Mar 19 2021
4
man, this thing is just THE 80s:
reverb drums - CHECK
trashcontainer drum - CHECK
guitar chorused out of reasonability - CHECK
flanger - CHECK
epic synths - CHECK
midi ballad - CHECK
song composed almost entirely out of the weird percussion section sounds of a digital synth - CHECK
verse is just chorus but quieter - CHECK
"the wind blows wild" - CHECK
I mean, EVERYTHING
mother russia/10
👍
Oct 20 2022
3
I don't think anything can say it better than this review I saw:
"Meatloaf joining The Cure for a remake of Lou Reed's Berlin."
👍
Jan 20 2023
5
andrew eldritch: we're not goths
also andrew eldritch: "dance the ghost with me"
👍
Jul 21 2021
4
Loved this so much I dyed my eyebrows black. Itβs a good look!
For real though, this was great. Now whereβs a Type-0 Negative album on this list???
👍
Sep 18 2022
1
New Wave Dracula doesnβt suck blood, he just sucks.
👍
Oct 13 2021
4
Really liked this, very 80s hints of Depeche Mode and darker goth music but also driving rock songs like 'This Corrosion' which wouldn't be out of place on a Fleetwood Mac album. Some songs maybe went on a bit longer than needed but they were clearly having a lot of fun. Bonus points for the very 80s sax solo on the album opener
👍
Jun 11 2021
5
Goths are wonderful from a distance
👍
Oct 14 2022
4
Pomp goth! Always loved this album. It's hilariously overblown and you just know Eldritch is in on the joke.
👍
May 19 2021
4
Whoa, I've actually heard one of these songs before! A radio cut of Dominion got a lot of play on my hometown rock station in the 90s. The kind of play that makes you think these dudes made exactly one good song and made knowing the name of the artist useful literally only for pub trivia purposes. Pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed the whole album. It scratched a dark, almost gothy rock itch that hadn't been scratched since I last hung out in the garage listening to the radio with my dad while he drank Buds and worked on his motorcycle.
👍
Jan 24 2024
2
Pixies obviously ripped off the third track on this (Lucretia My Reflection AKA a Pretentious Erection) for their Doolittle track Tame.
I could picture the singer singing these songs in his bedroom wearing a cape while mashing the drum machine buttons. Turning around and hissing when he hears his parents calling him down for dinner.
Baby, when I tell you I hated this one ya gotta believe me.
👍
Jun 01 2021
5
Loved it. I have not waded much into goth-rock/new wave/post-punk but this was great. Though the instrumentation was simple, it was very effective. The music features a strong backbeat, prominent bass, horror motifs, and typical new wave/post-punk vocal delivery. The overall result is a driving, pulsing music that is instantly likable and even danceable.
👍
Sep 04 2023
5
Well this is dark, moody and sexual.
It's kind of like Type O Negative without the fun. There is a sort of optimism to it though that I find surprising from behind the black-clad, heavy eyelined Generation X cynical delivery.
By the time Flood II comes around, I think I'm fully invested. I am Gen X, so that might have something to do with it.
I can easily imagine swaying awkwardly (but rhythmically) to this at Slimelight, probably while drinking a pint of snakebite and black from a plastic cup, while impossibly beautiful girls in corsets and lace writhe around me.
God damn it, this album is actually good, isn't it?
👍
Oct 14 2022
5
This is honesty the moody, gloomy, late 80s goth-rock I never knew I needed.
First Listen?: Y
Fav. Track(s): Flood I, Lucretia My Reflection, This Corrosion
Rating: 4.7/5
👍
May 22 2021
5
The pinnacle of goth darkwave club-core. Put this on, and I'm already wearing black and hitting the dance floor. Instantly catchy, moody goth jams. Perfect!
👍
Jun 03 2021
5
i knew this album at the time, though not that well. i remembered loving some tracks, but didn't know others at all. on the whole, i loved this one, especially This Corrosion, which just burns
👍
Jun 04 2025
5
HEY NOW, HEY NOW N NOW. Gothic Meatloaf is absolutely glorious.
👍
May 08 2025
5
Goth fun, some classic tracks, love it.
👍
Feb 21 2025
5
So what if Jim Steinman sent them all shiny production and OTT choral intros. It's a match made in heaven if you ask me. Goth heaven. I love a throbbing bassline that's presented unapologetically front and centre, too. The trio of singles - Dominion, This Corrosion and Lucretia are just brilliant, and, I may add, the videos for them are as sexy as hell. I love the whole dark/dance combo of goth music, and this is just marvellous.
👍
Mar 13 2022
5
I always thought of goths as boring people wearing a lot of make up bored with their own lives. Then emos came and they were much worse. But, hey! These are audiences, and we are here to discuss music, right?
Right.Β
If I were to pick up an essential post punk band with really pessimistic sound and content, Joy Division would be that band. Still, this doesn't totally mean that I consider other bands in the dark/goth spectrum to be derivative, mind. I really love some of them, from Christian Death to Fields Of The Nephilim. I wasn't really familiar with the Sisters Of Mercy though.
Lucretia My Reflection, Dominion, and the mighty This Corrosion (which I am sure I already heard in the past) were singles, and they were great. As a whole, the album really sounds huge, with all those busy, upfront bass lines and insisting drumming, a lot of female backing vocals, even some choir (a 40 piece one on This Corrosion), but never feeling overcharged. 1959 with only piano and voice fills up the room effortlessly. On Flood II there is an acoustic guitar along with the synths and the aforementioned, very effective rhythm section, and the whole thing comes out from the speakers as if it was a roaring monster.
I could go on and mention all the songs in here, as there is no filler really. All I can say is that I need this record in my collection. A masterpiece.Β
👍
Dec 11 2021
5
I fucking love this album. It's amazing that they did so much with such a minimal approach. Just last night I was drunk and trying to get my mates to love Lucretia my reflection as much as I do, so this is fitting. 5/5.
👍
Feb 24 2025
4
SEXY.
Favorite track: Lucretia My Reflection
3.5/5
👍
Dec 05 2024
4
Another new one for me. I have heard some Sisters of Mercy but never a full album. Itβs well produced, sounds somehow cinematic to me, big reverbs. I can hear Depeche Mode, and the beginnings of Rammstein. Iβd listen to this again.
👍
Nov 15 2024
4
This was fun - recognized the singles but would not have been caught dead with it as a teenager; age has softened me to doomy ridiculousness with campy synth backing. Ironically, my experience is that goths seem to have a happier life in general. Get the depression out of the way upfront, leaving plenty of time to focus on the drinks and disco lights
👍
Sep 13 2024
4
My first Sisters of Mercy album and I quite liked it.
👍
Sep 12 2024
4
Enjoyed this more than expected!
👍
Sep 12 2024
4
classic goth. The Corrosion absolutely rips
👍
Jun 24 2021
4
What!!! No Temple of Love??? I guess that would have bee asking too much. Still there are some real Goth/Wave anthems like "This Corrosion" (especially), "Lucretia My Reflection" and "Dominion". It's monotonous and contrived, but I'm giving it an extra point due to the fact that one guy wrote the songs, sang lead and played every instrument. The choir was a nice touch too.
👍
May 20 2021
4
I can't say that I've ever really listened to a goth album before, so I don't have a lot of genre context for this. I'll say having listened to most of the album that while this is not particularly my kind of music, it is well done. I like the vocal production and how male and female voices get blended together over squealing metal guitars.
4/5
👍
Oct 01 2020
4
Makes me want to dress in all black and go to a rave. Or at least play Vampires: The Masquerade. Lead singer reminds me of Peter Steele from Type O Negative. Favorite tracks: "Dominion/Mother Russia", "This Corrosion"
👍
Feb 18 2021
4
A good combination of energy and just general moodiness. I liked it. Good for exercise too.
👍
Jan 10 2021
4
Leans into its darkwave cliches, but I'm weak to them. There's a greater-than-average amount of variation in the tracklist, too. Sprawling and short, quiet and loud.
👍
Nov 15 2024
3
The foregrounding of the drum machine and heavy synth strops is confident and charismatic. Apart from the refrain of βThis Corrosionβ, the songs themselves didnβt seduce me.
👍
Sep 13 2024
3
The bass player is doing a great job. Then came the choir out of nowhere. And went into the new-wave phase. Very odd. Very original. I think they knew what they were doing. Even if it's not 100% my taste, I respect that.
👍
Sep 12 2024
3
Three points because I loved my time in Germany. But outside of that, not the pinnacle of goth for me.
👍
Jun 27 2021
3
3.3 - An unusual sound, combining baritone vocals, gothic choir, electronic percussion, synthesizer and some guitar. A mix between Depeche Mode and βScary Monstersβ, and forward thinking enough to seem to also usher in the sound for both. Dark and atmospheric, often pretentious. βThe Corrosion is a standout.
👍
May 21 2025
2
Floodland
Bowie + Joy Division + Depeche Mode + Billy Idol = a decent enough album that starts well before fading away, getting lost in the similarity of tempo, tone, melody, sound and song structure.
On the strongest songs, Dominion/Mother Russia, Lucretia My Reflection and This Corrosion, the pompous 80βs goth-pop-rock atmospheres work well and make for some enjoyably catchy tracks. The other tracks, whilst not necessarily bad, are either not so successful variations on those tracks, or slightly dirgey and not that memorable.
Itβs an interesting listen, a nice little snapshot of a genre Iβm not that au fait with, with a few good songs, but ultimately itβs not something I can see myself coming back to. Cusp of 2 and 3, but as Iβm unlikely to return to it Iβll go high 2.
ππ
Playlist submission: Dominion/Mother Russia
👍
Apr 18 2025
2
An odd album. Like a Dracula soundtrack, bordering on comedic. Think βForgetting Sarah Marshallβ. 2/5 Probably wonβt listen again
👍
Jul 06 2021
2
Dated drums right out the gate. I guess this is Proto-industrial, so thatβs why itβs βimportant.β The voice is cool, dark, driving but I canβt get over the dated effects. There were some shining moments where I heard Bowie and Echo and the Bunnymen. But, overall, blah. 2.
👍
Jun 24 2021
2
When it comes to the Goth/dance sound this pales in comparison to the Cure and New Order. I found the vocals annoying and the drums way too amped. Not a fan.
👍
Jan 22 2021
2
Uh hello 1980s
👍
Jul 04 2025
5
Super cool classic goth rock
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Jul 03 2025
5
Fun!
👍
Jun 30 2025
5
This is a hugely important album for half of the adults in this house.
👍
Jun 18 2025
5
Det Γ€r sΓ₯ jΓ€vla bra men det kommer aldrig bli bΓ€ttre Γ€n First and last and always.
👍
Jun 06 2025
5
Finally, an actual classic in this graveyard of try-hards. Floodland doesnβt just sound big; it sounds like it was recorded inside a cathedral being demolished in slow motion. Pure eighties excess, draped in synthetic fog. Doktor Avalanche thunders like a nuclear countdown with eyeliner, steamrolling every cheesy orchestra stab in its path. There isnβt a single weak track. Not one. And then thereβs Andrew Eldritchβ¦ goth Elvis in a leather trench, preaching the apocalypse with that voice like velvet decay. Itβs pompous, bleak, glorious.
The end of the world never sounded this sexy.
👍
May 05 2025
5
I just know me 5 years ago would've loved this. The music (drums and vocals in particular) were so hard hitting
👍
Apr 24 2025
5
This record is iconic, 5 stars and a big heart for that
👍
Apr 23 2025
5
Oh wow - okay. Wasn't what I was expecting at all.
Kind of hard to place this in terms of other music I have heard but I really like it. Very gloomy and atmospheric somewhere between The Cure and Type o Negative.
Not a wasted track on the album too, great variation between songs so they don't blur into each other.
👍
Apr 23 2025
5
Fucking love this sound. Would have been so cool to be a goth in the 80s. This album kicked ass. 5 stars!
👍
Apr 17 2025
5
A moody/industrial masterpiece. This album is something youβd hear playing at an underground club in the 80βs. 5/5
👍
Apr 13 2025
5
W koΕcu posΕuchaΕam caΕej i kurde, moΕΌe to nie jest 5/5, ale zapisaΕam duΕΌo piosenek + to moje klimaty + 80s, wiΔc heh.
Gdybym siΔ urodziΕa jeszcze raz, to graΕabym na basie. Nadal mogΔ, ale juΕΌ nic z tego nie bΔdzie.
👍
Apr 02 2025
5
I already loved this album. Lucretia My Reflection is a favorite song. Glad to see it pop up in the list
👍
Mar 05 2025
5
This is fantastic dark soviet video game fantasy music. Like Black Sabbath meets Talking Heads meets Super Mario.
Yes flood I is a drag. But the rest is great. A nice new discovery for me.
👍
Feb 21 2025
5
I know he gets shirty on such matters, but this album could not be any more Goth if it tried. And I love it.
👍
Feb 18 2025
5
Unmatched.
👍
Jan 29 2025
5
When I was 14/15 and getting more into music my dad gave me his old record player and records, so most of the stuff I was listening to was his collection. This was a particular favourite of mine at the time so itβs quite nostalgic to come back to 10 years later. Itβs so gothic and so 80s I love it.
👍
Jan 27 2025
5
I've really come to appreciate goth music these last couple of years, and this here is some really good goth music. He has a really great voice, it reminds me a lot of David Bowie.
These guys were at the first Sick New World, now I feel a little bummed that I missed them, but I think they were on at the same time as System Of A Down.
Low 5.
👍
Jan 20 2025
5
Okay, this is the one exception of 80s band playing supertypical 80s music and being just so so good. Campy and probably a bit cringy at times, but it's such a gem to listen to. Give me an old shed in the middle of nowhere, 50 other people in and this music and I will dance until dawn. Great album.
👍
Jan 09 2025
5
5/5 80βs goth rock fun
👍
Dec 27 2024
5
11/10
Yes.
12-25-2024
👍
Dec 23 2024
5
Dit klinkt wel heel lekker, niet alles top, maar toch echt gaaf. Mooie combinatie van duister en dansbaar.
👍
Nov 27 2024
5
Hey now! Hey now now! Sing this corrosion!
What a banger. Loved it in my teens and still love it now. Just a great album.
👍
Nov 12 2024
5
I actually really enjoyed this album 5/5
👍
Nov 08 2024
5
Man this has gotta be the peak of 80βs post punk / goth rock. Itβs like they said βHey, Pornography is a great album, but what if it we made it catchier? Oh, and donβt forget to make the drums sound like Motley Crue.β
Side note, I put this on while hanging with my kids and my 1 year old was INTO it. Not quite sure what that says about me as a parent but Iβm here for it.
👍
Nov 03 2024
5
i am so fucking goth i can't stand straight 10/10
👍
Nov 01 2024
5
i don't know if this always pops up on halloween or if we just got lucky, but this was the perfect goth & spooky album for the day! i was only familiar with the corrosion, which slaps, and while some of the songs are a little long, i really enjoyed them all. 5/5 spooky ghosts!!
👍
Oct 13 2024
5
Groovy synthesized β80s goodness! I know itβs supposed to be all dark and stuff, but to me itβs just pure fun. Very clear in its intentions.
👍
Oct 03 2024
5
Dark and moody. Synth. Loved it.
👍
Sep 19 2024
5
Moody goth electric depression
👍
Aug 29 2024
5
Heeeyyyy now, hey now now! Sing this corrosion to me!
Yessss, so good.
👍
Aug 19 2024
5
Excellent, dark and quiet rock
👍
Aug 16 2024
5
Grandiose and pretty silly at times but I love its simple sense of melodrama.
👍
Jul 19 2024
5
ElectrΓ³nica gΓ³tica. EstΓ‘ bien. Dudaba entre 4 o 5, pero, venga, un 5.
👍
Jul 10 2024
5
This hits all my favourite things - 80s and gothic. And damn...those drums. The drummer was going ham on this. Great discovery.
👍
Jul 08 2024
5
4.5/5
Massive, anthemic, cold, weird, but also touching, soft, biting, and beautiful. The lyrics are fantastic.
Dominion / Mother Russia 5/5 (FAV)
Flood I 4.5/5
Lucretia My Reflection 5/5
1959 4/5
This Corrosion 4.5/5
Flood II 4/5
Driven Like the Snow 3/5 (LEAST FAV)
Never Land - A Fragment 3.5/5
👍
Jul 06 2024
5
Gothic masterpiece π€π€π€
👍
Jun 30 2024
5
This is in my top 10. 5 stars isnβt enough
👍
Jun 06 2024
5
The sound of pleather, a strobe light, and clove cigarettes.
Through I was never a goth, I think emo girls have an inherent affinity towards goth music. This is no exception. Itβs got a little bit of everything: pounding rhythmic songs for the goth club, brooding dark songs to soundtrack your depression, gospel choirs, out-dated synths, and all the gated drums your heart could ever desire. It even has melodramatic/tragic piano ballads sung in a way where you canβt tell if heβs got cotton mouth, is having a stroke, or has the acting chops of Tommy Wiseau. Songs go on for 10 minutes but engulf you so deeply that space and time stop existing and you just become one with the darkness.
In a word, it is a stunning work of high beauty.
The fact that I like this as much as I do probably tells you all you need to know about my taste (itβs highly subjective and stupid, to say the least, but at least Iβm self aware), but god I love this album. I love this more than some of albums weβre all βsupposedβ to love on this list. If Iβm being real, Iβll revisit this a million times before I touch some high-minded double album or some artsy prog band, even the ones I already adore! This is just so up my alley, taps into the exact vibe I want to shroud myself in, and speaks to my soul in the way only dumb, dark, edgy music like this can.
God bless the goths π€π€π€
👍
May 23 2024
5
Never heard them, it was a great surprise.
👍
May 03 2024
5
Love it
👍
Apr 28 2024
5
I've only had a small handful of 80s goth bands so far. They have all been new to me and I'm learning that it's a genre I really enjoy. Just edgy enough that it isn't cringey or overwhelming without being bland or boring.
👍
Mar 22 2024
5
Listened Before? Y
If someone asked me to tell them how the 80s FEEL, I'd play this album among the musical choices as I attempted to describe a feeling. This album is awesome. I'm familiar with most of the well-known songs here, but even the deep cuts (probably with the exception of 1959, although at least that one is relatively short) are so much gothy fun. This album sounds like the dark and mysterious girl we all had a crush on in 1985.
Added to Library? Y
Songs added to playlist: This Corrosion
👍
Mar 08 2024
5
Mother Russia, baby!
👍
Mar 01 2024
5
SING THIS CORROSION TO ME
👍
Feb 18 2024
5
I LOVE goth rock. me and my homies love goth rock.
👍
Feb 08 2024
5
The Gothiest band who hates being called Goth. I still dance to these tunes thanks to my city being heavily into dark wave, new wave, synth pop & industrial since the 80s. Lucrative My Reflection & This Corrosion has been a staple at the clubs & always gets the bats on dance floor. What a wonderfully dark album.
P.S. Patricia Morrison is a vampiric hottie
4.5 stars
👍
Feb 07 2024
5
ElectrΓ³nica gΓ³tica. EstΓ‘ bien. Dudaba entre 4 o 5, pero, venga, un 5.
👍
Feb 07 2024
5
Dark new wave vibes
The Cure esque
Never land *
👍
Jan 22 2024
5
This one is tough to rate because this was such a formative album for me. What the hell, five stars.
👍
Jan 17 2024
5
Kenne ich viele von
👍
Jan 10 2024
5
This is definitely my vibe... dark, brooding, electronic... really like Andrew Eldritch's voice... has that Peter Murphy-like deep darkness. Definitely some fantastic tracks, This Corrosion and Dominion stand out, but even when the tempo varies, it is still interesting. Can listen to this over and over.
👍
Dec 21 2023
5
I should listen to more goth rock, shouldn't I?
👍
Dec 21 2023
5
This is 19-year-old me in a nutshell. I had it on repeat. I loved their first album too. I went clubbing every weekend where i danced to This Corrosion and Dominion wearing a lot of black. My best friend bought me this album for Christmas- it holds so many fabulous memories. And when it came up I put it on repeat and Iβm still not sick of singing Dominion with four syllables.
👍
Dec 20 2023
5
This one surprised me. I enjoyed every song very much and canβt believe I have never heard of this album.
👍
Dec 17 2023
5
jooo
👍
Dec 10 2023
5
Another album I can't believe I've never listened to before. This was an important release at the time and, although it probably hasn't aged well in some respects, it's quite staggering how many contemporary bands are still using the basic formula found here.
This brings me back to the late 80s, dancing in goth-rock clubs with a dispassionate face, dressed all in black, jerky movements, attitude and lack of any sign of enjoyment essential.
Looking back, it's now obvious that there wasn't really much new here. It's just a repackaging of other post-punk material from the late 70s, with a drum machine and some dark wave thrown in for good measure.
However, there's not a single bit of filler here and some absolute stonking tracks mingled in at just the right places. If they had added Temple of Love, then this would be perfection, but as it is, it's close enough for a full 5 stars.
👍
Nov 20 2023
5
9/10
wonderful gothy atmosphere
I absolutely adore this shit
👍
Nov 16 2023
5
I was in the perfect mood for this today. Spectacular!
👍
Nov 10 2023
5
There's been quite a few bands on this list that, during my formative years, my friends were all into but I was mostly just aware of. Today I was trying to figure out why that was the case, well simply I was poor and couldn't go out and buy every damn CD of every band that piqued my interest. Nowadays with access to just about everything I'm gaining a new appreciate for these bands and Sisters Of Mercy is certainly one of them.
Every week my friends and I would go to this club in the city and every week they would play This Corrosion and man does this album bring back some memories.
Fave tracks Dominion / Mother Russia, Lucretia My Reflection, and of course This Corrosion.
👍
Nov 10 2023
5
The Sisters of Mercy have been an object lesson to me in the subjectivity of musical appreciation and the power of branding and creating a mood.
I first became aware of them in t-shirt form - they were a popular garment choice among the too-cool-to-approach teenagers I longed to emulate as a pre-teen, second only to Iron Maiden! Because of this, I was primed to be receptive to them, and sure enough, loved what I heard and had them in regular rotation throughout what was otherwise a nowt-but-metal phase.
For decades, actually, I had a blanket grudge against poppy music in general, and 80s music in particular - insisting almost nothing good came out of that decade. Continued to love Sisters of Mercy with not a hint of self awareness. All I could hear was the "goth" - it lived in a special little cocoon of fondness, detached from everything else.
A couple of years ago I was introducing someone to the idea of gothic as a genre, and played them "A Slight Case of Overbombing" (Which should really be on this list instead of this album, btw - βUnder the Gunβ and βTemple of Loveβ aren't on any albums and they are the _absolute peak_ of Sisters' power, and c'mon, Robert Dimery isn't opposed to chucking a compilation on the list when it suits him) and wow, hearing the music through someone else's ears, not having that "goth" preconception shaping my perceptions, I suddenly heard just how damn poppy they were - and how _ridiculously_ 80s their sound is! π
Anyway, a strong five stars!
Fave tracks - "Dominion/Mother Russia", "Lucretia My Reflection", "This Corrosion" are all absolute monster choons!
HEY NOW, HEY NOW NOW!
👍