He had a chance in 95 to get back the best guitarist he's ever worked with. He didn't even reply to the man's letter.

Wayne?

I said the "man's" letter.

eotunun wrote::
Finally, The Sisters: What drummer had to be replaced? and: When in the history of The Sisters was there a keyboarder playing on stage?
..maybe except for a cardboard model on Peter's Pop Show.

The drummer that had to be replaced was Andrew Eldritch and as for live keyboards: Dan Donovan (Tour Thing, 1990) and there was a female keyboard player who replaced him, but I can't remember her name.

biggy wrote:

psichonaut wrote:

biggy wrote:
He had a chance in 95 to get back the best guitarist he's ever worked with. He didn't even reply to the man's letter.

Wayne?

I said the "man's" letter.

well...but you said... the best guitarrist

Popoooo wrote:He's a greedy, and ungrateful man towards his public for me. He vex the hopes of his fans.

if von was greedy he'd have cobbled together any old s**t and released it. we would have long ago had a live dvd compilation put-together by his cat. we would have had a complete stomp-down from on high (ok, i know he's not very tall ) with regard to free distribution of unofficial live recordings. remember (those of you stupid enough to have not cottoned on to the obvious) that baxcorp are vigilant even when hibernating. weeding wouldn't be tolerated as a avaricious andrew would sell his own recordings at an extortionate rate thru the webb-site/at gigs.
a grasping von would have bitten marx's hand off for 1995 and nowhere.
he would tour yearly but do fewer different venues; causing diehard fans to travel to over-subscribed gigs miles from home -probably in pricier capital cities. need i go on?

and please -what has eldritch done to display ingratitude? a massive world tour taking in almost everywhere, even the Ungrateful States of America*
*petseri and SINsister exempt statement.

and finally, all the fans from "the old days" would hate it just enough to copy a mate's but not buy it. for f**k's sake motorhead constantly tour and fill venues globally, yet ask lemmy the last time a studio album earned him a crust.

hoping to see another tour schedule is the only realistic hope he could "vex" and as the band have never stopped gigging "for good this time" like some bands i'd count your blessings.

James Blast wrote:

H. Blackrose wrote:SSV was as clear a statement as it can get.
Face it folks, the big days of the rock'n'roll era aren't there at the moment. - the era of ELP going on tour with a full orchestra, etc. - The thing is also that you have to keep up with the tech to keep ahead of the play, and all the available evidence suggests that Von's music-tech skills reached about 1993 and got stuck there. Would we really like Von to become a Mick Jagger-style living joke?

I paraphrased you for speed, forgive me ~ you haven't a fuckin' scooby son, where do you want me to start?

You could start by getting my gender right. If I'm wrong that a certain tongue-in-cheekness towards rock-n-roll cliche is an essential part of the Sisters, or that Von has not embraced post-1993 music tech with alacrity, I welcome correction.

I have a walnut tree in my garden, and it has never produced any walnuts so far. Its age is more than enough to do it, and I've tried everything - trimming it, adding fertilisers to the soil around it, hugging it and talking gently, kicking it and threatening to make it firewood if it produces no walnuts next summer....
I've always loved fresh walnuts and in fact, this beautiful tree in the garden was one of the things that weighed towards "yes" when it came to making decision on buying that particular house 5 years ago.
After the fourth summer without a single walnut, I rang the previous owner of the property to ask her about it. She said: "yes, we had the same problem with that tree for years. It used to have walnuts years ago, and then it decided to stop. Perhaps it got too cold in one of the frosty winters, or maybe it lacked something in the soil (but then again, why do the neighbours' trees just over the fence behave normally?), we never figured that out. It never looked sick, so that can't have been a parasite or other disease. I guess it just didn't want to make anymore walnuts, that's all. We thought about cutting it down, but the kids liked to hang the hammock on it, so we let it stay. You could do the same: either let it stay or cut it down, but I wouldn't count on any walnuts if I were you."
It's no fairy-tale, it's a true story, I can take photos of myself under that tree in the summer so you can see its beautiful green leaves and not a single walnut amongst them. Before you say that this comparison is pointless, I would like you to prove the pointlessness of the "when's dinner? when's dinner?" thing.

[forestry rant on]Cutting a walnut tree down for firewood?!?!?!?!? Are you insane?????????? That stuff goes for stupid amounts of money as timber for furniture and veneer, whoever comes to get it will want as much of the stump as possible as well. Turning a walnut tree into firewood is...is...sacrilege...[forestry rant off]

Good analogy, BTW.

Oh, if you would like me to see if I can give you any suggestions as to what might be wrong with it, feel free to PM me and I'll tell you what I'll need to know.

_emma_ wrote:I have a walnut tree in my garden, and it has never produced any walnuts so far. Its age is more than enough to do it, and I've tried everything - trimming it, adding fertilisers to the soil around it, hugging it and talking gently, kicking it and threatening to make it firewood if it produces no walnuts next summer....
I've always loved fresh walnuts and in fact, this beautiful tree in the garden was one of the things that weighed towards "yes" when it came to making decision on buying that particular house 5 years ago.
After the fourth summer without a single walnut, I rang the previous owner of the property to ask her about it. She said: "yes, we had the same problem with that tree for years. It used to have walnuts years ago, and then it decided to stop. Perhaps it got too cold in one of the frosty winters, or maybe it lacked something in the soil (but then again, why do the neighbours' trees just over the fence behave normally?), we never figured that out. It never looked sick, so that can't have been a parasite or other disease. I guess it just didn't want to make anymore walnuts, that's all. We thought about cutting it down, but the kids liked to hang the hammock on it, so we let it stay. You could do the same: either let it stay or cut it down, but I wouldn't count on any walnuts if I were you."
It's no fairy-tale, it's a true story, I can take photos of myself under that tree in the summer so you can see its beautiful green leaves and not a single walnut amongst them. Before you say that this comparison is pointless, I would like you to prove the pointlessness of the "when's dinner? when's dinner?" thing.

Speaking of nuts: perhaps we should kick Eldo in the nuts in order to get a new album