The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Vision Thing’ turns 36 on 22 October
The Sisters of Mercy’s third album “Vision Thing” turns 36 on 22 October. The gothic rock record was produced by Andrew Eldritch and Jim Steinman.
The Sisters of Mercy’s third studio album, “Vision Thing,” turns 36 on 22 October. Merciful Release and East West Records released the gothic rock record in the UK on 22 October 1990, with Elektra Records handling distribution in the US.
Andrew Eldritch produced the album, sharing the credit with Jim Steinman on the track “More” and with Chris Tsangarides on “When You Don’t See Me.” The band recorded “Vision Thing” over nine months at Puk Recording Studios in Gjerlev, Denmark. Eldritch wrote or co-wrote all eight tracks, which run: “Vision Thing,” “Ribbons,” “Detonation Boulevard,” “Something Fast,” “When You Don’t See Me,” “Doctor Jeep,” “More” and “I Was Wrong,” totaling 42 minutes and 35 seconds.
The lineup on the record featured Eldritch on vocals, guitars and keyboards, alongside guitarists Tim Bricheno and Andreas Bruhn, bassist Tony James and the band’s drum machine, Doktor Avalanche. Guitarist John Perry, who had turned down a full-time role in the band, contributed guitar and slide guitar on “Detonation Boulevard” as a guest, and Maggie Reilly sang backing vocals on five of the eight tracks. “Vision Thing” reached number 11 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver by the BPI, and it later went Gold in Germany. Merciful Release reissued the album in November 2006 with five bonus tracks, including the non-album single “You Could Be the One.”
About The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy formed in Leeds, England, in 1980 around Andrew Eldritch and guitarist Gary Marx, later joined by guitarist Ben Gunn and bassist Craig Adams, with a drum machine the band named Doktor Avalanche standing in for a live drummer from the start. The band built its following through a run of independent singles on its own Merciful Release label before signing to WEA/East West for wider distribution. Its 1985 debut album, “First and Last and Always,” established the band within the emerging gothic rock scene, followed by 1987’s “Floodland,” which included the singles “This Corrosion” and “Dominion/Mother Russia” and featured bassist Patricia Morrison. Morrison left the band by the end of 1989, and former Sigue Sigue Sputnik member Tony James joined on bass as the band, now also featuring new guitarist Andreas Bruhn and later Tim Bricheno, prepared its third album. “Vision Thing,” released on 22 October 1990, closed out the band’s studio album releases to date; The Sisters of Mercy have continued to tour and perform new unreleased material live in the years since without issuing another studio record.
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Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
