Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
This March 2010 issue of Alternative Press features the Sisters of Mercy at a genuinely distinctive moment in the band's long and unusual career. By 2010, the band had not released any new studio recordings since 1993, having effectively gone on strike against their record company decades earlier and chosen never to sign with another label afterward, despite continuing to tour internationally and regularly debut unreleased songs live. That same year, frontman and sole constant member Andrew Eldritch gave a notable interview to Classic Rock writer Joel McIver in which he stated plainly that he saw no reason to release a new album, a position he would elaborate on further that August by citing time constraints and a lack of available material as ongoing obstacles. An Alternative Press feature on the band from this exact year captures Sisters of Mercy in the middle of that genuinely unusual position, a commercially active touring act with a substantial cult following that had nonetheless chosen, deliberately and at length, to remain absent from the traditional album cycle that defines most working bands.
The band's standing within goth and alternative music by 2010 reflected decades of influence that far outpaced their actual recorded output. Formed in Leeds in 1980, the Sisters of Mercy had released only three studio albums, the last in 1990, yet Andrew Eldritch's distinctive bass-baritone vocals, the band's pioneering use of a drum machine they nicknamed Doktor Avalanche, and their stylistic shift across First and Last and Always, Floodland, and Vision Thing had cemented them as a foundational influence on goth rock, even as the band themselves consistently pushed back against being categorized as a goth act. By 2010, with reissues of all three studio albums having been released a few years earlier and the band continuing their pattern of annual touring, Sisters of Mercy occupied a singular position in the alternative music landscape: a legacy act still actively performing and writing, but one whose relationship to new recorded material remained deliberately and publicly unresolved.
It's worth noting directly that this listing's stated issue number doesn't appear to align with Alternative Press's documented publishing history. Based on independently verifiable reference points, the magazine's issue numbering had reached the high 60s by March 1994 and the high 190s by December 2004, which would place a March 2010 issue somewhere in the high 200s or low 300s rather than issue 37. This discrepancy can't be resolved from the information available here, so it's worth approaching with appropriate caution and verifying the actual issue number directly against the physical magazine rather than relying on the number as stated in this listing.
About the Publication
Alternative Press was founded in June 1985 by Mike Shea in Cleveland, Ohio, beginning as a four-page DIY fanzine distributed at a local punk club with an initial print run of just 1,000 copies. The publication grew from that grassroots beginning into a nationally influential monthly magazine by the early 1990s, earning a reputation for early, substantive coverage of bands that would go on to define alternative rock, grunge, and later the emo and post-hardcore scenes of the 2000s. By 2010, the magazine had built decades of editorial credibility within the alternative and punk-adjacent music press, known for in-depth interviews, album reviews, and tour coverage that captured the energy and identity of subcultures often overlooked by more mainstream outlets. A feature on a band as historically significant to goth and alternative rock as the Sisters of Mercy fits squarely within the magazine's long-standing editorial mission of giving serious, sustained attention to artists operating outside the commercial mainstream.
Key Highlights Inside
- Feature coverage of the Sisters of Mercy, published the same year frontman Andrew Eldritch gave a notable interview to Classic Rock stating he saw no reason to release a new studio album, despite the band's continued touring and ongoing performance of unreleased new material live. This places the issue squarely within an active and well-documented public conversation about the band's unusual relationship to new recorded music.
- Arrives roughly two decades after the band's last studio album, 1990's Vision Thing, and 17 years after their last newly recorded material of any kind, reflecting one of the more unusual career trajectories in alternative and goth rock history.
- The issue number stated in this listing does not appear to align with Alternative Press's documented publishing history for a March 2010 cover date, a discrepancy that collectors should verify directly against the physical magazine.
- Beyond the general framing of the Sisters of Mercy feature, the specific interview content, photographs, and any additional articles included in this particular issue are not confirmed here. Collectors interested in the complete contents should plan to verify them directly against the physical issue.
Condition & Rarity
Issues of this type are generally evaluated by collectors against a few key benchmarks: whether the copy is a newsstand edition or a subscription copy, whether a mailing label is present, and the overall condition of the cover, spine, and interior pages. A newsstand edition without a label is typically considered more desirable than a labeled subscription copy, since the unmarked cover preserves the original photography and design exactly as it appeared on the rack. A grade of "excellent" with only light, age-appropriate wear reflects a strong copy well above the median condition typically found for a magazine of this relatively recent vintage, since issues from the 2010s have had considerably less time to accumulate the kind of wear seen in much older periodicals. Magazines from this era were generally printed on standard glossy newsstand stock, making cover gloss retention and overall crispness the primary factors collectors look for when assessing condition for a more recent issue like this one. Protective plastic sleeving is a common and recommended storage method for vintage and modern periodicals alike, helping to guard against further handling wear without altering the item itself. Collectors evaluating any surviving copy of this issue should examine the cover and spine closely for any wear beyond what's described, and should independently verify the issue number and cover date against other documented sources given the discrepancy noted above.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
An Alternative Press issue covering the Sisters of Mercy during this specific, well-documented stretch of the band's unusual no-new-music era is a notable find for collectors of goth and alternative rock press coverage. If you're chasing more from this storied publication's history, our Alternative Press collection is a great place to keep browsing for a wider look at the magazine's decades of coverage across punk, alternative, emo, and goth rock culture.