what dont you like about this calculating?

Album Rating: 4.5

Gonna be reviewing this album soon.



Get pumped, guys!

Album Rating: 4.5

ooohhhh



Is it gonna be a concept review?!

Album Rating: 3.5

"what dont you like about this calculating?"



Despite the album's ambition and awesome ideas the execution is mostly frustrating to listen to. Lots of segments on IMO 8 songs on this seem to have no purpose to the song or drag on needlessly, it lingering in its own weirdness. Yes the songs are incredibly odd and original but it simply doesn't sound interesting to listen to and ultimately isn’t cohesive (unlike their other 2 LP's). By far the worst example of this album's wasted potential is 'The Bends' which has a brilliant concept (i.e. the musical equivalent of going further into the depths unknown in a submarine) but it's so boring and disjointed. There's no tension present thought the song and no segment links into each other to create a cohesive journey. Coupling with the pointless fade in/outs makes this seem they just got 9 segments and pasted them together with none of them benefiting the other. Couple this with the song length and you have the song that almost kills the album for me.



To why I rated this album a 3 is because despite its flaws, its ambition is still to be praised due to how original this is, the songs flow seemly together and it feels like they truly thought about how the songs co-exist with each other. In addition some of the these songs work wonderfully, with my personal highlight being 'Violenza Domestica' where despite it being so odd, it's extremely compelling due to its distortion of Mafia like themes and every segment has extremely well done with ruthless pace and style which other songs sorely lack.

Album Rating: 4.5

"Is it gonna be a concept review?!"



I was thinking about doing a concept review, but idk. I started on it last night and it's already been an incredibly difficult review to write. But we'll see what happens.

Album Rating: 4.0

^^ hard disagreed mang

I don't see any less cohesiveness in this than any of their others

They were always random as shit, but it all worked, in some strange way. This generally deals with more niche genres than any of their other albums (Musique Concrete, Noise, that Swans-core-sludge-noise rock-creep chant opener, etc), so it's a lot harder to put them together, but they pulled it off, in my opinion ofc

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

If you try listening to this album like a standard rock album (flow and efficiency being paramount etc) you'll have a bad time



It's like eating a steak and criticising it for not tasting like ice cream

Album Rating: 3.5

"If you try listening to this album like a standard rock album (flow and efficiency being paramount etc) you'll have a bad time"



Flow and efficiency are important for a good album in any genre, not just rock.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

No way, this album is meant to be a raw and mind boggling experience, not a streamlined one. It's the dark, violent rejection of norms and expectations, the very genuine descents into chaos, that make this album as good as it is. The sparse and noodly nature of The Bends is so intrinsic to its appeal for me... I guess what you see as flaws I see as part of this LP's personality (like the interludes on the s/t)

Album Rating: 3.5

Fair enough, to me chaos without direction is basically what it is, chaos. Sure it's good as a noviety and extremely effective in choise moments but without restraint and pacing to me it's no where as intresting as it should be.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

This and Kid A are probably my two favourite albums of all time, and both have different approaches to experimentation. Kid A is mostly very orderly and coherent - it has an experimental sound palette, yes, but it's organised so that those sounds are all crystalline and instantly attainable. It's like a museum of beautiful sounds you can walk around in.



On this album there is a similar tour-de-force feel to it, only in this museum the exhibits have come to life, smashed out of their enclosures, and are hunting you down with the intent to kill. It's deliberately disjointed, fucked up and inconsistent (one minute there's harsh noise, the next there's silence). If these sounds were as orderly as Kid A, there wouldn't be the same sense of danger or unpredictability. The 'fogginess' of this album's logic makes it feel like there's something alien and unforeseeable around every corner. Every little pop, crackle and 'nonsensical' musical excursion adds to the overall experience



Tl;dr this album as an experience is one of a kind, and to me virtually unparalleled in music

Album Rating: 3.5

"Kid A is mostly very orderly and coherent - it has an experimental sound palette, yes, but it's organised so that those sounds are all crystalline and instantly attainable. It's like a museum of beautiful sounds you can walk around in."



I may listen to Kid A in the future then.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

If you're into experimental music also being very measured (controlled chaos maybe?) then it'll blow ye brains

everyone i went to high school with is dead really blows

the rest is slowly but surely growing on me

Album Rating: 4.0

"everyone i went to high school with is dead really blows"



nigga u cray cray

lol bet he aint even early swans

srsly i cant find anything redeeming about it. the sludgy sound is cool i guess but its like ugh so boring and its only like 2 and a half min long

all swans suck

Album Rating: 4.0

smh hard

Album Rating: 4.0

chemical marriage is such a jam