Floodland

This article covers the music album. For the band see Floodland (band)

Floodland
Studio album by The Sisters of Mercy
Publication (s)	November 13, 1987
Label (s)	WEA Records
Genre (s)	Gothic rock , dark wave
running time	49:16 minutes
occupation	Vocals, instruments: Andrew Eldritch Bass guitar: Patricia Morrison Drum computer: Doctor Avalanche
production	Andrew Eldritch, Larry Alexander, Jim Steinman
Studio (s)	The Power Station, New York City Strawberry Recording Studios, Stockport The Wool Hall Studios, Bath AIR Studios , London
chronology First and Last and Always (1985) Floodland Vision Thing (1990)

Floodland is the second music album by the British band The Sisters of Mercy . It was released in 1987 and was the band's commercial breakthrough.

prehistory

Dissolution of the band

After the release of the first album First and Last and Always in March 1985, band boss Andrew Eldritch initially planned to record an ABBA cover version as a single with the band and tried to get Jim Steinman as producer for it: "I called him [1985] when the band had "Gimme Gimme Gimme" in their repertoire and I told him about the song and that our version had to sound absolutely 'stupid'. He was entirely of my opinion, but had too little time. Then the band broke up. "

The end of the band came during the preparations for the second LP in October 1985. Eldritch: "The next Sisters album should be called 'Left on Mission and Revenge'."

Eldritch, who now wanted to realize the album as a solo artist, called the bassist Patricia Morrison , who was on tour with her band Fur Bible with Siouxsie and the Banshees in Great Britain , and asked her to work with him. Morrison: "The day they all fell apart he called me and said, 'Would you do this?' And I said yes. [...] But we had a few more tours planned, so I waited until that was done and then got out. "

The breakup of the band was announced in the music press on November 2nd, 1985: “The Sisters of Mercy consisted of Andrew Eldritch and his loyal drum computer Doctor Avalanche as of this week, after guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams left the band. Although this ruined studio plans for a new album this month, Andrew now plans to record that album in the new year and could use Wayne as a session guitarist. […] Andrew has also asked Patricia Morrison , currently with Fur Bible, to be part of the album, but it is not yet known whether Andrew will continue under the name Sisters of Mercy. "

Andrew Eldritch later stated that he hadn't planned to continue under the old band name: “For me it was the end of the band.” “When we went our separate ways, the people who are now The Mission and I agreed ensure that nobody continues to use the band name. "

The Sisterhood and This Corrosion

On January 20, 1986 Andrew Eldritch released the single Giving Ground under the name The Sisterhood , on which his musician friend James Ray sang.

In late February 1986 the Merciful Release label issued a press release announcing the "upcoming Andrew Eldritch album , " which "had the working title 'Left on Mission and Revenge' for several months."

This solo album, ultimately called Poison , brought Eldritch out again in July 1986 under the name The Sisterhood. On this album, which was recorded at Fairview Recording Studios in Hull and on which Eldritch did not sing for contractual reasons, Patricia Morrison worked with Eldritch for the first time, even if her only reliable contribution was only a spoken passage on the track Jihad was.

The album proved to be a financial failure and was savaged mercilessly in the music press, Eldritch lost as a result, his contract with the music publisher of RCA Records , RCA Music Limited .

A planned The Sisterhood maxi single called This Corrosion , which British Sounds reported on February 20, 1986 that it would “be in stores soon, with the same musicians plus a mysterious and previously unnamed American singer “ , Was already recorded in the Fairview Recording Studios with Alan Vega , but remained unreleased.

James Ray: "We worked on a second The Sisterhood single, 'This Corrosion' for weeks, but Eldritch finally decided that he wanted to use the song to restart the Sisters."

Preparation of the album

After the “Sisterhood Fiasco” Eldritch decided to use the name The Sisters of Mercy again: “I think the whole thing had thrown the name The Sisters of Mercy in a bad light, and for that reason alone it was time to revive it. " " If I had still tried, I would not have gotten rid of the name. But I also saw no point in changing it. I still write and record the songs the same way as I used to. "

Eldritch, who first moved to Bramfeld and then to St. Pauli in 1985 , began to compose a new WEA album in Hamburg . The demos were mostly done with a Casio CZ-101 synthesizer, acoustic guitars and a new drum machine: “When 'Floodland' was written, Andrew spent all available money on a computer and sequencer looking for an affordable MIDI drum computer with a snappy snare sound. So he bought a Yamaha RX5 because of the snare sound (the bass drum also sounded pretty snappy) and composed the album with it. "

With the exception of This Corrosion , Eldritch recorded demo versions of all Floodland songs in Hamburg in 1986 , which appeared on the bootleg market from 1988 onwards. In addition, there is an approximately seven-minute instrumental piece without a title, which was composed in the same style as the later Vision Thing song I Was Wrong and which remained unpublished.

According to Eldritch, Patricia Morrison was not involved in the songwriting: “The disc was actually the full solo album. My partner at the time, Patricia Morrison, apparently had a creativity jam. She didn't come up with song ideas, and I couldn't get her to pick up her bass. " Merciful Release Office Manager Boyd Steemson: " Her musical contribution was rather minimal. "

Eldritch later denied that his way of writing songs had changed compared to before: “'This Corrosion' sounds like 'Temple of Love' II, '1959' sounds like 'Afterhours' part 2. I don't see any break from earlier , not really a new development. I think I picked up where I left off. "

Eldritch licensed the songs to the music publisher SBK Songs Limited (now part of EMI Music Publishing ) and began negotiations with his record company WEA .

The starting point was the song This Corrosion , for which Eldritch had Jim Steinman as producer from the start : “When I had 'This Corrosion', I immediately thought of him.” “Steinman is the man for exaggeration. It was the first Sisters record in years, so something really special had to be made. ” “ To make Steinman 'Corrosion' palatable, we told him it was supposed to sound like the high point of a disco night at the Borgias , and it's full by then crazy about it. "

Eldritch also wanted to work with Steinman because he wanted his record company to give him the largest possible budget: “One of the reasons I hired Jim Steinman is when he tells the record company, 'We want choirs, you guys have to pay for it immediately 'then they just push the money over. When I ask, it immediately says 'What is he really going to do with the money?' "

According to Boyd Steemson, Warner's A&R chief Max Hole negotiated a £ 50,000 budget for The Corrosion for the band : “We knew we had something on our hands with This Corrosion. Max went to a meeting about a £ 50,000 budget. [...] The record company said 'So 50,000 pounds, that's not bad for an album' and Max said 'No, we need that for a song!' "

Recording sessions

New York 1987

The recordings for This Corrosion and Dominion / Mother Russia began in January 1987 in New York.

Steinman and Eldritch used the Power Station Studio in Manhattan , where they worked with sound engineer Larry Alexander. Alexander: "I recorded the two Jim Steinman tracks in the Power Station in New York and ended up being a co-producer of 'Dominion / Mother Russia'."

On both songs Steinman used six backing singers and 40 members of the New York Choral Society. Eldritch: “We had a bunch of people on the record and we made a lot of noise. We have never had so many people on one record. Why? No idea. It was a good idea for us back then that forty people sing at once. I have no idea why. […] Every time you think 'Should we really go that far?' and to Jim says' Jim, are you sure about this? 'and everyone else would say' Don't do that! ', Jim says,' Even more! Even more! More people, more singing! ' And it works."

According to Eldritch, Steinman concentrated most of the production on the choral singing: “It must be said, however, that he did not contribute anything to the composition or the arrangement [of the songs]. […] One of the reasons why he only produced half of 'Dominion' is that he is hardly interested in drums, bass, guitars. He deals with background voices and choirs. "

England 1987

The rest of the album was recorded in England.

At first Eldritch worked with an unknown producer: “I had a producer, but I had to fire him. That's why I did everything myself, it was very exhausting. "

Instead, Eldritch called New York and hired Larry Alexander to co-produce: “I was then invited to England to co-produce the rest of the album. I think the first studio was called Strawberry Studios in Manchester. We worked there for a while and then went to Bath to a studio called The Wool Hall. Then came the AIR Studios in London, where we did the finishing work. "

As a studio technician, Roy Neave, who otherwise worked in the Fairview Recording Studios in Hull , oversaw the recordings . Eldritch originally wanted to hire his colleague, the sound engineer John Spence (who had worked with The Sisterhood in 1986 ), but he had other commitments and recommended Neave as a replacement. Neave had already worked as a producer with the Merciful release band James Ray and the Performance .

Besides the rest of the songs on the album, a long version of Never Land (only released in 2006) was recorded. Eldritch also sang his own version of The Sisterhood piece Colors , which was remixed and shortened a bit for this purpose.

Publications

This Corrosion Single September 1987

This Corrosion was selected as the album's first single , although Eldritch was initially for Dominion .

WEA Records provided a budget of more than £ 50,000 for an elaborate video. The video in which, in addition to models from Ugly Enterprises Ltd. some friends of the band also worked as extras, plays in the ruins of London after a nuclear attack and was shot under the direction of director Stuart Orme. Patricia Morrison: “'This Corrosion' was shot in a warehouse or film studio in Wapping . We had planned to shoot in Kazakhstan, in the Soviet Union, but at the time the Russian record company Melodija was negotiating video rights with the West. We were not allowed to enter because that would have disrupted the negotiations. "

The single was released on September 18, 1987. The individual formats (single, maxi single, CD single and cassette) all contained different mixes of the song, which Eldritch explained: “I actually wanted the long version, for me the song had to be like that. But the company objected, so I spent a weekend at the mixer. When I liked the three-minute version best, I thought I'd better do a medium one. The LP mix is ​​the same as the long version, it just fades out earlier. The cassette version is different because Jim really wanted to do a mix as well. He concentrates more on the small set pieces. "

The B-side of the single contained the song Torch , on which Eldritch played all the instruments himself and which he had also produced himself. Torch was written in 1985 for the planned album Left on Mission and Revenge . The maxi single also contained Eldritch's version of The Sisterhood song Colors .

In Great Britain, the single reached number 7. Eldritch and Morrison, supported by members of the befriended band James Ray and the Performance , appeared on the television chart shows Top of the Pops and The Roxy on full playback.

In the US, it did not make it onto the Billboard Hot 100 , but reached number 38 on the Billboard Clubplay Charts on December 19, 1987.

In Germany, the single, pushed by an appearance by Eldritch at Formula One , only entered the single charts in November 1987 , where it lasted for 16 weeks and reached number 17.

Floodland album November 1987

On November 13, 1987, the album Floodland was released by WEA Records and entered the album charts in almost every country with mostly positive press reviews.

Patricia Morrison's name was nowhere to be found on the record, although she was shown on the cover, she only appeared under her maiden name Anne Rainone in the "Thanks" list on the inner sleeve . Morrison downplayed this fact in interviews: “When you look at Sisters records, the names of those who play on them aren't on them either. Andrew writes the songs so there's no need to name anyone else. I knew that when the album came out, but I didn't expect that to confuse some people. Anyone who hasn't heard all the press that we've done wouldn't even know that I'm in the band at all. "

In Great Britain, Floodland reached number 7 in the album charts. The pre-orders alone were enough to secure the album's silver status on the day of its release with 60,000 units sold, and gold status with 100,000 units sold on March 11, 1988. According to Eldritch, the album had the highest Production costs brought back in 1989.

In Germany, the second largest market for the Sisters after Great Britain according to Eldritch, Floodland entered the album charts on December 14, 1987 , where it lasted 20 weeks and reached number 32. In 1993 it got gold status with 250,000 units sold.

In the US, Floodland was released on January 11, 1988 by Elektra Records . It reached number 101 on the Billboard 200 on March 12, 1988 , but did not make the general breakthrough into the mainstream as in the rest of the world.

Dominion - single February 1988

The second single was a remix by Dominion / Mother Russia in late February 1988 .

The single was announced in December 1987, but the release was delayed because Eldritch recorded a version of the hot chocolate hit Emma as the real B-side in January 1988 , which was used for the maxi single.

Producer Hugh Jones: “Most of the music on 'Emma' was recorded at The Church Studios in Crouch End, North London, with final overdubs and final mixes done at Master Rock Studios (awful name!) In Kilburn. From a purely technical point of view, Patricia played the bass on the track, but a lot of individual parts were sampled, rearranged and inserted where we wanted them to be. Yes, it is actually true that we recorded the singing in a concert hall. Andrew had tried to record 'Emma' several times in the past, but was never as convinced of the result as he was of the live versions. So we rented the Kilburn National Theater and the Rolling Stones mobile studio, played the track to Andrew over the stage, and recorded some vocal takes with him on stage. We had stage lighting, dry ice, everything to create a live atmosphere (just no audience!). The end result is a collage of some of these vocal takes. Quite elaborate and quite 80s-like, especially for a B-side! "

The remaining B-sides of the single were probably made from snippets of Dominion just before the video began shooting. Sandstorm consists of Dominion's saxophone and keyboard parts that have been sampled and mixed together into an atmospheric short instrumental track that was used in the introductory part of the video. Untitled is an instrumental sequence from Dominion that has been slowed down in slow motion . The CD single contained Ozymandias , which was simply a reverse-played version of Dominion .

The video for Dominion was shot in February 1988 in Petra , Jordan . Following the commercial success of This Corrosion , WEA had again approved a budget of 50,000 pounds and hired director David Hogan, who, after four and a half months of preparation, completed the video in two days of shooting. Eldritch referred to the video as " Lawrence of Arabia Part Two."

In Great Britain, the single reached number 12. Eldritch and Morrison, supported by members of the befriended band James Ray and the Performance , appeared on the television chart shows Top of the Pops and The Roxy on full playback.

In the US, the single was only released as a promotional maxi single, but still reached number 30 on the Billboard Club Play Charts on June 18, 1988.

In Germany the single did not enter the charts.

Lucretia My Reflection single May 1988

As the third and final Sisters single for the next two and a half years, a remix of Lucretia My Reflection was released on May 27, 1988 .

Since Eldritch spent a month at Slaughterhouse Recording Studios in Driffield in the spring of 1988 , the single mix and the double-length extended mix were probably made during these sessions. Studio owner Russell Webster: “Andrew Eldritch [was] alone in the studio for a month. We had a lot of fun together and I was so impressed with his dynamic music that I thought I had to do something like that too. " Patricia Morrison: " The remix is ​​a total exaggeration. I thought it was good when I first heard it, and I still think it's good. "

Since the words "Long Train" appear in the lyrics, the Sisters track of the same name from 1984 was obviously used as the B-side, which was then published in 5000 copies as Flexidisc and has since become a collector's item.

This time the video was shot with director Peter Sinclair in India, including in a textile factory in Bombay . In addition, a video for 1959 was shot during the stay in India . Eldritch had toyed with the idea of ​​releasing a single in 1959 for a while .

At the end of May 1988, The Sisters of Mercy performed the song on full playback during the Pop Festival in Montreux, Switzerland , which was hosted by BBC , MTV and TSR and broadcast worldwide on television. Once again, members of James Ray and the Performance helped out in that single gig in front of a large audience during Floodland's time . Andrew Eldritch: “[Floodland] was never intended to be performed live. It was done that way because live performances weren't even an issue. " Merciful Release Office Manager Boyd Steemson: " It was a total nightmare. He released the 'Floodland' album […] and Andrew refused to go on tour. "

In the UK, the single peaked at number 20. The Top of the Pops appearance on June 16, 1988 was the last time in the next two years that the Sisters appeared in public.

The single was released in the US, but did not make it onto the Billboard Hot 100 . It reached number 30 on the Billboard Club Play Charts on August 20, 1988.

In Germany the single did not enter the charts.

Shot video October 1989

Andrew Eldritch: “For me personally, I think 1988 was the best year because 'Floodland' was out and everyone had written us off before that, and all of a sudden we had three singles out and were three times on 'Top of the Pops', which is totally incredible is for us, and I just went home for a year and sat there in Hamburg and thought 'Yeah, well, okay - thank you too!' "

Patricia Morrison: “We want to perform live again with the next album, and to do it the way we intend to do it, it takes a lot of effort and time. And before we tackle that, we want to have the next album ready. "

In April 1989, work on the next album Vision Thing began with the new guitarist Andreas Bruhn . On July 17, 1989 Eldritch registered a new music publisher Eldritch Boulevard Limited for the songs .

In October 1989 WEA released the VHS video Shot with all four promotional videos.

That same month, Eldritch split from Patricia Morrison. Andrew Eldritch in June 1990: “Patricia left the band irrevocably, in October last year. Patricia was good in every way; she can play bass, she had "input", she was a great moral support for many years. "

instrumentation

In contrast to the previous album First and Last and Always , which had been recorded in the conventional way, Floodland was mainly assembled with sequencers on the computer.

Eldritch: "I learned how cool it is to work with computers in 1987 while recording the Sisters album 'Floodland'."

Eldritch processed the recorded parts with a Voyetra Sequencer Plus , a Yamaha SPX-90 served as an effects device , and a Compaq portable 286 computer was the storage medium .

Eldritch played the guitars himself, “except for the solo on 'This Corrosion,' which Steinman had one of his friends play. [...] I use electric guitars when I want to be ironic. ” The solo was played by the session guitarist Eddie Martinez, who had contributed the guitar solo to Robert Palmer's number 1 hit Addicted to Love the year before .

Most of the bass on the album was not recorded with a bass guitar, but rather by Eldritch with synthesizers. Patricia Morrison only played in places (e.g. on Driven like the Snow ), her appearance on the album was later completely questioned by Eldritch. In an interview he commented on the question of whether Morrison even played on the album: "A lot of people assume that [...] but I clearly question that assumption." Morrison later said: "Yes, I have Played 'Floodland' even if Andrew dubbed some of my parts. "

The piano piece in 1959 was designed by Eldritch completely with a sequencer: "I programmed it from the first to the last note on the computer without even touching a piano key."

The drums were cut together from different drum computers with the help of an Akai -S900 sampler. The Tom sound came from an Oberheim DMX that had already been used for First and Last and Always . The rest of the drum sounds ( bass drum , snare and cymbals ) came from a Yamaha RX-5.

Textual content

Most of the lyrics were written by Eldritch at midnight , his favorite bar at the time on St. Pauli: "I was known for sitting there for hours with pen and paper."

Regarding the album title, Eldritch said: “I wrote the songs and only later thought, 'My God, there's water everywhere!' That obviously has something to do with the fact that I live here, because there is water everywhere in Hamburg. "

The centerpiece of the album, This Corrosion , refers to the argument between Eldritch and the previous Sisters members who were now The Mission . The lyrics are a parody of empty cliché rock lyrics in general and Mission singer Wayne Hussey in particular:
“Of course it's addressed to someone, and you don't have to be a genius to figure it out, although the person concerned will probably come back again takes longer. […] Almost everything [from the text] should be put in quotation marks. But it would have been too confusing to print it like that. ” “ The words THIS CORROSION are capitalized in the text because it is the title of a strange song. I made up this fictional band, forcing them to sing all these stupidities. [...] Wayne would retire to write with a book full of song titles, choose which sound best, and then puzzle out a song. It doesn't need to be said, it just has to sound good. "

Dominion / Mother Russia was inspired by the poem Ozymandias , which is very well known in Great Britain , and also quotes a line from it (Eldritch: "The song is about how one erects monuments of one's personal power in abstruse places, which then slowly decay" ) Part of the song, on the other hand, relates to the reactor accident in Chernobyl , when "Mother Russia" fell as fallout over the northern hemisphere.

Lucretia My Reflection called Eldritch "my Welcome aboard Patricia" song. [...] Patricia always seems like a Lucrezia- like person to me . "

In Flood I and Flood II , Eldritch uses the term flood as a metaphor: “It's about sex - at least in this context. Most people, if you think about it, only get wet under very specific circumstances [...] Water is so huge, that's why a flood is emotionally arousing. "

Driven like the Snow is about Eldritch's ex-girlfriend Claire Shearsby: “The singing is not particularly good here because I never got to the end without having to stop first. It's like the song 'Nine While Nine' on the first album , it's actually like 'Nine While Nine' Part 2. Goes too much below the belt. [...] I actually didn't want to write the song and certainly didn't want to sing it, but I think it explains quite logically why we had to break up. " " I often wish my songs weren't so personal. "

Regarding Never Land , Eldritch explained that it was the vision “of the entire population of the world, as they race ever faster from an indefinable point in space to the earth. It takes an eternity to reach the earth, at this point you have already achieved almost spiritual perfection, and when you reach your goal you don't even hit the ground. You are so fast that you simply break through the earth and come out on the other side, where an eternity opens up out of nothing. I just tried to write a song about these impressions. ” The corresponding text passages can only be found on the 12-minute long version of the song, which was only released in 2006.

Different versions of the album

• The original vinyl version of the album was symmetrically divided into four songs on the two LP sides. The LP version of This Corrosion is the same as the vinyl maxi single version.
• The CD version contains the longer CD single version of This Corrosion , but it fades out a little earlier. Flood II has a slightly longer intro, Driven like the Snow is an extended remix. The CD version added the two B-sides of the This Corrosion single ( Torch and Colors ) as extra tracks, much to the annoyance of Andrew Eldritch, who saw the album's originally intended symmetry destroyed. His request to leave out the extra tracks on CD reprints was ignored by the record company.
• In October 2006 a remastered CD version of the album was released with two more extra tracks: Emma and a previously unreleased almost twelve-minute version of Never Land .

LP track list

1. Dominion / Mother Russia - 7:00
2. Flood I - 6:23
3. Lucretia My Reflection - 4:57
4. 1959 - 4:05
5. This Corrosion - 9:15
6. Flood II - 6:20
7. Driven Like the Snow - 4:40
8. Never Land (A Fragment) - 2:46

All songs were composed by Andrew Eldritch.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Fast and ephemeral . In: SPEX magazine August 1985, page 5.  
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Michael Ruff: Prince of the Wetlands . In: SPEX magazine January 1988.  
3. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( SkyTrax broadcast on Sky Channel in late 1987).
4. ↑ ^{a b c} [3] Steve Sutherland: Sister Midnight . In: Melody Maker magazine June 4, 1988, page 14.
5. ^ Sounds magazine November 2, 1985, page 3.
6. ↑ [4]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Markus Hartmann: ... and the wind blows wild again ... . In: Zillo magazine November 1990, page 12.  
7. ↑ ^{a b c} [5] Steve Sutherland: His Master's Voice . In: Melody Maker magazine September 5, 1987.
8. ↑ [6] Fairview Recording Studios (Great Gutter Lane West, Willerby, Hull HU10 6DP).
9. ↑ [7] Representation on the official The Sisters of Mercy website (as of February 8, 2000).
10. ↑ [8] Neil Spencer, Martyn Strickland: The Eldritch Story . In: Sounds magazine February 22, 1986.
11. ↑ [9] (PDF; 1.4 MB) Interview [1]: James Ray . In: Glasperlenspiel 06 -Fanzine June 2003, page 6.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d} [10] Ann Scanlon: Bridge over Troubled Water . In: Sounds magazine December 19, 1987, page 10.
13. ↑ [11]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Ute Arndt, Bernd Gerstacker, Thomas Duffé: St. Pauli - Faces and Views of the Kiez (Historika Photoverlag 1995).  
14. ↑ [12] Doctor Avalanche Section on the official The Sisters of Mercy website (as of January 31, 2000).
15. ↑ [13] Bootleg Black Dominion (entry Discogs.com website) and [14] Bootleg Kill the Lights (entry Discogs.com website).
16. ↑ ^{a b c} [15] Archive link ( Memento from October 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Hannsjörg Riemann: BRAVO Talkshow - Andrew Eldritch . In: BRAVO -Magazin 39/1992, September 17, 1992, page 28.
17. ↑ ^{a b} Ken McIntyre: The Sisterhood . In: Classic Rock Magazine July 2007, page 61.
18. ↑ ^{a b c} [16]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Sven Niechziol: Escape from the crypt . In: ME / Sounds magazine February 1988.  
19. ↑ ^{a b c d e} [17] Ann Scanlon: Bridge over Troubled Water . In: Sounds magazine December 19, 1987, page 9.
20. ^ [18] The Power Station (441 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019, USA), since 1996 Avatar Studios
21. ↑ ^{a b} [19] Information from Larry Alexander (September 11, 2010).
22. ↑ [20] Tawatha Agee, Brenda King, Curtis King, Holly Sherwood, Gina Taylor and Vaneese Thomas (according to the official Sisters website, as of December 7, 2000).
23. ↑ [21] List of guest appearances on the official website.
24. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( bingo music broadcast on BRT February 26, 1988).
25. ↑ Strawberry Recording Studios (3 Waterloo Road, Stockport SK1), closed in 1993.
26. ^ The Wool Hall Studios (15 Castle Corner, Beckington, Bath BA11 6TA), closed in 2004.
27. ↑ [22] AIR Studios (214 Oxford Street, London W1C 1DA), closed in 1991 and moved to Hampstead .
28. ^ [23] Information from John Spence (September 13, 2010).
29. ↑ [24] James Ray and the Performance: Texas (single, released June 1987)
30. ↑ ^{a b} [25]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The desert is shaking! With the Sisters of Mercy on location in Jordan . In: ME / Sounds magazine, May 1988.  
31. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Patricia Morrison interview (official website, as of January 22, 2005).  
32. ↑ Top of the Pops broadcast ( BBC One , October 1, 1987 episode).
33. ^ The Roxy broadcast ( ITV , October 6, 1987 episode).
34. ↑ [26] Information on Billboard.com website
35. ^ Formula One broadcast ( ARD , episode of November 17, 1987).
36. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information on Musicline.de website. 
37. ↑ Information according to the BPI.co.uk website.
38. ↑ ^{a b} Dave Dickson: On Eldritch Boulevard . In: Heartland Issue Four -Fanzine Jun 1991, p. 46.
39. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Entry Chartsurfer.de website.  
40. ↑ Information according to the Musikindustrie.de website.
41. ↑ [27] According to the United States Copyright Office
42. ↑ [28] Information on the Billboard.com website.
43. ↑ Information in the booklet of the CD re-release in 2006.
44. ↑ The Church Studios (145H Crouch Hill, London N8).
45. ↑ Master Rock Studios (248 Kilburn High Road, London NW6), closed in 2000.
46. ^ Kilburn National Club (234 Kilburn High Road, London NW6), closed in 1999.
47. ^ [29] Information from Hugh Jones (September 21, 2010).
48. ↑ [30]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Lisa Tilton: Relax Do not Do It ... . In: Record Mirror magazine February 20, 1988.  
49. ↑ [31] Ann Scanlon: Cars, Camels and Cecil B. DeMille . In: Sounds magazine March 5, 1988.
50. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( Supersonic broadcast on Super Channel February 1988).
51. ^ Top-of-the-Pops show ( BBC One , episode March 3, 1988).
52. ^ The Roxy broadcast ( ITV , episode March 5, 1988).
53. ^ [32] Information on the Billboard.com website.
54. ↑ [33] Date of publication according to the German promotion supplement.
55. ↑ [34] Liner Notes of the studio's own 3LP compilation Slaughtered (published August 1988).
56. ↑ Joe Asmodo: "Eyes of the Nightmare Jungle - The 'Shadow Dancer' step into the light" (in: Zillo -Magazin October 1993, page 38)
57. ↑ Dave Thompson: The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock (Helter Skelter Publishing 2002, p. 187).
58. ^ Montreux Rock Festival, Casino Barrière de Montreux (May 24 to 31, 1988).
59. ^ RIP Magazine (July 1991).
60. ↑ Ken McIntyre: The Sisterhood . In: Classic Rock -Magazine July 2007, pages 61-62.
61. ↑ [35] Information on Billboard.com website.
62. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview (120 Minutes broadcast, MTV January 28, 1991).
63. ↑ Patricia Morrison television interview ( Chart Attack broadcast ITV Night Network 1988).
64. Jump up ↑ Eldritch Boulevard Limited, renamed The Sisters of Mercy Limited on July 30, 2002 (under Companies House registration number 02141011).
65. ↑ [36]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Markus Hartmann: The merciful sisters on the Rhine . In: Zillo magazine September 1990.  
66. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( 120 Minutes broadcast, MTV Jan. 28, 1991).
67. ^ [37] Information from Patricia Morrison (June 13, 2009).
68. ↑ [38] [39] [40] Technical information on the official Sisters website.
69. ↑ Midnight (2000 Hamburg 4, Gerhardstr. 16), today The Blue Angel of St. Pauli .
70. ↑ [41]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Sebastian Zabel: "Crypt is in the heart" (in: SPEX magazine December 1990)  
71. ↑ ^{a b c d e} [42] Ted Mico: After the Flood . In: Melody Maker magazine November 14, 1987.
72. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( PostModern broadcast MTV November 7, 1991).