The Sisters Of Mercy - Body And Soul (1993)

The Sisters Of Mercy were formed in Leeds, England, in 1980 by Gary Marx and Andrew Eldritch, driven by their desire to hear themselves on the radio. In their inaugural year, the band experienced several line-up changes, with one early formation including vocalist Keith Fuller and keyboardist Claire Shearsby, who accompanied Eldritch on drums and Marx on guitar. After this line-up disbanded, only Marx and Eldritch remained, both taking on vocal duties, and during this period Jon Langford played keyboard in the band, but left due to infrequent attendance at practice. At the end of 1980 the band, who had named themselves after the Leonard Cohen song from his 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen' album, recorded and released the single 'Damage Done' on their own Merciful Release label, on which Marx played guitar through a practice amplifier, while Eldritch played drums, which he had purchased from Langford. Each member contributed to the song-writing, with Eldritch penned 'Damage Done', while Marx wrote the b-side 'Watch'. The band later regrouped with Craig Adams on bass, while Eldritch's drumming was replaced by a drum machine, christened Doktor Avalanche, allowing him to focus solely on vocals. Eldritch assumed responsibilities for lyric writing, Doktor programming, and record production, while co-writing the music with Marx and, occasionally, Adams. During this early period, the band cycled through two additional guitarists in Tom Ashton and Dave Humphrey, but later in 1981, Ben Gunn was recruited as the Sisters' permanent second guitarist.

Eldritch's melancholic baritone, Craig Adams's pulsating bass, Doktor Avalanche's beat, and Marx's flowing guitar contributed to the band's early underground success, and in 1982, the band recorded their second single, 'Body Electric', this time on the CNT label. Further singles regularly featured in UK independent charts, with some being named single of the week in various UK indie magazines, and 'The Reptile House' EP exemplifies the Sisters' early work, and highlights the maturation of songwriter Eldritch, who wrote, produced, and reportedly played all instruments on the release. Their live performances included many cover versions,  among them being a medley consisting of 'Sister Ray' (by the Velvet Underground), 'Ghostrider' (by Suicide), and 'Louie Louie' (by Richard Berry), but only four covers were ever recorded and released as b-sides on their records. In late 1983, following the highly successful single 'Temple Of Love', the band signed a contract with major record label WEA and simultaneously, Gunn departed amidst an atmosphere of widespread discontent, and he was succeeded by Wayne Hussey, who focused on 12-string electric and acoustic guitars while also contributing as a songwriter. His studio experience with Dead or Alive proved invaluable as the Sisters set out to record their first full-length record. The Black October UK tour solidified the band's underground cult status, but the growing estrangement between Eldritch and the rest of the group became increasingly problematic during the recording of the debut album 'First And Last And Always'. 

Most songs were written and rehearsed by Marx, Hussey, and Adams, with Eldritch stepping in at the final stage to write lyrics and provide vocals. Following the release of 'First And Last And Always'  Marx departed from the band in the midst of a supporting tour, citing an inability to continue working with Eldritch, and The Sisters completed the tour as a three-piece act, bidding farewell to fans with their final performance at London's Royal Albert Hall on 18 June 1985. Shortly after that last gig, Eldritch relocated to Hamburg, where he was soon joined by Hussey, and their intention was to begin working on a follow-up album, tentatively titled 'Left On Mission And Revenge', for which Hussey had written several songs, including 'Dance On Glass' and 'Garden Of Delight', and demo versions of both songs featuring Eldritch on vocals have since surfaced, suggesting that the band worked on the material together. Adams and Hussey then left the new band to form The Sisterhood, and they were replaced by the American singer and bass guitarist Patricia Morrison, ex-The Gun Club. Meanwhile, Eldritch protested against their use of the Sisterhood name as being too similar to the Sisters of Mercy, and in an attempt to stop Hussey's band, Eldritch released the single 'Giving Ground' by his own band, the Sisterhood, and they followed that with the album 'Gift'. Hussey's band eventually named themselves The Mission, and never recorded as the Sisterhood, just using the name when they went out and played some early gigs. 

Left to his own devices, Eldritch recorded 'Floodland', marking a shift away from guitar-based rock toward atmospheric, Wagnerian rock and the keyboard-oriented explorations pioneered on 'Gift'. The next incarnation of the Sisters Of Mercy featured an unknown German guitarist, Andreas Bruhn, whom Eldritch allegedly discovered playing in a Hamburg pub and brought into the band in April 1989. Joining him were bassist Tony James, formerly of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Generation X, and last-minute guitar recruit Tim Bricheno, formerly of All About Eve. The new line-up kicked off with the 'Vision Thing' album, released in October 1990, which was produced by Eldritch, and which also featured guitarist John Perry. The band launched a world tour from 1990 to 1991 to promote the album, and following the tour bassist James left the group to pursue a solo career, with the band continuing by using a pre-recorded backing track. The US tour fiasco did not help the already strained relationship between Eldritch and the Sisters' new record company EastWest, and conflicts with WEA led to the termination of the band's US record distribution deal circa 1991–92, meaning later recordings became available in the US only as imports. In 1993 Bricheno left the band and was replaced by Adam Pearson, who was the only guitarist on the single 'Under The Gun', which also featured former Berlin lead vocalist Terri Nunn on backing vocals. The track was co-produced by Billie Hughes, who also co-wrote the song, and it was recorded to promote the "greatest hits" compilation, 'A Slight Case Of Overbombing', which was released in 1993. 

Bruhn left the group shortly afterwards, and that single was the last new material to be released by the group. In 1996, the name was revived for several gigs supporting the Sex Pistols, with Bruhn's place initially taken by Chris Sheehan, although during subsequent tours the guitarist position rotated between Sheehan and Mike Varjak. In late 1997, the contract with EastWest was terminated after the company agreed to accept material recorded under the SSV name instead of the two albums for which the Sisters of Mercy had contractual obligations, but Eldritch presented them with an album of techno-like droning featuring mumbling vocals and with no drums. After hearing the record EastWest dumped the band and refused to release it, and the recordings have only ever circulated through pirate MP3s (and on this site). In 2005, the Sisters Of Mercy recruited Chris Catalyst as a guitarist, followed by the addition of Ben Christo on guitar in 2006, and they embarked on a world tour that spanned North and South America and Europe. The group has maintained an active touring schedule ever since, performing at headline shows and music festivals almost every year, showcasing both released and unreleased material, but they have so far avoided the recording studio, and so none of the new songs have appeared on an album. In an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Eldritch has confirmed that he saw no reason to release an album, citing time constraints and a lack of available material as some of the issues involved. As a reminder of the music that they produced during their classic period between 1980 and 1993, here is a 4CD collection of b-sides, non-album singles, radio sessions and unreleased demos.

Track listing

Disc I - 1980-1982
01 Floorshow (from the 'Floorshow' demo EP 1981)
02 Lights (from the 'Floorshow' demo EP 1981)
03 Teachers/Adrenochrome (from the 'Floorshow' demo EP 1981)
04 The Damage Done (single 1980)
05 Watch (b-side of 'The Damage Done')
06 Home Of The Hit-Men (b-side of 'The Damage Done')
07 Body Electric (single 1982)
08 Adrenochrome (b-side of 'Body Electric')
09 Afterhours (b-side of 'Body Electric')
10 Alice (single 1982)
11 Floorshow (b-side of 'Alice')
12 1969 (b-side of 'Alice')

Disc II - 1982-1983
01 Good Things (John Peel session 1982)
02 Driver (previously unreleased 1982) 
03 Anaconda (single 1983)
04 Phantom (b-side of 'Anaconda')
05 Kiss The Carpet (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
06 Lights (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
07 Valentine (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
08 Fix (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
09 Burn (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
10 Kiss The Carpet (Reprise) (from the 'Reptile House' EP 1983)
11 Jolene (Kid Jensen session 1983)

Disc III - 1983-1984
01 Temple Of Love (single 1983)
02 Heartland (b-side of 'Temple Of Love')
03 Gimme Shelter (b-side of 'Temple Of Love')
04 Wide Receiver (unreleased demo 1983)
05 Body And Soul (single 1984)
06 Train (b-side of 'Body And Soul')
07 Poison Door (b-side of 'Walk Away' 1984)
08 On The Wire (b-side of 'Walk Away' 1984)
09 Long Train (flexi-disc 1984)
10 Garden Of Delight (Eldritch vocal) (unreleased demo 1984)
11 Garden Of Delight (Hussey vocal) (unreleased demo 1984)

Disc IV - 1984-1993
01 Serpent's Kiss (unreleased demo 1984)
02 Blood Money (b-side of 'No Time To Cry' 1985)
03 Bury Me Deep (b-side of 'No Time To Cry' 1985)
04 Torch (b-side of 'This Corrosion' 1987)
05 Colours (b-side of 'This Corrosion' 1987)
06 Untitled (b-side of 'Dominion' 1988)
07 Sandstorm (b-side of 'Dominion' 1988)
08 Ozymandias (b-side of 'Dominion' 1988)
09 Emma (b-side of 'Dominion' 1988)
10 You Could Be The One (b-side of 'More' 1990)
11 Knocking On Heaven's Door (b-side of 'Doctor Jeep' 1990)
12 Under The Gun (single 1993)