Floodland (album)

Floodland
A flooded street at nighttime, with the Moon visible in the sky and two faces peering out of shadows in the background. In white text, "The Sisters of Mercy: Floodland" is written in all capitals at the top of the picture.
Studio album by
the Sisters of Mercy
Released16 November 1987 (1987-11-16)[1]
Recorded1987
Studio
Genre
Length45:27
LabelMerciful Release
Producer
The Sisters of Mercy chronology
First and Last and Always
(1985) 		Floodland
(1987) 		Vision Thing
(1990)
Singles from Floodland
  1. "This Corrosion"
    Released: September 1987
  2. "Dominion"
    Released: February 1988
  3. "Lucretia My Reflection"
    Released: June 1988

Floodland is the second studio album by the English gothic rock band the Sisters of Mercy. It was released on 16 November 1987, through Merciful Release internationally and distributed by WEA, with Elektra Records handling the United States release. After the release of the band's debut studio album, First and Last and Always (1985), members Craig Adams and Wayne Hussey left to form the Mission, causing the dissolution of the Sisters of Mercy. As a result, band frontman Andrew Eldritch formed a side project known as the Sisterhood. After the first Sisterhood album was received negatively overall, Eldritch restarted the Sisters of Mercy and hired the Sisterhood member Patricia Morrison for the recording of a new album.

Eldritch wrote the songs of Floodland in Hamburg; the city's large amount of water influenced its title as well as the recurring lyrical theme of water. He then called upon Larry Alexander to produce the album with him and Jim Steinman to produce the songs "Dominion" / "Mother Russia" and "This Corrosion". Recording sessions began at Power Station Studios in New York City during January 1987 and carried on throughout the first half of the year at Strawberry Studios in Stockport and The Wool Hall in Bath. Eldritch served as the vocalist, performed all instruments, and programmed the band's drum machine, "Doktor Avalanche".

The drum machine acted as the drum player, other than backing vocals; Morrison did not contribute to the album despite being a member of the Sisters of Mercy. In contrast to the conventional group-based recording sessions for First and Last and Always, Floodland was pieced together on computers using sequencers. The music incorporates the genres of gothic rock and dark wave, while the lyrical content sees Eldritch cast as the observer of a slowly deteriorating world. Some of the events that inspired certain songs include the Chernobyl disaster, the Cold War, and the band's previous break-up.

The singles "This Corrosion", "Dominion", and "Lucretia My Reflection" were released in promotion. "This Corrosion" peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, while "Dominion" and "Lucretia My Reflection" peaked at number 13 and 20, respectively. Floodland debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 9, later being certified gold in UK by the BPI for selling 100,000 copies. It also reached the top 40 in other European countries, including Switzerland. Despite initially receiving mixed reviews from music critics, Floodland has retrospectively received praise and been considered a seminal gothic rock album by several critics.

  1. ^ "BPI".


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