One of the problems when a blog like this has been going so long is the inevitability of umpteen repeats coming along and readers beginning to feel short-changed or cheated. It’s certainly proving to be the case with a great deal of the CD/7″/12″ singles that are coming out via the lucky dip…….
mp3: The Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion
This Corrosion featured as recently as July 2021. It kind of acted like a free bit of therapy for a number of readers who went on, via the comments section, to share their own memories of enjoying listening/dancing to what is, without any shadow of a doubt, one of the great goth-rock anthems of them all – I reckon it’s the greatest, but others with much more knowledge of the genre made great cases for a few other songs via a number of gothic-themed ICAs, all of which added so much to the blog in the weeks and months which followed.
There are a couple of differences between the 2021 post and the one on offer today. It was previously part of a series in which the mp3 rips were of as high a quality as I can offer, whereas today’s link is the more usual sort of thing. It also comes with the b-sides, described last time out in the comments section by Khayem as ‘excellent’.
mp3 : The Sisters of Mercy – Torch
mp3 : The Sisters of Mercy – Colours
The biggest difference between the A-side and these two songs on the b-side can be found in the production. The involvement of the late Jim Steinman, best known for his work with Meat Loaf, leads to a real OTT sound on This Corrosion, not least the contributions from 40 members of the New York Choral Society. The b-sides are self-produced by Andrew Eldritch and are far more restrained. Indeed, Torch is almost akin to hearing a goth busker outside a train station strumming away on his acoustic guitar, backed by a cheap drum machine, hoping you’ll drop enough coins in an empty paper cup that will allow him to buy his next pint of Snakebite.
The Sisters of Mercy enjoyed ten chart singles between 1984 and 1993 – This Corrosion was one of their most successful, reaching #7 in October 1987, which means it was, rather appropriately, all over the radio stations at Halloween.
But I can’t let today go without offering up a genius cover, as far removed from the original as possible
mp3: Lambchop – This Corrosion
As made available on the bonus CD with the initial copies of the 2002 album, Is A Woman.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
This Corrosion always reminds me of Janice Long, who was so excited when she first got to play it on her brilliant Radio 1 evening show. [kontroller]
One thing I never feel is short changed or cheated by this blog, JC. And I stand by my one word summation of the B-sides. Same for the Lambchop cover version.
Khayem
Short changed? Never. Invested in? Absolutely.
Flimflamfan
Classics, both the original and Kurt Wagner’s cover.
Colours was originally on the Sisterhood album Gift with vocals by James Ray, the album Andrew put together in a week to prevent Wayne Hussey to use the name The Sisterhood when SoM split. Great pals, huh.
Masterful song and accompanying LP.
It’s a goth, goth world.