Floodland

Floodland
Studio album by The Sisters of Mercy
Released	November 13 1987
Recorded	1986/1987
Genre	Gothic rock Alternative rock
Length	49:16
Label	Merciful Release/WEA
Producer	Andrew Eldritch, Larry Alexander, Jim Steinman Reissue Producer: Andy Zax
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Alternative Press Favourable July 1995, p.87; November, 2001, p.104 Robert Christgau C+ link RollingStone link
The Sisters of Mercy chronology
First and Last and Always (1985) Floodland (1987) Vision Thing (1990)
Singles from Floodland
"This Corrosion" Released: September 1987 "Dominion" Released: February 1988 "Lucretia My Reflection" Released: June 1988

For the book, see Floodland (novel)

Floodland is the second album by The Sisters of Mercy, released in 1987. Composed and produced by Andrew Eldritch, it marked a change of direction from guitar-oriented rock towards synthesizer-based productions. The record peaked at number 9 in UK album charts.

Overview

The first Sisters album after the original dissolution of the band includes, among other things, choral singing, typically bombastic Jim Steinman productions (on "Dominion/Mother Russia" and "This Corrosion") and the first and last piano-and-vocals-only Sisters song ("1959", the piano programmed on synthesizer). While far from a concept album, Floodland still has many recurring themes and images. Andrew Eldritch himself described Floodland as "a fine album". Despite Eldritch's rather insistent objections to the designation "goth", Floodland has been lauded by some press as a classic goth album; Alternative Press ranked it at number forty-three of the "Top 99 of '85 - '89" and included it in their list of "10 Essential Goth Albums". The driving dance-floor hit "Lucretia My Reflection", with its repeating bassline, has become something of a nightclub staple, as has "This Corrosion", whose apparently nonsensical lyrics are alleged to be an attack on Wayne Hussey. The song was originally intended to appear on The Sisterhood album, in its entirety a stab against Hussey's troupe, but the exclusion left Eldritch with more time to refine it into the behemoth we get to hear. Eldritch said that "Lucretia .." was written for Morrison, who "always strikes me as a Lucretia-type person" ^[1]. Interestingly, "Never Land" uses the same drum pattern as Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks", which is about a flood. It has been said that Floodland "explored new territory for the Sisters and redefined what people thought of as Gothic music"^[2] or that it "sent the gothic music genre spiralling away from the guitar-driven sound of the early-to-mid 1980s and inspired the next wave of synthesized goth bands such as London After Midnight and Switchblade Symphony". It certainly extended the band's press outside that of the traditional British indie/gothic rock magazines: there was a review in noted pop magazine Smash Hits, which memorably described Eldritch's singing on the piano track 1959 as that of a goblin being sick in a bucket. Floodland was reissued as a digipak in 2006 with two bonus tracks, "Never Land (Full Length)" and "Emma".

Controversies

Eldritch claims that bassist Patricia Morrison, the only other official member of The Sisters of Mercy at the time, did not perform on the album and was hired only for the purpose of promotional appearances^[3]. This claim is contested by Morrison. She is not credited on the album's sleeve, although her image appears in its artwork. Morrison did perform on The Sisterhood's album. The Sisters of Mercy did not follow the album with live performances. The last two tracks on the CD are the B-side songs of the 12-inch single of "This Corrosion" which were included by the record company as a CD-version bonus, against the wishes of Eldritch who felt the songs don't belong. It was his understanding that the tracks were only on a limited edition, to be removed after the first CD pressing, but weren't.

Track listing

Written by Andrew Eldritch. Produced by Eldritch with Larry Alexander except "This Corrosion" produced by Jim Steinman; "Dominion/Mother Russia" produced by Steinman/Alexander/Eldritch; "Torch" produced by Eldritch. Choir vocals on "Dominion/Mother Russia" and "This Corrosion" by The New York Choral Society. Backing vocals on "This Corrosion" by Holly Sherwood; Curtis King; Brenda King; Tawatha Agee; Gina Taylor; Vaneese Thomas.^[4]

1. "Dominion/Mother Russia" – 7:01
2. "Flood I" – 6:22
3. "Lucretia My Reflection" – 4:57
4. "1959" – 4:09
5. "This Corrosion" – 10:55
6. "Flood II" – 6:47
7. "Driven Like The Snow" – 6:27
8. "Never Land (a fragment)" – 2:46

Additional tracks on CD

1. "Torch" – 3:51 (also on cassette)
2. "Colours" – 7:18

Bonus tracks on 2006 reissue

1. "Never Land (Full Length)" - 11:59
2. "Emma" - 6:20

Singles

• This Corrosion - September 1987 (#7)
• Dominion - February 1988 (#13)
• Lucretia My Reflection - June 1988 (#20)

Notes

External links

• Discography section of the official tSoM website