Sisters of Mercy - Original vs Remasters

Maybe the original vinyl single are common on the bins of the UK, but late coming Stateside fans like myself, who discovered the band with Floodland are probably going to make due with Some Girls.

Regarding Vision Thing, I was a fan living a few blocks from a Tower Records when it was released and bought up all of the CD singles associated with that album. That said the original album track list still rocks. The extended mixes found on the CD singles are interesting but not essential. "You Could Be The One" on the More CD single is the only thing approaching required listening.

 

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

 

Ya gotta give Michael a little credit, I think that's the first review of what's on the disc instead of the disc I've seen from him in eons

 

I worked in a record/cd shop back then, and actually blew one of the shop speakers doing such, it does sound awesome loud!

 

Sure does! I might play some Sisters tonight... no change there then

 

I don't collect Sisters CD, I listen to them. When Andrew brought the Vision Thing band to the Trocadero in Philadelphia it was an amazing gig. I've tried to stay a fan of the live band but each subsequent tour stop in Philadelphia has been less interesting.

 

They played in Oz last year and it was phenomenal. They sounded excellent indeed.

 

Bugger I completely missed that!

 

Spiggy gets a frequent shout out in the deadwaxes of Sisters records - off top of my head at least on "Body Electric", "Temple Of Love" and "Reptile House". And I seem to remember somewhere it even said "SPIGGY RIDES AGAIN"... No idea if this was Peckham's idea or if Mr.E wanted it that way but... that's the beauty of deadwax

 

What about the japanese 2011 Floodland SHM-CD(WQCP 1104)? Was that one newly remastered or did they use the 2006 version?

 

I would love to know!

 

RE Floodland. I can confirm that the original EU, USA, AND JPN CDs use identical masterings.

 

foobar2000 1.3.7 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-11-07 16:02:36

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: The Sisters Of Mercy / Floodland [2011, JPN, WQCP 1104]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR9 0.00 dB -10.43 dB 7:01 01-Dominion/Mother Russia
DR11 0.00 dB -12.13 dB 6:23 02-Flood I
DR9 0.00 dB -10.45 dB 4:57 03-Lucretia My Reflection
DR15 -0.47 dB -17.71 dB 4:10 04-1959
DR9 0.00 dB -11.12 dB 10:55 05-This Corrosion
DR10 0.00 dB -11.50 dB 6:47 06-Flood II
DR14 0.00 dB -16.02 dB 6:28 07-Driven Like The Snow
DR13 0.00 dB -15.52 dB 2:55 08-Never Land (A Fragment)
DR10 0.00 dB -14.43 dB 3:51 09-Torch
DR13 0.00 dB -14.28 dB 7:19 10-Colours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR11

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 832 kbps
Codec: ALAC
================================================================================

Sonic analysis forthcoming!

 

Hmm. Seems to me that the standard old CD master was used, with a bit of peak limiting added to bring the overall level up. I checked the EQ of 1959 and Dominion against an original CD and the frequency analyses were identical. The added compression on Dominion does bring some song elements up and perhaps makes for a more stable low end, but it's hard to say. The digital glitch in the opening beat of Never Land remains (it's on all digital versions), so I think it's safe to assume that nothing major was done regarding sources for this "remaster".

Hopefully Rhino's forthcoming box set will be the last word on all this, if it ever gets released!

 

You can have the same PEAK value and it still be a different mastering if you don't take the RMS level into consideration.

2 values to compare are better than one...and the peak value is the least useful in that you can still compress a tune and get an exact same peak value, but the RMS will go up (overall loudness) and the file is compromised.

These are the values of my early US cd.

Analyzed folder: C:\Documents and Settings\Desktop\Sisters of Mercy - Floodland\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR12 -1.39 dB -14.92 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 01 - Dominion-Mother Russia.wav
DR14 -0.82 dB -16.61 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 02 - Flood I.wav
DR12 -0.00 dB -14.92 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 03 - Lucretia My Reflection.wav
DR14 -4.97 dB -22.21 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 04 - 1959.wav
DR11 -1.15 dB -15.62 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 05 - This Corrosion.wav
DR13 -0.00 dB -15.99 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 06 - Flood II.wav
DR15 -3.64 dB -20.52 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 07 - Driven Like the Snow.wav
DR16 -1.24 dB -20.01 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 08 - Never Land (A Fragment).wav
DR10 -4.30 dB -18.93 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 09 - Torch.wav
DR13 -3.51 dB -18.75 dB The Sisters of Mercy - 10 - Colours.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR13

 

Matches my old US SRC also...
Always thought it was a good sounding disc, had no reason to go any further

 

Floodland had one CD master for the world back in 1987. DE/USA/JPN all the same.

 

Hi @robertzombie !

How do the Hi-Res downloads compare to the CDs? Any definitive list you'd share?

 

First And Last And Always high resolution is, in my opinion, the best the original mix has ever sounded. The original USA LP is also a close contender as the mastering is super punchy. None of the CDs are good. If you need to get just one though, go for the high-res. The Japanese market remix is, in my opinion, best served by the MFSL vinyl (needledrops are out there).

Floodland high-res sounds great but it's not as big an upgrade as F&L&A because original Floodland CDs sound pretty good. The remaster tames what some might consider harshness on the original CD (lots of digital 80s reverb on this record). If you don't already own Floodland and you want the whole thing + b-sides in one swoop then go for the high-res. This version uses the vinyl master as its source so some of the tracks are shorter than their original CD counterpart.

Hope that helps!

 

All my Sisters stuff is original, on vinyl. Crying shame that the Body & Soul EP never made it on to CD/SGWBM comp, Afterhours is maybe my fave Sisters track. I have original UK and original Japanese press of FALAA, don't sound that different, but nice to have both!

 

You can get the Body And Soul EP digitally now
The original UK and JPN presses have different mixes from each other so they should sound very different.

 

Where? Would love to buy it.

Maybe I need to play both FALAA back to back...

 

That's too bad. I saw them back in 1991 and they were amazing. Awesome setlist with very few songs from Vision Thing (a good thing, IMO, since I never liked Vision Thing) and loads of stuff from the previous albums and singles. Eldritch was captivating as a frontman and the band was on fire. A thoroughly satisfying show.

 

how are the MFSL vinyl pressings compared to originals, or the new (absurdly expensive) box sets?

 

Both excellent and highly recommended!