Album Rating: 5.0

This is some kind of anomaly, I guess it's experimental plunderphonic post rock? Nobody's done it this well

Album Rating: 3.5

determined to finally make it through this thing

Album Rating: 3.5

i dont think ill ever listen to this front to back again lol. but definitely better than all the other 2 hour swans albums

Album Rating: 4.0

good album to do yard work to

Album Rating: 3.5

doing a discog run

gonna drop my swans ranked list soon. the masses will not approve!

Album Rating: 4.0

Nice. One of my favorite bands ever but also probably one of the most grueling to commit to a full discog run lol. Godspeed.

Why is The Sound the greatest thing ever.. I broke down crying in the breakroom at work last night and that song helped calm me down :D

Album Rating: 4.5

This might be a 5/5

Album Rating: 5.0

Just like me fr

Album Rating: 4.0

This double CD album has everything in there – all the ideas from Swans’ 15 years of work. There’s some contemporary recordings of the band as it existed in ‘96/7, with Larry Mullins on drums/percussion, Jarboe singing and playing keyboards, Vudi playing electric guitar, and Joe Goldring playing bass and electric guitar, and me singing and playing electric and acoustic guitar, but there’s also a huge amount of sounds and recordings that I (and a few by Jarboe here too) collected over the years. These are reassembled, looped, mangled, and in many cases overdubbed upon to create new pieces of music. Being the “artist” in this case, it’s hard for me to talk about this one, because the memory is so laden (or burdened!) with the experience of making this thing. I guess what I’m trying to say here is I almost had a heart attack making it (slightly kidding here). It was just overwhelming. I really set my own trap, dug my own grave on this one. There was SO MUCH material to deal with, to sift through (whole trunks full of decomposing, moldy cassettes and discs with samples and sounds), and the task of making it into something coherent was at times debilitating. Really like climbing up a mountain of sand. I don’t remember why I set this goal for myself, to somehow incorporate such a ridiculously disparate amount of material. I think maybe it was so I could justify throwing all that crap into the local dump, which is what I did when I finished the album. But in the end, after centuries of picking at this huge iceberg of material with a toothpick, my trusty engineer Chris Griffin and I managed to sculpt something out of it. It actually breathes, seems to live, in most places I think. There’s a press release below written by Kurt at Atavistic (Swans label at the time), and some reviews too, which might give you a better idea of how this sounds. Anyway, in the end, I was elated with this music, both because I liked it and because finishing it meant I could finally lay Swans to rest after 15 years. In my case, I’m always happiest when I’m leaving. – Michael Gira/Young God Records 2008

Album Rating: 4.0

I remember the first time I heard this album – it was indeed like a soundtrack to something, god knows what – but it was an absolutely all encompassing, immersive journey and it gripped me the whole time. Reading what Gira has said about this album – see my previous post – makes total sense as to how this album comes across – a sprawling, schizophrenic masterpiece of an album. It really is something special to behold for the first time. But, and here’s the catch for me – it’s not an album that draws me back in to listen to it all the way through anymore. My brain was always on guard for the first few listens, not knowing what would come next. But as I grew more accustomed and acclimatised to the album – some of that initial weirdness had diluted. Much like the twist in a horror/thriller film - the impact of subsequent listens is somewhat dented by knowing what’s coming next. It’s the kind of album now that I’ve lived with it for a few years, that I see it more as a piece of art to intellectually appreciate than enjoy. Tracks like I Was A Prisoner is a good example. First time, was just in awe of what my ears were being fed, but after that didn’t really feel the need to listen to it much more. The drone elements I love but prefer them in a more consistent approach like in Body Lovers rather than as the thread between songs approach here. Clearly, there are some very solid songs here and moments that time will never diminish, and as such I do have a 10 track playlist from the album which is easily a 5/5 album.

Album Rating: 4.0

Go to Swans bandcamp page and go to the album which has a number of great reviews for the album by:



12/1/1996 | The Wire | Biba Kopf

11/27/1996 | Detroit Metro Times | Thom Jurek

11/23/1996 | Melody Maker | Jonathan Selzer

2/1/1997 | The Equipment Authority | Kurt B. Reighley,

Album Rating: 4.0

Monster album. Think I prefer SWANS ARE DEAD, though.

Album Rating: 4.0

Agreed on both counts. A monster for sure, but Seans are Dead is more enjoyable for me

Album Rating: 5.0

brilliant brilliant album

Album Rating: 4.5

an album you have to plan your day around

Album Rating: 4.5

Kicking the New Year's party off with this one!

Album Rating: 4.5

peak

Album Rating: 4.5

"an album you have to plan your day around"



never listened to it until I felt I had appropriate headphones for this exact reason lmao

Album Rating: 3.5

10% of this is fantastic and inimitable / 90% is various shades of scratching your neck anxiously working out what to do about that damn wallpaper how did it get so decrepit is this place really your home -music / both more and less than the sum of its parts / will probably never listen in full again lol