It’s more often than not that you’ll find this little corner of t’internet to be the comforting home of the three minute pop-song, often of the twee variety.
But, occasionally, I’ll drift into some unexpected areas. Such as using this Monday morning slot to go deep into the cupboard to dig out and play what I’ll argue is THE greatest of all the goth anthems. I have no idea how many years it’s been since I put the needle into the groove of this 12″ piece of vinyl, but let’s just say that even after given a good wipe-down, there was still enough accumulated dust that I had to stop the recording, carefully clean the stylus and start all over again.
mp3: The Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion
As this blared from the speakers, a murder of crows made their way out of the nearby trees to nod their heads in unison and give approval to what they were hearing. Or maybe that was just the side effects of the painkillers I’m taking to combat a sore back.
A #7 hit single in 1987, this version comes in at just over eight-and-a-half minutes, some three minutes shorter than the album version. Produced by the late Jim Steinman, famed for his work with Meat Loaf, it really does have the kitchen sink thrown at it, including the 40 members of the New York Choral Society.
Admit it, you’re all closing your eyes and picturing yourself throwing all sorts of strange shapes to this in the confines of a very dark, cave-like subterranean club, possibly while Peter Murphy and Siouxsie Sioux look on approvingly from the VIP area.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
The 12″ is the definitive version for me, with a couple of excellent B-sides in Torch and Colours. I’m pretty sure I discovered this via one of the fellow blogs (Bagging Area poss?) but Andrew Liles/Nurse With Wound did a ridiculously extended 30-minute remix a few years ago. Seems daunting but it strangely works. I loved dancing to this, though a few of my goth friends considered this (the record, not my dancing) to be a step too far and the moment Andrew Eldritch sold out to the Devil of mainstream pop/rock. I love it.
I’m a Sisters fan. There was no better place to dance to ‘goth’ in Glasgow than Delerium 7 – take that Tech lovers.
This Corrosion sits very comfortably as a rock record – its none the worse for it.
Floodland THE greatest goth album? That very much depends on a personalised definition of goth. The follow-up LP Vision Thing is, for me, a rock record – a record I really like – but it was to be the last.
By association I now want to listen to Red Lorry Yellow Lorry’s epic Walking On Your Hands – loudly.
Oops. Typo. Didn’t mean to say greatest goth album. The phrase should have been ‘greatest goth anthem’!!!
FFF…. You know I really value your contributions to the blog? Do you fancy turning your attention to one on the goth genre????
JC
I’ve often thought that what this blog needs is more Goth. So whose going to write that Clans of Xymox ICA???
JC. I’ll give it a go. I’m still humming and hawing about a Cranes ICA – some believed Cranes to be Goth. They had a point. I’m less precious about goth as a genre than I am all things Cranes so a darkest ‘hits’ with some nostalgia thrown in should be do-able.
This song brings back memories of me being 16, just left school and doing a business studies course at college (I didn’t want to do it but my mum didn’t want me lounging around doing bugger all). This track in particular reminds me of one of my mates who had a huge crush on a very attractive goth girl who he was far too shy to speak to. She was known as “The Plastic Goth” because she bought all her clothes new instead of in charity shops! But she clearly modelled herself on Patricia Morrison.
It is truly a great song, and the audacity to work with Jim Steinman (with his Meatloaf) connection was astounding, if the song had been even slightly weaker – The Sisters would have been a laughing stock for ever more. An goth ICA sounds a great idea- maybe focussed on Leeds ???
Shout out to Patricia Morrison: Los Angeles bassist that played with the Bags, Sisters of Mercy, Gun Club and The Damned. She only ever gets mentioned as a Goth pin-up girl.
I was initially cold to the pleasures of Sisters Of Mercy, but repeated exposure in rock clubs in the 80s to their canon eventually broke my resolve. I now have everything by the band. The three albums, “Some Girls Wander By Mistake,” “Temple Of Love ’92,” and “Under The Gun.” [checks] No! I didn’t know about the “Merciful Release” box with the three WEA albums plus all of the B-sides. There’s a few tracks there I have not heard. A good band whom we actually saw live in 1996. Actually we didn’t see them… there was too much fog!
Admit it? I don’t think I ever denied it. Love this band
I also turned to the dark side in my teens through a love of Siouxsie, The Cure and then Phantasmagoria period Damned. The Sisters of Mercy’s Alice and Temple of Love were guaranteed indie dance floor fillers round our way.
I also turned to the dark side in my teens through a love of Siouxsie, The Cure and then Phantasmagoria period Damned. The Sisters of Mercy’s Alice and Temple of Love were guaranteed indie dance floor fillers round our way.
Even if Andrew refuses the label goth to the Sisters, I’d love to see a “goth” ICA here.
I picked up the first 12″ they released upon reading about it – for some reason it was rather tagged as “New, dark, heavy metal” than goth but the review tickled my liking and I have all the official releases on 12″ format including the just released BBC sessions RSD-album (and the Sisterhood album as well). I even got the first 5 12″ by The Mission but they never really reached the heights (darkness) of Andrew’s output. Black is always the new black—
This version recently accompanied me on a trip
to the post office. I left the house, posted whatever
it was and got home before the track had ended.
Just a brilliant song and it can go on for another
eight minutes as far as I’m concerned.
Typo or not, there are a lot of good arguments for Floodland being the greatest Goth Album. Eldritch focused on perfecting the sound and after releasing it he moved on. I doubt he would ever acknowledge it to even be a Goth album.
This Corrosion is Goth High Art. Choral singing, brittle keyboards and guitars, a bass sound full of blunt force trauma and Jim Steinman.
I have to echo JTFL’s shout out to Patricia Morrison. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise, the lady can play bass.