The Sisters of Mercy are a gothic-rock institution. Not that singer and band leader Andrew Eldritch would ever be content with that. Andrew Eldritch has fought hard against typecasting. Perhaps it’s more accurate to call the Sisters of Mercy one of the most influential bands in alternative music.

The group enjoys a very loyal following despite its brief discography. That in itself is the result of a refusal to collaborate with what Eldritch perceives as nefarious record labels.

There’s an alternative universe in which The Sisters of Mercy become the biggest band in the world by the mid-1990s. Some of those songs that they would’ve used for that ascent can be heard in their demo form online.

But I’ll focus on the hits. And, yes, this band had genuine hits with its dark, baritone-sung material. These are the top 10 songs by The Sisters of Mercy.

Greatest 10 Songs by The Sisters of Mercy

10. “No Time to Cry”

For all of its Eldritch’s eventual rebellious zeal, the earliest version of The Sisters of Mercy merely wanted to be stars on the gothic-rock scene.

This scene already had its musical style, heroes and, most importantly, its original fashion. The fashionable and confident Sisters fit right in. The band’s debut is a very strong, albeit not entirely unpredictable, gothic-rock record.

Still, in my estimation, “No Time to Cry” is one of the most valuable cuts on that record, and the most surprising on it. The almost dance-rock chorus and the interplay between male and female vocals prefigure the club sounds of the ’90s five years ahead of schedule.

9. “When You Don’t See Me”

Andrew Eldritch took the risk of not playing up to expectations. He paid a price. But history will absolve him.

Critics heavily panned the “Vision Thing” album. This hurt its sales. But it is songs like the excellent “When You Don’t See Me” that prove how Eldritch, for all his arrogance, was right – he was an alternative rock songwriter.

Yes, there’s plenty of bass all over this one. The singing sits just as low in the mix. But had you got R.E.M., one of Eldritch’s favorites to cover this, and it would’ve felt as natural as Summer rain.

8. “Marian”

First you find the followers, then you build the empire. The Sisters of Mercy had a clear route toward success early on.

The band made creepy gothic-rock, not unlike innovators Bauhaus and The Cure, or contemporaries like Fields of the Nephilim. But Sisters’ songs were catchier and, often, better.

“Marian” is a Cure-like composition. It’s, frankly, what you’d expect from a standard goth-rock single. But it’s not bad either. Fans are right to love it, and even to consider it one of the band’s best early works.

7. “Vision Thing”

Eldritch was so successful with “Floodland” that he painted himself into a corner. Audiences were happy to have him be typecast. Record labels were anxious to exploit a popular fashion.

“Vision Thing,” both the song and the album, are a little too clever for their own good. The track especially sounds like a protest song in heavy metal form.

It’s more great work from a band with an ever-changing line-up. But it didn’t sell and was heavily criticized.

When Eldritch suspected foul play from the record labels, he decided that this 1990 release would be his last. He’s kept to his word until now.

6. “Dominion / Mother Russia”

Eldritch had a vision that, as it turns out, his former colleagues in The Sisters of Mercy did not share.

But that vision, when turned into reality on “Floodland”, was sufficiently fascinating to transform the new version of the band into one of the biggest in the world, albeit for a short time.

Eldritch didn’t think small either. “Dominion / Mother Russia” was written about Cold War-era Berlin from the perspective of the Soviets. It contained one of the biggest choruses yet released under The Sisters’ name. And, eventually, it featured the kind of high-budget music video shot in Petra, Jordan, that would’ve made Mchael Jackson envious.

5. “First Last and Always”

When “First Last and Always,” the album and the song of the same name, The Sisters of Mercy were no more. A clash of visions had caused the split.

Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams formed the flashier, poppier band The Mission to considerable success. Meanwhile, Eldritch wrestled the original name back after being forced to record as The Sisterhood for a brief time.

The song “First Last and Always” was composed by Eldritch alongside Gary Marx. It’s a good song. And that’s especially because it’s a rare glimpse into what the band could do with Eldritch working simply as another band member. Soon, he’d assume a more dictatorial stance.

4. “Lucretia My Reflection”

Andrew Eldritch never tired of sharing the limelight. It was creative control that he refused to give up.

In retrospect, his instincts proved right. Working only with bassist Patricia Morrisson and producer Jim Steinman (of “Bat Out of Hell” fame), Eldritch produced the lush-sounding goth album “Floodland.”

“Lucretia My Reflection” is the closest that you’re likely to get to one song approximating Eldritch’s sonic ambitions at the time. With its title referencing 16th-century femme fatale Lucretia Borgia, its synth-driven dark wave beat, and Eldritch’s low-register vocals, “Lucretia My Reflection” is one of the most famous gothic-rock songs of all time.

3. “More”

Andrew Eldritch had a master plan. He just got sidetracked by vendettas or spent a little too long recording material.

That master plan surely must’ve contained a song with the same sense of grandiosity as “More” as the start of its third act.

It’s no coincidence that Jim Steinman produced the song. That in itself is telling of the man’s motives. By 1990, Steinman had written hits for Meat Loaf, Air Supply and Bonnie Tyler. He did not need the work for financial reasons.

Like Steinman, Eldritch envisioned a grand rock spectacle. The Sisters of Mercy was supposed to become the middle ground between an alt-rock show and an opera presentation.

2. “This Corrosion”

“This Corrosion” is simply the catchiest song that The Sisters of Mercy ever recorded. That’s saying something. Even in its earliest 1980s stages, the band had plenty of those.

But it’s a bitter twist of fate also that Eldritch’s remorseful lyrics aimed at former band members have ended up in the band’s most famous song.

The record label pushed “This Corrosion” as a single. They were right. It became, like The Cure or Siouxsie and the Banshees did, one of the few goth-rock songs to properly reach the mainstream.

It’s a great song, wonderfully produced and excellently put together. And, as long as The Sisters remain a live proposition, Eldritch will have to contend with singing it.

1. “Temple of Love”

The Sisters of Mercy will always find themselves attached to the label of “gothic-rock.” This is not entirely unfair. But it hardly tells the whole story.

“Temple of Love” is the sound the group always aimed toward. In 1983, the song helped the band land a recording contract. In 1990, it was re-recorded with singer Ofra Haza and expanded instrumentation.

Is this a gothic song? Sure, there are tell-tell signs. The vocals, for one thing, are tuned down to the cavernous standard of the genre. It’s bass-heavy and dramatic in nature.

Still, the melodies, the lyrics and, above everything, the scope of the song move well beyond standard goth-rock.

The re-recorded version is the one you should seek out. It was included on the “Some Girls Wander By Mistake” compilation. (Following the remix album “A Slight Case of Overbombing,” there would be no more official releases by the band)

The Sisters of Mercy were a tremendous band. Most groups don’t know when to quit putting out new music. Andrew Eldritch’s band jumped the gun. “The Temple of Love” is the band’s greatest song and one of the best in rock music history.