First And Last And Forever: A Tribute To The Sisters Of Mercy

Various Artists - Alternative - Industrial | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 18, 1993)
• Original Release Date: May 4, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cleopatra
• ASIN: B000001JP5
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,885 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only for the die- hard fan of the Sisters......., April 30, 1999

By 

Kenneth G. Smith (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First And Last And Forever: A Tribute To The Sisters Of Mercy (Audio CD)

This album is mediocre. I liked some of the new vocals, and the first remake of Alice was wonderful. The techno remake of Black Planet could have been left off, and the Valentine remake was pretty good. Overall only the die-hard fans of the Sisters should buy this album to add to their collection.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only if you collect, January 8, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Bensalem, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First And Last And Forever: A Tribute To The Sisters Of Mercy (Audio CD)

This CD has some beautiful covers. I use the word 'some' sparingly, however.

The Shroud's rendition of Alice is excellently performed and amazingly concieved. If you like to buy CDs for a single song (as opposed to the 'N' alternative), buy this one.

Automatic Head Detonator does a brilliant cover of Black Planet. Truly different and inspired industial-metal gives a new light to a Sisters great. Too bad the band doesn't seem to exist. As far as I or anyone can tell, they have only ever recorded this one song -- ever. My mates and I reckon that the Cleopatra guys got together a band to fill in the gap in the 72 minutes available -- too bad it surpassed the quality of a lot of the other forgettable or regrettable covers on the rest of the disc.

Much of the work, as I said, is strictly forgettable. A few pieces are truly despisable, and unfortunately balance out the good Shroud and AHD points...

The Afterhours cover, admittedly, would work well as background music to play on your porch to scare the kiddies on Hallowe'en -- it sounds about like the 'spooky moods' sound effects CDs that go on sale in October.

And on the other side of the black planet lies David E. Williams absolutely abominable, utterly nauseating cover of Black Planet. To take a Sisters classic and -- parody is the only word that fits. Yet it's not a joke. Why in the world Cleopatra keeps including this untalended and annoying twit on their compilations is beyond me, unless perhaps to highlight the sometimes dubious talents of some of the newer bands they feature.

I might consider going to a David E. Williams show -- but only to start a brawl in hopes that the schmuck would get drawn in and trampled, thus reducing the chances we might all have the misfortune of hearing his terrible tones. I doubt even his mother likes his music (or him).

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbearable, June 28, 2003

By 

A. Clark (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First And Last And Forever: A Tribute To The Sisters Of Mercy (Audio CD)

When I buy a tribute album, which is admittedly rare particularly in light of this catastrophic purchase I made many years ago, I expect the artists involved to interpret the songs in a unique manner and not merely try to play the song exactly like the original version. A tribute album comprised of cloned versions of the original songs is always doomed to fall short, especially when the talent level of the bands participating is so strikingly low. Having said that, 3/4 of the songs covered here have missed that expectation.

This album introduces us to Cleopatra's stable of third rate, amatuerish bands who seemingly have no other purpose for existence other than participating in nonsense like this. The only covers worth mentioning are those that strive to be unique.

Automatic Head Detonator's cover of "Black Planet" sounds a bit like The Jesus and Mary Chain, but is hampered by weak vocals. The Shroud's cover of "Alice" is the most dramatic departure from the original style. Its a very light, pretty, acoustic take, but a bit too thin and dull to capture much interest.

I have a soft spot for Faith and Disease in that they are the only band on here who actually managed to write a fair amount of their own good music, but their cover of "Bury Me Deep" is uninspired and disappointing. The fact that it is one of the best songs on here speaks volumes about how bad of an album this is.

Halo's version of "Lights" tries to inject some vitality into what was a rather plodding and subdued song originally by covering it in layers of feedback and screamed vocals. It fails miserably. But by far the worst is David E. Williams' cover of "Black Planet". This man sounds like Billy Idol, after he's been kicked in the head a few dozen times and been rendered a blithering vegetable. He should not be allowed near a microphone, ever. Fans of the Sisters of Mercy, or even just fans of music in general should avoid this.