Heartland

I found this while browsing Amazon. It's subtitled "A Tribute to the Sisters of Mercy", and appears to be a collection of Sisters covers. (I thought only the Sisters did covers of TSOM stuff
Has anyone listened to it - is it any good? It's kinda hard to say from the little previews you get on the site. But the opening version of Black Planet sounds crap, and another version by someone called David E. Williams sounds like he's trying a bit too hard.

if its not the smurphs then it's a frisbee.

Its absolute rubbish.

It's truely dreadful, do yourself a favour and leave well alone.

yeah, it was pretty awful the last time i checked.

honestly, don't bother. unless, of course, you are looking for something to put you permanently off sisters songs.

Another vote for 'rubbish'.

The title says everything already ...

Insofar, I never took the effort to properly check ...

Pish pish pish pish pish.

Basically a load of Californian wannabees who are trying too hard and missing the point entirely; this is probably the LP that specifically provoked the "Dear Doktor" entry at http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/misc/deardok.htm

You do not need this in your life.

If you really wanna hear it, do a blog search for a downloadable copy (not that I would condone piracy, oh no), then make up your own mind about whether or not you think the record industry deserves any of your money in exchange for it.

it's been ages since i last read the "dear doktor" page. nice one for that michael, that's put me in a right good humour.

The Automatic Head Detonator track is good. The rest is terrible.

Haven't got it, never will.
That counts for all the tribute cd's.

Ozpat wrote:Haven't got it, never will.
That counts for all the tribute cd's.

The same with me ... but then again I think,
these people do put some effort into tributes. And they obviously like The Sisters ...
That's something which deserves at least a little respect ... other only talk ...

Therefore, I usaully prefer to check what they issue ... could be nice people, some way.

Not much effort is put into it. Honestly, it's absolutely terrible, with the one exception I noted above, which sounds like the JAMC, if they had taken all the drugs in the world, trying to play Black Planet when the only acquaintance they have with the song is a lyric sheet.

That album should be banished to... neverland!

Or you could pop over here: www.myspace.com/thereptilehaus to hear how we Californians do it! =). Just added Body Electric and Burn to the upcoming setlists, with Black Planet being a recent addition. You can also view this on our youtube page: www.youtube.com/thereptilehaus

sultan2075 wrote:The Automatic Head Detonator track is good. The rest is terrible.

Same for me
I had that cd once, but sold it because most of it is pretty bad.
I haven't bought a Sisters tribute cd since

warren suicide

Bought it years ago, played it when I got home... & its never been back on since. Utter crap.

On a related note, that other cover versions album called A Mercyful Tribute To The Sisters has 2 or 3 tracks that I think are pretty damn fine actually.

See, most times I've listened to Sisters covers, they've all been pretty good.
Dunno what CDs you guys have...

I think this is the covers album which has a version of Alice with violins and female vocals - i rather like that. Sadly, most of the rest are indeed utter shiitte.

Warren Suicide and Nouvelle Vague and Lambchop did a good job, that tribute album we talk about was made to tribute themselves rather than Sisters.

First and Last and Forever Vs. A Mercyful Tribute

Both have 2-3 decent covers, the rest is total crap.

Funhouse, THe Last Dance, Prophetess, and The Mist of Avalon were decent bands back then, and did alright with their covers.

So unless that tribute album is a dollar, I'd leave it in used bin or clearance bin or whatever.

But in the end, Alkaline Trio and Crade of Filth's covers of Sisters tunes make both of those Sisters tributes sound damn good.

Quiff Boy wrote:warren suicide

Let's do the Warren Drugs?

I curse you people for making me dig it out. Since I did....

Automatic Head Detonator--Black Planet: righteous. Electronics and slide guitar, with the lyrics to Black Planet grafted onto it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the high point of the record. I would have liked to hear more from them.

The Prophetess--First and Last and Always: weak sauce. Music is competent, vocals are sad, bad, and lacking in any sort of testicular fortitude--one wonders if the singer actually understands the words he is singing. They don't get it.

The Shroud--Alice: Bad name, worse cover. The paranoia and claustrophobia of the original are replaced by a bunch of twits running around the woods in long, flowing dresses. Again, the vocals are bad: no emotion; i.e., the same complaint as above.

Eleven Shadows--Afterhours: Crap. The only good cover I've ever heard of this is by the Supersuckers.

The Last Dance--Body and Soul: is this the last track? Alas, no. It is bad in that it is relatively inoffensive. I bet the Supersuckers would do a ripping cover of this--unlike the Last Dance, who have managed to make a great song bland and flavorless.

Wreckage--Amphetamine Logic: Ugh. The recording itself is muffled, the guitars sound like they've been run through a Metal Zone, and the vocals...what can I say? Balls? No. Competent? No. Are the lyrics correct? No. It's as though someone recorded the song, and then sent it through a magical filter that makes it suck. Par for the course at this point, though.

Shamefaces--Walk Away: they should be ashamed of this. The mix is terrible. The individual instruments sound like shit. The vocal--as in many of the songs on this record, the vocal is the weak point. Crap-crappy-crappola. How shocking. Everything about this is terrible.

Halo--Valentine: It's just boring, really. Nothing incompetent enough to stand out, nothing to write home about, in either a good or bad sense. The use of the flange is annoying. The vocals are weak--which is, as noted, a common affliction on this record.

Faith and Disease--Bury Me Deep: First of all, Faith and Disease is a shitty name. Secondly, the first line of the song is not "all of this superstition." Does it improve thereafter? No, it does not.

Flesh of my Flesh--Marian: the band name does not bode well, and my suspicions are confirmed. The whole song is slowed down. The vocals are the ass end of awful, which makes them well suited for the track, because the band, too, is the ass end of awful. Comically bad. They think I'm going to listen to eight minutes of this garbage? I don't think so.

Triana--Heartland: again, recording quality is lacking. Lots of synths, which isn't bad in and of itself. The vocals are muttered tunelessly in a closet. It doesn't even rise to the level of comically bad. It's just bad, and there was little to no effort put into it (which, to be fair, can be said about nearly everything on this record).

Halo--Lights: They're back again. See above. Let's also add: distortion on vocals is good when the vocalist can actually sing. If it's covering up a bad vocal, guess what? All you've got is a distorted bad vocal. The same can be applied, one might add, to the guitar playing. Dullsville, baby.

David E. Williams--Black Planet: Ugh. The vocal is laughably bad. This jackass works very hard to adopt what--I think--is supposed to be an English accent. Instead, he just bellows tunelessly and sounds like he might be mildly retarded. I guess it's quite nice on the part of Cleopatra Records to let him have some studio time. It probably made him the happiest resident of the state hospital.

The Prophetess--Alice: Other than "Ugh, not these guys again," what can I say? I can say that it lacks balls. Color me surprised. Oh, and the singer definitely ate his Peter Murphy cornflakes before recording this one. Lousy. How shocking.

Thanks Sultan2075 I was going to dig this out for a wee listen again .Won't now. I think I owe you a pint.