THE SISTERS OF MERCY
Four-LP Boxed Set Combines The Band's 1985 Classic
First And Last And Always With Three EPs From That Era
180-Gram Vinyl And Digital Versions Will Both Be Available July 24
The Sisters of Mercy mastered the art of dark and foreboding rock in 1985 with the band's influential major-label debut, FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS. To commemorate the album's 30-year anniversary, Rhino will release a vinyl boxed set that includes the original album together with three 12" EPs from that era: Body And Soul, No Time To Cry and Walk Away.
FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS VINYL COLLECTION will be available at retail outlets on July 24 for a suggested retail price of $74.98. The set contains four LPs, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl, and comes packed in an attractive card slipcase. On the same day, the set will also be released digitally. The album and EPs that make up the set will also be available for download individually.
When The Sisters of Mercy signed with WEA in May 1984, the band consisted of Andrew Eldritch (vocals), Gary Marx and Wayne Hussey (guitars), Craig Adams (bass) and a drum machine named Doktor Avalanche. The group's first release for the label was the 12" EP Body and Soul . Eldritch once described the release as: "a vision of heaven with everyone on speed." Two of its four-tracks-"Body Electric" (1984 Version) and "Afterhours"-have only been available on the original 12". This new release makes these songs available digitally for the first time ever.
In March 1985, almost a year after Body And Soul, The Sisters of Mercy released its landmark album, First and Last and Always . It climbed to #14 on the album charts in the band's native England. Among the standout tracks are "Marian," "Rock And A Hard Place" and the ominous "Black Planet," which was released as a single in the U.S. Even though the album was enthusiastically embraced by goth rock culture, Eldritch has steadfastly rejected the label, saying the band has more in common with classic rock from the Sixties than the post-punk scene of the Eighties.
Also featured in this set are two singles from First and Last and Always that were issued as 12" singles with multiple b-sides. "Walk Away" was backed with "Poison Door" and "On The Wire." With was followed by "No Time To Cry," which was backed with "Blood Money" and "Bury Me Deep."
FIRST LAST AND ALWAYS VINYL COLLECTION
First Last And Always
Side One
1. "Black Planet"
2. "Walk Away"
3. "No Time To Cry"
4. "A Rock And A Hard Place"
5. "Marian"
Side Two
6. "First And Last And Always"
7. "Possession"
8. "Nine While Nine"
9. "Logic"
10. "Some Kind Of Stranger"
Body And Soul
Side One
1. "Body And Soul"
2. "Body Electric" (1984 version)
Side Two
3. "Train"
4. "Afterhours"
Walk Away
Side One
1. "Walk Away"
Side Two
2. "Poison Door"
3. "On The Wire"
No Time To Cry
Side One
1. "No Time To Cry"
Side Two
2. "Blood Money"
3. "Bury Me Deep"
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