Heartland

VT got me into the Sisters in the first place so I love that album to.
At first i skipped Ribbons but after diving into the other albums and "Some girls..." i started to like Ribbons to. FALAA and Floodland might be much more of classic albums but VT is also really really great

It has it's place. If I'm clubbing, I'll prefer to dance to Detonation Boulevard or Vision Thing, but for everyday Going-To-Places-And-Shutting-Out-The-Horror-Of-Contemporary-British-Culture I prefer the older albums.

I guess I'm too nice.

I think it's splendid, the music is more straight forward Rock n Roll than the earlier stuff but the lyrics are certainly deep and meaningful / less (take your choice).

Wht is also good that it is another dimension, at the time I would have preferred a Floodland II - but that would have just been a cheap copy so I think its better to have the change of direction, maybe the next one will be acoustic folk.

Somebody mentioned in this thread yonks back that Eldo did loads and loads of fannying about with VT and in the end they released the "early" recordings - which is why it has that demo unfinished sound to it.

Does that mean there is some lavish version of VT with choirs and a zillion overdubs?

Probably not.

It's half-and-half rough mixes and finished versions, and there's been some speculation as to which songs are which. Me, I definitely think at least Det Blvd, WYDSM and Dr Jeep are "rough" (whereas the single version of WYDSM is "finished").

that does have a "Big Sound" Michael

I tend to agree- I often notice that the small difference between WYDSM and the German Release makes all the difference, from mediocre to good.
I recently heard the Dr Jeep extended version which I think is also superior to the VT version.

I believe a VT with finished mixes would have sounded much, much better.

Dr. Moody wrote:@Markfiend isnt that a Steve Sutherland quote ??

Erm. It's at least "inspired" by something I read somewhere. I was hoping no-one would notice.

gotcha

is it true that 'more' was supposed to be on Floodland? but he thought that it sounded to rock, even before the overdubs were added?

In fact....no logic!

Vision Thing was the step towards that pulsating thunder the Sisters make when on stage nowadays, and as such would have been worth every second spent on it.
It contains one of my ultimate favourite songs (Ribbons) and, as Blast! allready said, seriously kicks erse. It took me a while to really get into it, but I learnt to love the album well.

eotunun wrote:It took me a while to really get into it, but I learnt to love the album well.

Same story for me too.
I didn't like Vision Thing too much first. Except for Ribbons & I was wrong of course, they're among the sisters' best.
Years later I moved to the big city and it's then & there I began to like Vision Thing. For me it's a very urban & nocturnal thing and there's loads of stuff going on...
I remember vividly how one hot summernight around 4am I was listening to Vision Thing on the headphones... Just minutes after it ended I heared gunfire. A man was shot almost in front of our house. It was creepy, a little scary and very much discomforting, but in some weird way that was the night Vision Thing found it's place for me...
I play it almost only at night.

radiojamaica wrote: A man was shot almost in front of our house.

Ozpat wrote:

radiojamaica wrote: A man was shot almost in front of our house.

Can happen when you live in his area of 't Stad genaamd 't Falconploan

eotunun wrote:Vision Thing was the step towards that pulsating thunder the Sisters make when on stage nowadays

I don't know.. one of the Pulsating Thunders I like best is the live rendition of Flood II (one of my favourite album tracks anyway), which really shakes the ground. Another one is Lucretia (both album+live). I can't right now think of any VT tracks that are up to those as live versions. Doctor Jeep is groovy but not quite on a par. Perhaps a good live version of More, but that one isn't played anymore.

But VT live is a fcuking corker!

Pista wrote:But VT live is a fcuking corker!

nowayjose wrote:

eotunun wrote:Vision Thing was the step towards that pulsating thunder the Sisters make when on stage nowadays

I don't know.. one of the Pulsating Thunders I like best is the live rendition of Flood II (one of my favourite album tracks anyway), which really shakes the ground. Another one is Lucretia (both album+live). I can't right now think of any VT tracks that are up to those as live versions. Doctor Jeep is groovy but not quite on a par. Perhaps a good live version of More, but that one isn't played anymore.

O Jose.. Come on!
Ribbons life is instant thunder. Crash'n'burn.
I'm talking about the change of style that took place with VT here.
Can you imagine Top Night Out on the Royal Albert Hall gig?
That may be a daft party tune, but boy, it makes a party!

eotunun wrote: I'm talking about the change of style that took place with VT here.
Can you imagine Top Night Out on the Royal Albert Hall gig?
That may be a daft party tune, but boy, it makes a party!

I think the current live style is sufficiently different from both the F&L&A-era aswell as the VT album to make any speculation if the live sound would be different if VT would have been Floodland II hypothetical at best. IMHO, of course.

nitestorm wrote:is it true that 'more' was supposed to be on Floodland? but he thought that it sounded to rock, even before the overdubs were added?

Not as far as I'm aware, it was written after the release, the Steinman production could well have been (just my speculation) a way of bridging the gap between the two albums, or maybe he just liked the production style, but as far as I know, More wasn't intended for Floodland. I could always be wrong, though, best ask the anoraks.

Dark wrote:[I could always be wrong, though, best ask the anoraks.

Who are 'the anoraks' ??

I've always liked Vision Thing , from the beginning .
'More' is fantastic , 'Ribbons' is even better live than the studioversion..

Elise wrote:Who are 'the anoraks' ??

They are legion and they are many.

<---definitely not an anorak.



Somewhat of an otaku, though, I suppose...

I remember to have been very disappointed by Vision Thing when it came out. And it didn't changed.
I listened a lot to the album at the time, because it was the Sisters, not because the album was good. But the lyrics were still so good.
Before the album came out I heard the single "More". Sounded like Floodland but more guitar-oriented. That was what I expected. But unfortunately it was heavy metal guitars, not fine ones. Even Tim Bricheno's guitars (I was a lot into All About Eve) are not what they should have been.
My favorite tracks are still "I Was Wrong", with these cascades of crystal-clear guitars, and "Ribbons", very dense and tightened.

it was and is a major disappointment but I've come to love it over the years - absence makes the heart grow fonder

it's still sub standard and I only support it via 'brand loyalty' at least we got the killer tune that is "You Could Be the One" outta the sessions

Amen!