Heartland

Greetings, all!

Wandering around aimlessly on Amazon.com as I'm known to do, I came across yet another goth compilation CD, entitled "Gothic Club Classics." On the CD is "Goddess" by The Merry Thoughts. Knowing how AE so loved (still loves?) this band, I took a listen to the song clip - keep in mind, I've never heard anything by The Merry Thoughts before (believe it or not!). I was *stunned* at the vocal similarities between AE's stylings and those of The Merry Thoughts' frontman, Marvin Arkham. More interesting, though, is an Amazon.com customer's review of The Merry Thoughts' release, "Psychocult":

"Reviewer: Arian from Brisbane, Australia
When Andrew Eldritch found himself no longer on speaking terms with Warners, he packed his bags and vanished. Only to re-appear in germany as someone named Marvin Arkham, at the front of a Band called The Merry Thoughts, who sound startlingly identical to The Sisters of Mercy. What you have here is the 2000 release by the Sisters of Mercy, and it rocks. The Title track is an instant classic, the weakest moment is probably track 8 "Will You", a wierd, self deprecating love song, but even that has grown on me, and there isn't another track on the album that would sound out of place on the goth club dance floor. To sum up: A more subtle, developed sound, but still retains their famous Sisters distilled quality's. Totally Recomended."

WTF?!! Do you think this guy's got something here? Or am I merely an ignorant "Johnny-come-lately" to this particular phenomenon? Help!

Full of s**t.



Paddy

utter crap.

i have that cd, and they are not the sisters.

but yes, he does sound a lot like von circa vision thing, but without the power to cut loose and howl... ol' marvin sounds like a very good copycat, albeit a bit restrained.

i read an interview on a TMT fansite where marvin claimed he only heard of the sisters in 1988!! my arse! he's been practising that psuedo american whine for decades...

and 'will you' is a cover of a hazel dean (or is it o'connor? i forget...) song. its a good song but covered badly. no dynamic and nothing worth listening to past the first 45 seconds.

as for the rest of the psychocult album... apart from the appalingly darkling-esque title its not too bad. guitars are a little lacking, and the synths are distinctly 80s in places, but it fills a gap, if you see what i mean.

ultimately though, TMT have neither the inspiration nor the songs. they only left me wanting to listen to the real thing... however, if you see it for sale in a bargain bin, go for it

i doubt von was ever a fan though... they are way too darkling!

(and they aren't as good at copying the sisters as the smurphs either!! ha! )

_________________
They are the sound and static between the radio stations.
They are the smudged and blurred light between night-time railway stations.

<font size=1>[ This Message was edited by: Quiff Boy on Jun 14, 2002 12:23pm ]</font>

...is a cover of a hazel dean (or is it o'connor? i forget...) ...

O'Connor!

I have to say I reckon it's s**t too. I agree he sounds VERY good in places but it's still not Mr. E., although what with one thing and another I wish I could do it that well

Rumours about this have been going around since about 1997/8 and I still think it's too overtly gothy for him to have anything to do with, after all he's said.

Yeah, the guy does sound a lot like AE but it's not quite the same, and they can't write songs like AE either. All in all it's nice and fun but... not the real thing.

Phew! That's a relief, then! I must admit that the song clips I listened to were rather crap, so I was hoping against hope that it *wasn't* ol' Android in disguise, hehehe...

"i doubt von was ever a fan though... they are way too darkling!"

Erm...I um...*cough cough*...sorta had the wrong band in mind here, actually - sorry. I meant The March Violets who, of course, have nothing to do with The Merry Thoughts. My bad! Please excuse me now, I have to go hide.

That's right, move along now, nothing to see here...

On Jun 14, 2002 4:29pm, SINsister wrote:
... I meant The March Violets ....

Ah! Now there's a good band!

Sounds remarkably like the old rumour that Eldritch and James Ray were one and the same.

Does anyone know what happened to the release of the SSV CD with drum tracks, or any of the alledged techno songs Von's been paying the rent with in disguise?