Vision thing

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Vision thing
Studio album by The Sisters of Mercy

Publication
(s)

October 22, 1990

Label (s) East West Records

Genre (s)

Gothic rock , hard rock

running time

42:20 minutes

occupation
  • Bass guitar: Tony James
  • Drum computer: Doctor Avalanche

production

Andrew Eldritch, Jim Steinman

Studio (s)

Puk Recording Studios, Gjerlev
The Power Station, New York City

chronology
Floodland (1987) Vision thing -

Vision Thing is the third and so far last studio album by the British band The Sisters of Mercy ; it was released in 1990.

prehistory

After the release of the first studio album First and Last and Always in 1985, the original band had split up. The second studio album Floodland was recorded using the band name in 1987 by singer Andrew Eldritch according to his own assessment as a solo album. The album brought the commercial breakthrough, but was conceived by Eldritch as a pure studio project and not intended for performance at live concerts. Band colleague Patricia Morrison stated in March 1988 that there would only be live performances with the next studio album, which, however, would still take "a lot of effort and time" . For the remainder of 1988, the Sisters took a creative break.

Andrew Eldritch was a guest on the song Blood of Emeralds on Gary Moore's solo album After the War , which was recorded between March and November 1988 at Puk Studios in Denmark, among others. At the end of 1988 he remixed the single Toilet Queen of the befriended Hamburg band Kastrierte Philosophen and appeared in the relevant video. In 1989 the former Berlin singer Terri Nunn contacted Eldritch: “I called him because I wanted him to work with me on my album. I flew to Germany, he lives in a cave in Hamburg, and we wrote something together, but none of it really worked. ” On July 28, 1989, Nunn registered the copyright for a song, Streets Of Shame , back in the USA to whom Eldritch had written parts of the text; the song remained unreleased and was not used on Nunn's solo album Moment Of Truth (1991).

Preparation of the album

In early 1989 Andrew Eldritch began preparing a new studio album for WEA Records . He approached his Hamburg label colleague Michy Reincke to find a temporary guitarist for him.

Andreas Bruhn: “I grew up near Hamburg and have been playing guitar since I was six years old. At 19 I graduated from high school and then did my community service. I recorded songs with a four-track recorder, worked a bit as a studio guitarist, and got accepted to the music college's pop class . Michi Reincke, a German singer with whom I had played once, contacted me. His record company was looking for a guitarist who could help Andrew record some new demos. I sent a tape to WEA and a week later the red phone rang. He asked me for a valid passport and if I had drug problems, then he invited me to a meeting. " Eldritch: " The tape was absolutely horrible. Technically it was perfect, that's why I grabbed it. ” Bruhn: “ After that we met a few times and played together. After two months we decided to do it together. "

In April 1989 Bruhn officially became a new member of the band: “My last day of civil service was my first day with the Sisters Of Mercy, my first really professional band […] I joined in April '89 and first worked with Patricia , then without Patricia prepared the pieces. ” “ I got on pretty well with Patricia. In fact, I wouldn't have been asked to join the band if she hadn't given me tips on how everything works and how to work with Andrew. "

Former The Only Ones guitarist John Perry was also invited to help out with the preparation of the album and is said to have played on demo recordings: “When I first heard the 'Vision Thing' material, Patricia was still there. When I later made the recordings [at Puk Studios], no more. She was clearly not very happy with her position or the way she was treated. "

Patricia Morrison: "I wasn't exactly thrilled with the direction the album was going."

On July 17, 1989, Eldritch registered a new music publisher, Eldritch Boulevard Limited, for the new songs.

On July 29, 1989, the British music press reported: "Andrew Eldritch is currently working with Patricia Morrison on the next Sisters Of Mercy album, which, according to the Merciful release spokesman, will be released 'sometime next year'."

In October 1989 WEA Records released the Sisters video cassette Shot , which contained four music videos for the Floodland album, the first new Sisters release in a year and a half.

At this time, the band was given over to the WEA sub-label East West Records through internal restructuring of the WEA group . Eldritch concluded an agreement with the new label on the studio and production costs of the new album: the album should be ready in four months and should be handed over to the record company for publication in May 1990. In this case, the record company will assume all studio and production costs. Should Eldritch not keep the agreed date, he will have to pay the costs himself. All contracts with the record company were in Eldritch's name: "I am the only one who is under contract with the label, I am the only one who will never be kicked out, I am the only one who has the debt on my neck."

Patricia Morrison then refused to sign what she called "incredibly stupid" and raised the issue of her poor Eldritch pay (£ 300 a month plus rental costs). Eldritch reportedly replied, “I just need someone who can keep the bass low enough - and you're out.” Morrison: “When it was decided that I was no longer a member of the Sisters Of Mercy, I had within two weeks no more money and no more apartment. " " I should have had the contracts checked by a good lawyer instead of relying on trust alone. "

At Christmas 1989 Eldritch contacted former GenerationX / Sigue-Sigue-Sputnik bassist Tony James and invited him to play on the album for Patricia Morrison. Tony James and Andrew Eldritch had been friends since 1982 when James offered him the opportunity to become a singer in his new band Sigue Sigue Sputnik . Eldritch: “I have a lot of respect for someone who can create such a phenomenon [...] I find such powerful personalities interesting. That being said - I think it's a good idea to take someone everyone hates. " James: " You have to remember, we both had the same taste, Stooges , Velvets , Dolls , so there was a common ground. " " One day called he suddenly came up to me and asked 'Would you like to come to Denmark to record an album?' "

On January 27, 1990 the press department of WEA in London issued the following statement to the British music press: “Andreas Bruhn has become a member of the Sisters Of Mercy. Andreas Bruhn plays the electric guitar. Tony James has become a member of the Sisters Of Mercy. Tony James plays the bass guitar. ” Also on January 27, 1990, Morrison made the following press release to the British Sounds magazine: “ Patricia Morrison last worked with Andrew on material for the new Sisters album in December 1989, but has not had any contact since then and is no longer with the Sisters Of Mercy. She has since worked on a new project and another statement will be made at a later date. "

Andrew Eldritch commented at a press conference on June 23, 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. She was in the band longer than anyone else, a very long time. "

Recording sessions

Puk Recording Studios, Denmark

The Puk Recording Studios in Gjerlev, Denmark were booked for the new album in autumn 1989. On the sidelines of a Red-Lorry-Yellow-Lorry concert in Hamburg on November 7, 1989, Eldritch had told the later Zillo editor, Rainer Ettler, that the recordings would begin in January 1990 and that the publication would be expected "around May" be. Eldritch: “The studio gave us what we needed at a reasonable price. And you have your peace there. Only landscape all around, you can work very well there. "

Tony James: “I went to Denmark to the Puk Studios at the end of January.” James was originally accompanied by Sigue Sigue Sputnik guitarist Neil X, who was not involved in the recording: “No, Eldritch didn't like Neil, and I could understand him, it didn't fit somehow, but I still found Neil better than Bruhn. "

Nine songs were composed and arranged by Eldritch and Bruhn in the previous year. Bruhn: "I am probably the only one who had an influence on the LP besides Andrew, because Tony James came in much later, when all the bass lines were already finished." Eldritch: "The songs were changed a bit after the others were added, but it's not that we have completely rewritten pieces. "

However, the recordings began to drag on. James: “My lasting impression of the time in Denmark was when Andrew recorded 120 vocal takes for the 9-minute song 'Vision Thing' - by the way, he never gave me credit for the line 'Another black hole in the killing zone '- it doesn't matter, it took Andrew a week to hear them all. " Bruhn: " He is a perfectionist and quite headstrong. That means that we work on something for two weeks and then realize that it doesn't work, and then we throw it out again. [...] Andrew either works perfectly or not at all. " " We recorded an endless number of guitar tracks. If it wasn't exactly right, I played again. "

Tony James: "In retrospect I only recorded three hours of material in the whole time [...] On this very slow track [I Was Wrong] Andrew had to play the bass line for me, I just couldn't get it."

John Perry was invited as a guest. Bruhn: "John Perry came over and played the slide guitar parts on 'Detonation Boulevard'." Perry: "When the recording took place, Tony James was there, but I'm not sure if he actually plays bass on the record - sounds for me like from the sequencer . "

Another guest was Maggie Reilly , who contributed back vocals on five songs. Eldritch: “Maggie stopped by for a day and it was a real treat. I think her parts bring a bit of a good mood to the album. " " For example, if you sing a word like 'motherfucker', it's much, much better if a cute girl sings that with you. "

In April 1990, however, the album was far from completion. Band manager Boyd Steemson: "I remember flying to the studio where they recorded 'Vision Thing' and Tony spoke to me and said, 'So we have five songs now.' And the album was due in two weeks. Tony said, 'Well, I guess it'll be an album with five songs.' And I said, 'No, this won't be a five-song album!' Two days later they had seven and a half songs. It was a very painful process. "

The Power Station, New York

To rework the song More , which was selected as a single, with producer Jim Steinman , Eldritch flew to New York. Andreas Bruhn: “Steinman revised 'More' in New York. I was not there."

Steinman changed the song by rewriting the music and lyrics of the chorus. With Steinman's sound engineer Steve Rinkoff, the corresponding parts of the song were re-recorded in the Power Station Studios and background singers were added. The piano in the final part of the song was played by Jeff Bova.

Eldritch: "His studio in Manhattan is just so damn expensive and he'll charge you for every line he changes, you pay for everything." "He added the girls and what the girls sing, so he's got an empathetic song a musical exchange of blows in which I'm not sure whether I'll be the winner. ” “ Half of the text is no longer there because it would not have been allowed. It was originally like, 'Listen, motherfuckers!' Now it's a mish-mash of me and Jim, that's why I can't really say anything about it anymore [...] I think songs are great that first start with empathy and then it goes 'Bang!' and for four minutes it only goes through 'Get out of here' in one. "

Jim Steinman used the chorus he composed in the late 1990s in a new song that he wrote for a planned but never materialized Batman musical and recorded as a demo with singer Kanine Hannah.

Track list (original album 1990)

  1. Vision Thing - 4:36
  2. Ribbons - 5:25
  3. Detonation Boulevard - 3:49
  4. Something Fast - 4:36
  5. When You Don't See Me - 4:51
  6. Doctor Jeep - 4:39
  7. More - 8:22
  8. I Was Wrong - 6:03

Songs 1, 2, 4 and 8 were composed by Andrew Eldritch. Songs 3, 5 and 6 composed by Eldritch and Bruhn, track 7 by Eldritch and Steinman.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hannsjörg Riemann: Bravo Talkshow - Andrew Eldritch. In: Bravo magazine 39/1992, September 17, 1992, page 28.
  2. ^ Mike lattice: Sisters of Mercy - Sex & Violence. In: RIP magazine, July 1991
  3. ↑ Mick Brown: Patricia Morrison Interview ( Chart Attack broadcast ITV Night Network , late March 1988)
  4. ↑ The Danish Gary Moore Society (Ed.): The Gary Moore Discography - The Complete Recording Sessions 1969–1994 (self-published, Denmark 1995, page 140)
  5. ↑ Michael Zolondek: Castrated Philosophers - How good can a band be? In: EB / Metronom magazine, November 1988, page 12.
  6. ↑ Jutta Koether: castrated philosophers - quarreling couple, contracting. In: SPEX magazine, January 1989, pages 16-17.81.
  7. ↑ Terri Nunn Interview ( Chorusandverse.com website, December 13, 2002)
  8. ↑ Streets of Shame (Date of creation: 1989, Registration Date: 1989-07-28, Registration number PAu001262311. Music: Terri Kathleen Nunn, Martin Harold Frederiksen. Words: Terri Kathleen Nunn, Andrew Eldritch. All information according to the United States Copyright Office -Website)
  9. ↑ a b c d Andreas Bruhn Interview ( Myheartland.co.uk website, April 4, 2005)
  10. ↑ a b Christoph Dallach: Little man in Hollywood. In: Szene Hamburg magazine, November 1990.
  11. ↑ Ralf G. Poppe: The Sisters Of Mercy - Art or Decay. In: EB / Metronom magazine, November 1990, pages 32-33.
  12. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from June 28, 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. Andreas Bruhn CV ( Wolffsongs.de website) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wolffsongs.de
  13. ↑ a b c Sven Lorenz: The Sisters Of Mercy. In: Niagara Magazine, April 1991.
  14. ↑ a b Sister Sputnik. In: Melody Maker magazine, February 3, 1990.
  15. ↑ a b c d e Ken McIntyre: The Sisterhood. In: Classic Rock magazine July 2007, pages 58-62.
  16. ↑ a b c It's Scam Time. In: Sounds magazine, February 10, 1990.
  17. ↑ Eldritch Boulevard Limited, Nature of business: 59200 - Sound recording and music publishing activities . Registered as a Private Limited Company on July 17, 1989, company registration number 02141011, name changed to The Sisters Of Mercy Limited on July 30, 2002 (all information from CompaniesHouse.co.uk website)
  18. ↑ A Belated Gift. In: Melody Maker magazine, July 29, 1989.
  19. ↑ Dave Dickson: On Eldritch Boulevard. In: Heartland -Fanzine, Issue 4 June 1991, pp. 43-71.
  20. ↑ Andrew J. Pinnell: The Sisters Of Mercy Biography Part 4. In: Heartland -Fanzine, Issue 4 June 1991, p. 10.
  21. ^ Markus Hartmann: Patricia Morrison. In: Zillo magazine, June 1994, pages 14-15.
  22. ↑ Patricia Morrison Interview ( Patriciamorrison.co.uk website, as of January 22, 2005)
  23. ↑ Will Johnson: The Sisters Of Mercy. TOP magazine November 1990, page 13.
  24. ↑ a b Peter Kane: Sisters In Arms. In: Q magazine # 51, December 1990, pages 22-24.
  25. ^ A b Tony James Interview ( Myheartland.co.uk website, April 19, 2005)
  26. ↑ a b Spiggy Spiggy Sputnik. In: Sounds magazine, February 3, 1990, page 3.
  27. ^ Markus Hartmann: The merciful sisters on the Rhine. In: Zillo magazine September 1990.
  28. ↑ Sven Affeld: Sisters Of Mercy. In: Zillo magazine, January 1990, pages 44-48.
  29. ↑ a b Werner Theurich: Hamburg Calling. In: ME / Sounds magazine November 1990.
  30. ↑ a b c Tony James: History. ( Sputnikworld.com website)
  31. ↑ Markus Hartmann: ... And The Wind Blows Wild Again ... In: Zillo -Magazin, November 1990, pp. 10-12.
  32. ^ Ward Music Monthly, February 1991.
  33. ↑ Cohen / Eldritch. In: Zillo magazine February 1995, pages 18-20.
  34. ^ Robert Storm: Related Artists And Collaborators. ( Oocities.org/steinmanfan/ website)
  35. ^ Andrew Eldritch television interview ( PostModern broadcast MTV November 7, 1991).
  36. ↑ Chris Roberts: Excess All Areas. In: Melody Maker magazine, October 6, 1990.
  37. ↑ [1] Jim Steinman on The Catwoman's Song . ( Words By Jim Steinman blog, Aug 14, 2006)