Swans are one of my favorite bands. My favorite album by them would either be Soundtrack for the Blind or Filth. I have a physical copy of Swans are Dead as well.

Saving the full experience for when I'm sober, but the new album seems too good for words so far.

Good grief, the new album is long. Not sure I have the patience to be honest.

Written by Guest on 16.05.2014 at 15:05

Good grief, the new album is long. Not sure I have the patience to be honest.

The previous one wasn't exactly better on that aspect...

Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.05.2014 at 18:47

The previous one wasn't exactly better on that aspect...

True. Took me a while to get around to that one. I suspect this one will take a while too.

Written by Guest on 16.05.2014 at 18:49

Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.05.2014 at 18:47

The previous one wasn't exactly better on that aspect...

True. Took me a while to get around to that one. I suspect this one will take a while too.

I guess it works if you just try one cd at a time. Some people might get all pissy and pretentious while going "noooo you must get the full experience" but fuck that. Sometimes there's a limit.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.05.2014 at 18:51

I guess it works if you just try one cd at a time. Some people might get all pissy and pretentious while going "noooo you must get the full experience" but fuck that. Sometimes there's a limit.

I don't usually do that but I might make a concession in Swans' case methinks.

Why can't every album be 30 minutes.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 19.05.2014 at 01:13
Why can't every album be 30 minutes.

We've been over this before.

That's just going to another extreme tbh, which can be just as terrible.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 19.05.2014 at 01:13

Why can't every album be 30 minutes.

You pressed for time kid?

Why cant every song be over 30 minutes?

Written by mz on 26.05.2014 at 01:40

Why cant every song be over 30 minutes?

Because that would be boring. I enjoy long songs but I would honestly hate if all bands started adopting that method of song-writing. I've never understood this fascination with long songs over short ones. Both are as good and as necessary as each other and it would suck if either stopped being produced by bands. People tend to go on about long songs being individually amazing but forget that they also love whole albums, that are typically made up of many shorter songs. I can tell you now that if I made a list of all my favourite songs (which I have done) the vast majority would be way under 30 minutes long, the same as the fact the vast majority of my favourite albums are made up of many shorter songs.

Written by Guest on 26.05.2014 at 02:47

Because that would be boring. I enjoy long songs but I would honestly hate if all bands started adopting that method of song-writing. I've never understood this fascination with long songs over short ones. Both are as good and as necessary as each other and it would suck if either stopped being produced by bands. People tend to go on about long songs being individually amazing but forget that they also love whole albums, that are typically made up of many shorter songs. I can tell you now that if I made a list of all my favourite songs (which I have done) the vast majority would be way under 30 minutes long, the same as the fact the vast majority of my favourite albums are made up of many shorter songs.

I was really joking with my previous post. I admit the essence of shorter song (for instance, I cant imagine a grindcore song with 30 minutes length). The post was merely meant to mock Boxy and emphasize on the fact that some people like longer albums (and songs) more than the shorter ones.
Personally, I like to have a song made up of two long songs, instead of 10 short ones. That's because I don't like being interrupted by the discontinuity at the end/start of songs but I can see why some people might get bored by longer compositions.

Written by mz on 26.05.2014 at 15:55

I was really joking with my previous post. I admit the essence of shorter song (for instance, I cant imagine a grindcore song with 30 minutes length). The post was merely meant to mock Boxy and emphasize on the fact that some people like longer albums (and songs) more than the shorter ones.
Personally, I like to have a song made up of two long songs, instead of 10 short ones. That's because I don't like being interrupted by the discontinuity at the end/start of songs but I can see why some people might get bored by longer compositions.

Haha, fair enough. For me song length is merely a tool. If a band can make the most of longer songs then great, but if they can't then you have a 30 etc. long minute failure

Written by Guest on 26.05.2014 at 15:57

Haha, fair enough. For me song length is merely a tool. If a band can make the most of longer songs then great, but if they can't then you have a 30 etc. long minute failure

Yeah that I would agree with. Bloated songs are pain in ass. If you don't have the ability to write proper long songs, just dont be pretentious and stick to the short ones.

A little god in my hands and just a little boy. FUCK.

I listened to the new album and I liked what I heard but I preferred the first disc over the second one. I still haven't listened to The Seer all the way full though.

Saw these guys live last weekend. It was so great. They sure know how to stretch songs to enormous lengths and keep them interesting at the same time. I was really blown away. Very impressive performance! Michael Gira is such a cool angry man, almost conducting his band to play these huge pieces. I will definitely visit their next concert too!

Swans may be heavier in their music than most 'heavy' metal bands I've heard.

Their early no wave work is where they were most exciting to me. I listened to The Seer, just seems to be a bumped up and more expansive and complex version (read: more instruments ) of their early droning and repetitive style. And I love The Burning World so much, its one of the most emotional albums for me, both personally and musically. If anyone wants to get into them, I'd probably recommend Children Of God, probably encapsulates everything that's good about them.

I wouldn't call Children of God "early work" to be honest. It's earlyish, but it was the album where they really started to transition into their melodic, atmospheric self. That's why it hits the sweet spot: it still has that direct punch but is actually interesting to listen to for more than shock value/crushing aesthetic. Sure, I have the Cop/Young God/Greed/Holy Money box but I rarely find occasion to listen to it.

Soundtracks is impressively sprawling and has some of their best moments, but I think as a whole it's a little inconsistent. This is a bit of a cop-out, but their live album Swans Are Dead is, I think, their definitive moment. New versions of old songs taken to experimental, noisy heights in addition to the best cuts off Soundtracks. The 2000s comeback albums are pretty good too, but I think they've been a bit overhyped in comparison to the 90s stuff.

I wasn't calling CoG an early work. Its only their first 4 albums that I was referring to as. And that's a strange rec there as well, I will check out that live record sometime soon. And yeah, their post 2000 albums seem slightly overrated especially compared to their early records, once again.

This is one band I can say that I still don't really "get". I've found mostly everything they've done to be boring and almost like none of it really goes anywhere. But then again I've only heard a song here and there. Maybe I should give them another chance sometime, there's a lot of people who talk about how great they are, and I have a friend who does enjoy them and is actually seeing them live.

Been repeatedly listening to The Seer for a week plus now. Wouldn't call it their best, but again Swans are always good at everything for me so this is a unique beast again. First of all, this is a behemoth of an album and really heavy with very few melodies or hooks or anything in this, just drawn out passages repeated and repeated and repeated to a suffocating degree. The word that would best define this album is masochistic, its just punishing the listener and challenging them. My favourite track would be the title track itself, the most distinctive and standout track. Michael Gira's chants in the middle of the song are just hypnotic. It haunts me day and night.

Finally listened to their magnus opus Soundtracks for the Blind. You gotta agree with all the hype around it. It is indeed that good. I won't say much about it except that I find a really nice parallel to it.

It is just like the classic album Imaginary Soundscape. Everybody is aware that Sigh possess unlimited creativity and a wicked mind for picking and changing their avant-garde sound on every record. But no matter how good they get they will NEVER EVER probably top the classic. Well SftB is definitely that album for Swans, the creativity, songwriting and sound just flows smooth and unhindered. Easily their most mature and jaw-dropping album.

Mind = Blown.