- 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 #9 in UK album charts.
Overview
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".
Eldritch said that Lucretia, My Reflection was written for Morrison, who "always strikes me as a Lucretia-type person".[1]
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".[citation needed]
Later years
Floodland was first given a CD re-release with two bonus tracks; Torch and Colours, both B-sides to singles from the album. It was reissued as a digipak in 2006 with two additional bonus tracks, "Never Land (Full Length)" and "Emma", for a total of four extra tracks.
The song "Dominion/Mother Russia" was featured in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
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.[4] On the 2006 reissues, the tracks are listed as Additional Tracks.
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.[5]
- "Dominion/Mother Russia" – 7:01
- "Flood I" – 6:22
- "Lucretia My Reflection" – 4:57
- "1959" – 4:09
- "This Corrosion" – 9:08
- "Flood II" – 6:47
- "Driven Like The Snow" – 6:27
- "Never Land (A Fragment)" – 2:46
CD bonus tracks
- "Torch" – 3:51
- "Colours" – 7:18
2006 CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Never Land (Full Length)" - 11:59
- "Emma" - 6:20
Singles
Cover versions
Cover versions of "Lucretia My Reflection" have also been recorded by the following musical groups or artists:
Notes
External links
