Play it Again, Sam #43b - "The Sun and the Rainfall"

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The "original" portion of this morning's Play it Again, Sam has been posted, so let's move along to the "cover" song. #43b is The Merry Thoughts' cover of Depeche Mode's "The Sun and the Rainfall." The Merry Thoughts were a German goth band that lasted from 1983 to 2000. I often reference second generation goth groups that trip all over each other trying to sound like The Sisters of Mercy, and these guys were possibly the most guilty of them all. But Lord, The Merry Thoughts were soooo good at it that they get a pass. Due to problems with their record label, they managed to release just two albums, but those two records sound like lost Sisters albums. If you didn't know any better, you would swear that you were listening to Andrew Eldritch and his gang, right down to frontman Marvin Arkham, whose vocals are a dead ringer for those of Eldritch. The band's cover of "The Sun and the Rainfall" appears on their 1996 album, Psychocult. Just how good a job did The Merry Thoughts do on the tune? It's the best song on the album, and there's not a bad track on that thing. In fact, I dare say that it's actually better than the Depeche Mode original. And I love the original. Yeah, it's that good. If you're going to do a cover, do it right. These guys did it right. (Info verified by Wikipedia)