The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Written by: Moti Kupfer
Release date - November 13, 1987
Eldritch says that you can hear German in his songs, and that it is not out of the question that in the future the Sisters of Mercy will even record entire songs in different languages, depending mostly on his mood.
So says Andrew Eldritch about his moods, while the band he founded, "The Sisters of Mercy", knows no mercy where they are concerned.
Ever since Eldritch founded "The Sisters of Mercy" somewhere in the punk landscape of Leeds in 1980, together with his bandmate Gary Marx, he has managed to lash out at more or less every creative partner who worked alongside him, at journalists, and at record companies (ignorant and illiterate, in his words). As a result, Eldritch has not released a single new song in over three decades.
There were days when Eldritch was considered the godfather of Gothic rock, and this happened at roughly the same time as the release of the second album by "The Sisters of Mercy", "Floodland", on November 13, 1987.
He may despise that nickname, but there was something to it: with his black hair, pale white skin, prominent cheekbones and deep, thunderous voice (a bass-baritone), it was impossible to ignore his impressive presence.
"The Sisters of Mercy" was formed, as mentioned, in 1980 in Leeds by two friends, Gary Marx and Andrew Eldritch. Eldritch was born in May 1959 (remember the year) in a small town called Ely.
Eldritch studied French and German literature at Oxford University, and speaks almost ten different languages at various levels (French, German, Dutch, Croatian, Serbian, Russian and more).
He began his musical path as a drummer in the Leeds punk scene, after which he founded "The Sisters of Mercy". The band's name was influenced by Robert Altman's film "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", which included the song "Sisters of Mercy" by Leonard Cohen, from the album "Songs of Leonard Cohen".
Immediately after releasing a debut single, they decided to replace Eldritch's drumming with a drum machine nicknamed "Doktor Avalanche".
Only at the end of 1983 did the successful single "Temple of Love" lead to a signing with WEA Records. At the same time, guitarist Ben Gunn left the band due to conflicts with Eldritch, and Wayne Hussey came in his place. During the recording of the debut album, Eldritch suffered a physical and mental decline that created growing alienation between him and the rest of the band, which led Craig Adams and Wayne Hussey to leave and together form "The Sisterhood", which would later change its name (to avoid confusion) to "The Mission".
For the second album, "Floodland", which leaned toward Gothic rock, Eldritch brought in bassist Patricia Morrison, formerly of "The Gun Club". One of the album's songs, "1959", was written about Eldritch's childhood. The album was produced by Eldritch and Larry Alexander, with Jim Steinman (known for his work with Meat Loaf) producing two of the songs.
Steinman's main contribution was that he managed to squeeze more money out of the record company in order to use several backing singers, and another 40 members of the New York Choral Society, who together formed a choir on "This Corrosion".
Morrison, who arrived with an impressive résumé, ultimately did not manage to come up with ideas that would make it onto the album, and therefore received very little credit.
If the debut album was a more traditional recording, "Floodland" was assembled mainly on a computer using sequencers, partly due to Morrison's absence, and Eldritch played the guitar part himself.
The drum sounds on the album were sampled from various drum machines.
The album's name, "Floodland", was inspired by the port city of Hamburg, where most of the album's songs were written, at a time when Eldritch was overcome by a sense of Armageddon, in which the waters are about to overflow and wash over the port city.
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