There were few albums at the time this dark yet able to remain catchy and vibrant. The Cure's "Pornography" was equally dark but not nearly as accessible - not necessarily a bad thing depending what you want. Bauhaus may have been more artistic, yet it took many years for a larger audience to realize their brilliance.

All in all, this may be the Sisters best. I have heard it maybe 1,000 times and every song has been a favorite at one time or another. "Nine While Nine", "Marian", "Some Kind of Stranger and the title track are epic tales of loss, betrayed love, smoldering desperation and loneliness. A must for anyone a little dark on the inside.

Note: for people who claim that Fields of the Nephilim were nothing more than a Sisters clone, that is a sad and empty claim that reflects more on your lack of knowledge than on reality. It may have seemed true at first but Nephilim went on to release several amazing works. "The Nephilim" and "Elizium" are unparalelled in this genre and most others, including TSOM. "Elizium" might be the most fully realized vision ever created in what is called Goth but it transcends the label so greatly it is pointless to use the term.


100+ Stars...   February 9, 2004
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Folks, I have a tendancy to change my favorite artist/album, very often. I know I recently stated ELO's 'Discovery' as my all-time favorite, but after listening to this album a few times today, I have been forced to change my mind. I may change again, and trust me it gets annoying - but I will never stop loving this album. The guitars are low, haunting, and chiming echos that linger in your thoughts for the longest time. Eldrich is a pure musical genious. His dark, haunting, and extremley low vocals have influenced every Goth band this side of the equator. Amazing vocals. This music sounds like something you would hear at a graveyard. It's not rock, It's not metal, It's...Goth. It is hard to describe. IT Is beautifully crafted, dark, romantic, classical influenced goth music. And It's excellent. Everything. 'Black Planet', 'Walk Away', 'No Time To Cry' and 'Marian' are all dark and brooding, dismal and dreary. They my disturb as during the music you will begin to think of death. But this music is excellent. A must own, pure brilliance - A Classic.


Sisters' impressive debut album   May 3, 2000
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

After years of obscure demo's and some notable classics ("Body Electric", "Temple of Love", "Alice", "Gimme Shelter") all compiled on "Some Girls Wander by Mistake", this marks the beginning of three superb albums by the Sisters of Mercy. "First and Last and Always" (followed by "Floodland" and "Vision Thing") is a very strong debut album. It contains the somewhat radio friendly singles "Walk Away" and "No Time to Cry". The rest of the album is very dark. Eldritch' cemetery voice is perfectly offset by almost danceable electronic drums performed by the living drum machine Dr. Avalanche. "Marian" is haunting with dark german lyrics showing up halfway through the song. "First and Last and Always", "Nine while Nine" and "Logic" are very strong compositions with their repetive, hypnotic rhythms. This is not just goth-music, this is a milestone.


Till the end of the end of time   November 14, 2003
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

FALLA is the late, first LP from The Sisters of Mercy. Mere months after its release, they would lose a founding member (Gary Marx) before imploding in the summer of 1985 when Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams walked as well.

This is, however, an indispensable album from a band often imitated but never duplicated. Still considered pre-eminent 'gothsters', the Sisters hold up remarkably well on all of their material. There isn't a weak track here. Ignore what you hear about it being 'too goth' or 'not goth' of whatever. It's an awesome debut, period.

Black Planet is the perfect kickoff; this is the only song from the album never performed live. From there we get the driving Walk Away and No Time to Cry, with their Hussey influence (heavier on choruses, etc). Then the bouncy Rock and a Hard Place before slowing down into the swirling, desperate Marian, which is perhaps guilty of sounding a little too goth, but I chalk that up to the production. The title track is still performed live and sounds great on record. Possession has some great lyrics, Nine While Nine is a gorgeous, melancholy love song of sorts, and Logic is really supposed to be called Amphetamine Logic, with its desperate tone--'One life, all I need!' (Apparently, the record label didn't want 'Amphetamine' on the album). And it ends on the beautiful Some Kind of Stranger, which was often combined with a cover of Comfortably Numb live. As a lyricist, Eldritch puts most rockers to shame; he puts a lot into every line.

If this album sounds like some other band you've been listening to, chances are it's because the Sisters have heavily influenced that band. Many a band tried to adapt their sound, and especially Eldritch's vocals (Fields of the Nephilim, anyone?) but there is only one Sisters.

While Floodland is considered the Sisters' finest moment (rightly), FALAA is a must-have. Hussey brought a better feel for textures and the structure of traditional rock songs. However, even Eldritch considers the production here to be a little off. Indeed, the record could have done better at capturing the twin guitar attack of the band; too often we don't get the color work that makes the songs richer when you hear a live bootleg from this period (before Marx walked). Try listening to a bootleg of Rock and a Hard Place or No Time To Cry (especially when they still had two guitars) and you'll see that FALAA as an album needs a little bit more oomph.

However, this is nitpicking and hindsight, especially after hearing bootlegs of this heavily bootlegged band.

Eldritch's voice sounds almost over the top on this album, and indeed, it would mix in better on the later two albums, but it's still a perfect match for the music. It's a shame that so many groups took it all too seriously and felt compelled to shamelessly ape Eldritch, but such is rock. (Listen to Fields of the Nephilim for an example of an out and out rip-off, or The Wake for an American Sisters of Mercy-sound-alike band.)

This comes highly recommended, along with all of the other commercially available Sisters material. Most every song on FALAA was performed live, so you can hunt down bootlegs offering versions that are more dynamic.