The Sisters Of Mercy Greatest Hits Vol.1 - A Slight Case Of Overbombing (A Slight Case Of Overbombing - The Sisters Of Mercy)

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	A Slight Case Of Overbombing - The Sisters Of Mercy
Date:	10/10/00 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the best of the best

Disadvantages: a few duds

The Sisters Of Mercy Are (currently)

Andrew Eldritch - vocals
Adam Pearson - guitars
Mike Varjak - guitars
Doktor Avalanche - drums, etc
Nurse - nurse to the Doktor


Discography

The Damage Done(1980), Body Electric(1982), Anaconda(1983), Alice E.P.(1983), The Reptile House E.P.(1983), Temple Of Love(1983), First Last And Always(1985), Floodland(1987), Vision Thing(1990), Some Girls Wander By Mistake(1992), Greatest Hits Volume 1(1993)


Background

The Sisters Of Mercy formed in Leeds in 1980 and at the time consisted of Gary Marx and Andrew Eldritch, a guitar and an amp. Their first single was pressed and released by themselves, received one radio play and was described as being both "unobtainable and unlistenable”. Recruiting Craig Adams on bass and Doktor Avalanche(the drum machine) to fo the rest leaves Eldritch as the vocalist by default of being able to do nothing else. Turning up the volume and the feedback The Sisters Of Mercy hit the gig scene later recruiting Ben Gunn as a second guitarist. What follows is a string of independantly released records which all meet critical acclaim culminating in the masterpiece which is Temple of Love, backed by Heartland and the Rolling Stone’s Gimme Shelter.

Rifts begin to appear from within the band in 1984 culminating in Marx, Hussey and Adams leaving the band by the end of 1986 andthere are rumoursthat the band is to be no more. They are wrong, Eldritch comes back with tracks that are better than ever before and a new Doktor Avalanche which adds a depth and power to the songs never seen before - This Corrosion hits the top 10 in the UK charts. The Sisters of Mercy grow with every subsequent album release culminating in 1993 with this their greatest hits album.

Review

This album is the first greatest hits collection from The Sisters Of Mercy. Probably the best gothic rock band to ever grace the recording
studios this album includes songs which stretch back to the early 80s and two new releases. The music is heavily based around the omnipotent Doktor Avalanche and the dark syrupy vocalisation of Andrew Eldritch - the man who calls himself vocalist by default on the cover sleeve of ‘Some Girls Wander By Mistake’. It features a dubious ‘best of’ the Sisters of Mercy’s work although there is much missing on here as they seem to have concentrated on the most popular as opposed to the best songs here. This is a shame because some of their earier tracks were excellent and I was greatly surprised to see the inclusion of No Time To Cry, Walk Away and Body And Soul on the album as opposed to say Ribbons or Alice. But no matter as these will probably be included in Volume 2 if it ever materialises.

With a sound which is something of a mixture between pop, rock, dance and heavy metal, this music just makes you want to dance. There are so many catchy choruses and added dimensions to this music that each song is a classic(apart form the last three which seem somewhat out of place), and make this an excellent album purchase. Eldritch's dark vocals are often accompanied by a female vocal or choir which gives and amazing contrast and shows how impressive he is as a song writer. Many of the songs are of epic length and have impressively thought provoking lyrics that will satisfy even the fussiest music lover. This album is an excellent starting point for those who have never experienced this band’s music and I guarantee that if you like guitar based music with gothic overtones then you will like this.


Tracks

Under The Gun - Featuring the vocals of Terri Nunn of Berlin, this song illustrates how Eldritches vocal style is so brilliant when matched with a female voice.

Temple Of Love - The classic Sisters of Mercy track is revamped here in its 199 extended remix version. Featuring the haunting vocals of O
fra Hazza this track is darkly mystical and my favourite of theirs.

Vision Thing - From the album ‘Vision Thing’ this is the first Sisters track to actually concentrate on the guitars. This is a hard-rocking aural blast which will appeal to fans of heavy metal and hard rock as well as Sisters fans everywhere.

Detonation Boulevard - Another from the Vision Thing album which again concentrates on guitars as opposed to having Doktor avalanche lead the proceedings. This track will just make you want to dance uncontrollably until its very end...and then play it again.

Doctor Jeep - A slightly weaker track from Vision Thing. Still quite catchy though.

More - Starts of slow and then really rocks. This is another of my favourite Sisters tracks. Eldritch’s vocals are accompanied by a range of backing vocals and the final sneer sums up the mood of the song perfectly.

Lecretia My Reflection - Another epic release with an obvious focus on the drum machine. Very mesmerising track.

Dominion/Mother Russia - An epic track from Floodland with a full choral backing vocal - excellent.

This Corrosion - A great pop song again featuring a female vocal accompaniment. You WILL dance to this one..and sing...and rewind and play again...

No Time To Cry - a very miserable track - not impressed by its inclusion as it really doesn’t fit in with the others on here and certainly isn’t one of their best.

Walk Away - another which is not one of their best. When it was released it was seen as a coment onthe troubles within the band and a plea to Gary Marx to leave the band. Perhaps this was why it was included on here - not one of their best again.

Body And Soul - another unimpressive inclusion

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