Album of the Day

Sisters of Mercy’s FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS was appropriately titled; the band’s 1985 debut was also the sole album released before its break-up (with a couple of members going on to form The Mission). It’s also a set for the ages – a seminal release in goth’s second wave, of which Allmusic exclaimed, “copied to death, its brilliance has never been replicated.” Produced by Dave Allen, the sessions were expensive and grueling (frontman Andrew Eldritch wound up in the hospital for exhaustion) but resulted in such outstanding tracks as “No Time to Cry,” “Marian” and “Some Kind of Stranger” and the collection went Gold in the U.K. While Eldritch would successfully revive the Sisters of Mercy banner later on, FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS remains among the group’s very best.