Heartland

Hi everyone!
Can someone explain this elektra/east west story.?
Some records were made by elektra. Then Sisters changed to East West? What is WEA? Is it East West? Which singles and albums were by Elektra?
I have a Vision Thing album by Elektra and one by East West. Which albums and singles are in both versions?

If any has the time to answer, I'd appreciate it!

http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/gen/fa ... aqnorm.htm


What happened to the 1991 truce with East West which involved Sisters records retaining WEA distribution in America (to satisfy Time Warner) and coming out via Mute (to satisfy the band - and Mute)?

We had to get away from Elektra, but we weren't allowed to move outside the Warner family. Mute was the only Warner-distributed label to have any interest in the band, and we liked them. We were getting on fine until the first Sisters/Mute record was due to come out.

Mute sent a fax to London, telling East West that East West's poor scheduling would damage the band in America. Nothing unusual (in our case) about the fax or its content. Unfortunately Mute sent a copy to Andrew, whereupon East West terminated the deal.

Since then the Sisters have had no representation in America. Having been on Elektra, we haven't really noticed the difference.

Thx! It's a bit clearer now!

there's a when you dont see me promo cd that was released by elektra.
but the single was released by east west. is wea the same as east west?

*confusing*

WEA is Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corporation. East West is WEA's label and was responsible for Sisters records outside the states and Elektra was responsible for Sisters records in America.

At least that's what I've always assumed.

i see. it'll take me a while to process that

I've got 2 Floodland CDs (in addition to the Floodland promo CD - yes, I'm that sad - I've got also 2 Floodland vinyls, a Japanese version and the usual version - unfortunately the poster of the ordinary version has a little spot on it ):
- CD which has Elektra logo on CDs back and the word Elektra on its spine (sorry, was it the right word in English? ). This one has NOT that lovely picture of AE & PM standing in the mist and the photo of AE is monocrome;
- CD which has EastWest logo on CDs back and the words Merciful Release on its spine. This one HAS the AE & PM photo and the photo of AE is colourful.

There's also a Floodland CD without EastWest branding, and with a catalogue number written in caslon antique. Am I right in thinking this one is an earlier issue (it's the same CD cat.# as is referenced on the LP) and the EastWest pressings are later (early '90s?)

Impressive thread necro Rob

I was cataloguing my discs and need the EastWest info

Brad wrote:http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/gen/fa ... aqnorm.htm


What happened to the 1991 truce with East West which involved Sisters records retaining WEA distribution in America (to satisfy Time Warner) and coming out via Mute (to satisfy the band - and Mute)?

We had to get away from Elektra, but we weren't allowed to move outside the Warner family. Mute was the only Warner-distributed label to have any interest in the band, and we liked them. We were getting on fine until the first Sisters/Mute record was due to come out.

Mute sent a fax to London, telling East West that East West's poor scheduling would damage the band in America. Nothing unusual (in our case) about the fax or its content. Unfortunately Mute sent a copy to Andrew, whereupon East West terminated the deal.

Since then the Sisters have had no representation in America. Having been on Elektra, we haven't really noticed the difference.

This is, 20-some-odd years on, rather funny. Which would have done more damage to the band in America: poor scheduling by East West (they would have competed with a Simply Red release, wasn't that the story?) or no releases at all for 21 years? Inquiring minds want to know.

robertzombie wrote:There's also a Floodland CD without EastWest branding, and with a catalogue number written in caslon antique. Am I right in thinking this one is an earlier issue (it's the same CD cat.# as is referenced on the LP) and the EastWest pressings are later (early '90s?)

This one is very similar to the CD I bought in 1988, there's only a slight difference in the barcode (same number but not the same disposition : 22924 22462 intead of 2292-42246-2, and the 0 and the 1 are at the foot of the barcode).

You would be stunned to see how many diff copies exist. I have around 25 versions at last count and I didn't have them all.

Is the music any different? Or just the cover?

Untitled wrote:there's only a slight difference in the barcode (same number but not the same disposition : 22924 22462 intead of 2292-42246-2, and the 0 and the 1 are at the foot of the barcode).

this is anorak nit-picking of the highest order- i have to echo mr fiend: is the music the same?

I have the same version as Untitled's with the same barcode arrangement and as I only have one copy of this mastering of Floodland then YES the music is the same.

All of those early German CD pressings should have the same matrix numbers on the discs (242246-2 @ 2) - ie, their digital contents is identical. The latter EastWest pressings have different matrix numbers, but the digital contents is the same (I checked).

The Elektra CDs have various matrix numbers (different plants on different coasts). The Elektra CD was mastered by notable engineer Zal Schreiber, and his style results in greater top-end definition than is heard on the German discs. You can see this for yourself by performing a spectrum analysis on the Elektra Vs WEA CDs in Audacity, you will see that the Elektra disc has visible information at the highest of frequencies that simply isn't there on the German counterpart. A knock-on effect of this is that the highest notes in Dominion have more definition and the soft keys on Flood II have more emphasis. The song mixes are identical, the mastering is most certainly not. Last time I performed a shoot-out between these two discs I preferred the American mastering.