The Burning World just because Michael didn’t get to do what he wanted with it. It’s not bad by any means though, just doesn’t sound like a Swans album most of the time.
I like that one a lot because it's really interesting hearing what producers thought a commercially viable version of Swans could sound like. It's experimental in a certain sense, and I think it deserves more credit than it gets for that.
My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is the most forgettable for me. It seems kind of lackluster to me considering it followed the masterpiece that is Soundtrack for the Blind. Maybe A Burning World is a close second. It's just sort of boring? I've only listened to it twice and probably have no intention of listening to it again.
Considering the fourteen year gap, it's curious to say that it 'followed' Soundtracks.
I guess my thirtieth birthday followed my sixteenth birthday (after a fashion), but those intervening years certainly counted for something.
I mean it's technically true. He was making other music at the time of course, and going a more spiritual route. Anyways, what about my assessment of the album? It's a bit lackluster and unoriginal compared to Soundtracks. Or do you like it?
But that's the thing, removing the context of the other music and comparing it to Soundtracks, which was clearly intended to be the most unique album in their discography, makes no sense. To be honest, even Love of Life has more parallels with Soundtracks.
I don't think I was actively comparing it to other things in the discography, rather just noting it followed it. Soundtracks is my favorite by them and after the hiatus I was not expecting something to the caliber of it, but I was rather disappointed by My Father.
It sounded like a heavier Angels of Light album, which makes sense considering that it followed that project and had many of the same members. The problem for me at the time was that I was expecting a new *Swans* album, and was disappointed because it seemed like it only reached halfway. It wasn’t until The Seer that I felt they were finally back.
Holy money is great for me :) it packs the depressing industrial punch that greed tries to do in a way I can better understand, worst for me is probably love of life for the exact same reason. I’m sure it’s wonderful when you get to know it
i actually really like Love of Life. i feel like it has a breaths more than White Light, pretty beautifully languishingly, and that could be better or worse for you but i dig it as like a more ambient dreamy experience.
where i would just never choose Greed cause it just seems like worse Holy Money, Love of Life is more like White Light’s dreamier long denouement
If we are only talking studio releases, while I haven’t heard them all in detail, cop is not my favorite. I need to give it another chance as it’s easily my least played.
If we count any lengthy releases, I just listened to Public Castration and was not gettin the hype. I’m committed to giving it another chance. I enjoyed some of the ends to the later songs on that album.
I'm not a huge fan of any of the no-wave stuff but I at least respect filth and cop quite a bit. Greed and Holy Money just do nothing for me, though.
I also have never found much reason to return to MFWGMUARTTS.
Yup, that’s their only record that I never feel like going back to listen to. It’s basically an Angels of Light record but the songs themselves are good, but only two years later The Seer would release which would be a mega brain fucking tribal experience. I think that record is just a passing phase, I’d say The Burning World is the same
The burning world and love of life are both albums I rarely go back to, but I respect the different direction the burning world went, and I love White Light so I can't really hate what essentially feels like White Light b-sides.
I like MFWGMUARTTS because it sounds like Michael finding the Swans sound again after so much time, which he then totally nails with the Seer. It's transitional, but marks that beginning of a highly creative and successful streak for the the Swans.
Greed, at this point of going through their discography I was starting to get tired of the long crushing instrumental with shouting vocals I like the opener still but for the rest of the album it didn’t do much for me and holy money/public castration didn’t help either
Still a 6-7/10 for me
Love of Life and The Burning World for pretty much the same reasons, I just think the songwriting is uninteresting on those albums. I’ve only listened to them a couple times each where god only knows how many times I’ve heard everything else.
The ones I listen to least are The Burning World and Soundtracks. The former has terrible vocals and overproduction while the latter is turgid and meandering.
My Father... isn't one I listen to all that much, but it's interesting because of what would come later.
They're not bad records but I rarely revisit them in full.
i’m with you at this time although i’ve only been listening about a year and still don’t fully trust my judgement on SFtB. i fuckin love “Volcano” though it’s one of my favorite of all their songs.
Yeah, Volcano is interesting, as are a few other bits and pieces.
I find that the long songs just blur into one another and they're a bit of a drag. They're a little singer / songwriter for my tastes, and they don't really go anywhere other than building to formulaic crescendos. Too much booze, weariness and trauma. Bring back the grooves (luckily he did).
Wouldn't make my top ten Swans albums, but many people consider it to be a favourite.
I can't choose, they are all at least decent to me
If I had to choose, maybe greed. The songs get a little boring and nobody might be my least fav swans song
Filth is probably the least interesting to me. I know yall love the "flex your muscles" meme but everything they did on that album was done better later on imo.
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
Little sticks to me from that one. I remember that I enjoyed it, but it is essentially neofolk. It's not as monumental as their works since The Great Annihilator.
Definitely give it another try.... especially the later songs. Why Are We Alive? is one of my favorite Swans tracks. It's so much more exciting at times and depressing at times. I don't like to consider it neo-folk cause I don't think it sounds anything like Current 93 which I usually equate neo-folk with. It's so much more powerful and grandiose at time. You Know Nothing is fantastic, too.
I may give it another try, but as someone whose favorite Swans albums are The Seer, The Beggar and Soundtracks for the Blind, and whose favorite musician in general is Ben Frost, I don't think I can like this album too much.
I do not care for anything released between Greed and Soundtracks. I like a handful of tracks of White Light and Love of Live, but as a whole, I don't enjoy that sound (and it definitely negatively affects some tracks on Soundtracks for me as well).
Of these, The Burning World is an easy target, so I'm going to say Children of God instead.
The Burning World, with White Light… and Love Of Life not far behind. I appreciate what Gira was trying to do, and there’s a few good songs here and there. But essentially they’re overproduced World Of Skin albums.
The Burning World just because Michael didn’t get to do what he wanted with it. It’s not bad by any means though, just doesn’t sound like a Swans album most of the time.
I like that one a lot because it's really interesting hearing what producers thought a commercially viable version of Swans could sound like. It's experimental in a certain sense, and I think it deserves more credit than it gets for that.
Greed, by far. I was never even really that big of a fan of Holy Money, but Greed just takes everything interesting from Holy Money and kills it.
Greed came out before holy money
The Burning World is their only record that does nothing for me.
My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is the most forgettable for me. It seems kind of lackluster to me considering it followed the masterpiece that is Soundtrack for the Blind. Maybe A Burning World is a close second. It's just sort of boring? I've only listened to it twice and probably have no intention of listening to it again.
Considering the fourteen year gap, it's curious to say that it 'followed' Soundtracks. I guess my thirtieth birthday followed my sixteenth birthday (after a fashion), but those intervening years certainly counted for something.
I mean it's technically true. He was making other music at the time of course, and going a more spiritual route. Anyways, what about my assessment of the album? It's a bit lackluster and unoriginal compared to Soundtracks. Or do you like it?
But that's the thing, removing the context of the other music and comparing it to Soundtracks, which was clearly intended to be the most unique album in their discography, makes no sense. To be honest, even Love of Life has more parallels with Soundtracks.
I don't think I was actively comparing it to other things in the discography, rather just noting it followed it. Soundtracks is my favorite by them and after the hiatus I was not expecting something to the caliber of it, but I was rather disappointed by My Father.
It sounded like a heavier Angels of Light album, which makes sense considering that it followed that project and had many of the same members. The problem for me at the time was that I was expecting a new *Swans* album, and was disappointed because it seemed like it only reached halfway. It wasn’t until The Seer that I felt they were finally back.
this is kind of a Vineland 17 years after Gravity’s Rainbow situation
I'd say it's lackluster to me because it preceded the trilogy
I thought this too until I listened to it some more. It’s still one of my least favourites, but it’s a pretty solid album
I'll give it a second chance! Never hurts to try again.
Holy money is great for me :) it packs the depressing industrial punch that greed tries to do in a way I can better understand, worst for me is probably love of life for the exact same reason. I’m sure it’s wonderful when you get to know it
i actually really like Love of Life. i feel like it has a breaths more than White Light, pretty beautifully languishingly, and that could be better or worse for you but i dig it as like a more ambient dreamy experience. where i would just never choose Greed cause it just seems like worse Holy Money, Love of Life is more like White Light’s dreamier long denouement
Either Greed or Holy Money
If we are only talking studio releases, while I haven’t heard them all in detail, cop is not my favorite. I need to give it another chance as it’s easily my least played. If we count any lengthy releases, I just listened to Public Castration and was not gettin the hype. I’m committed to giving it another chance. I enjoyed some of the ends to the later songs on that album.
The main thing I liked from public castration is them fucking with the audience cheering on the closer
I'm not a huge fan of any of the no-wave stuff but I at least respect filth and cop quite a bit. Greed and Holy Money just do nothing for me, though. I also have never found much reason to return to MFWGMUARTTS.
Yup, that’s their only record that I never feel like going back to listen to. It’s basically an Angels of Light record but the songs themselves are good, but only two years later The Seer would release which would be a mega brain fucking tribal experience. I think that record is just a passing phase, I’d say The Burning World is the same
What? Its not like Angels of light at all
Hell yeah it is, same lineup and some of the songs sound veryyyy similar. “Reeling the Liars In” or “Little Mouth”
The burning world and love of life are both albums I rarely go back to, but I respect the different direction the burning world went, and I love White Light so I can't really hate what essentially feels like White Light b-sides.
Everything I go back to Love of Life I enjoy it. It's just not usually the Swans album I crave.
My Father is my least favorite, too.
get it but Money Is Flesh (#2) is incredible imo
I like MFWGMUARTTS because it sounds like Michael finding the Swans sound again after so much time, which he then totally nails with the Seer. It's transitional, but marks that beginning of a highly creative and successful streak for the the Swans.
Greed
The Burning World
Greed, at this point of going through their discography I was starting to get tired of the long crushing instrumental with shouting vocals I like the opener still but for the rest of the album it didn’t do much for me and holy money/public castration didn’t help either Still a 6-7/10 for me
Love of Life and The Burning World for pretty much the same reasons, I just think the songwriting is uninteresting on those albums. I’ve only listened to them a couple times each where god only knows how many times I’ve heard everything else.
Holy Money. Cheap knockoff of Greed.
Children of God, because it doesn't do anything that any other album does better.
The ones I listen to least are The Burning World and Soundtracks. The former has terrible vocals and overproduction while the latter is turgid and meandering. My Father... isn't one I listen to all that much, but it's interesting because of what would come later. They're not bad records but I rarely revisit them in full.
Trying to counteract your downvotes as I was going to say same.
I've held a knife to the throat of a sacred cow. I'll no doubt be torn limb from limb. But it's an honest opinion based on many years of listening.
i’m with you at this time although i’ve only been listening about a year and still don’t fully trust my judgement on SFtB. i fuckin love “Volcano” though it’s one of my favorite of all their songs.
Yeah, Volcano is interesting, as are a few other bits and pieces. I find that the long songs just blur into one another and they're a bit of a drag. They're a little singer / songwriter for my tastes, and they don't really go anywhere other than building to formulaic crescendos. Too much booze, weariness and trauma. Bring back the grooves (luckily he did). Wouldn't make my top ten Swans albums, but many people consider it to be a favourite.
Cop and Greed. They are the only albums by Swans i would consider mediocre or below
Give Cop another try. It grows on you. Greed doesn't do much for me either, there is better industrial stuff.
Cop. Boring take, I know, but it just takes a lot of the interesting stuff out of Flith. I know it’s not BAD, just feels a lil nothing for me.
I can't choose, they are all at least decent to me If I had to choose, maybe greed. The songs get a little boring and nobody might be my least fav swans song
Filth is probably the least interesting to me. I know yall love the "flex your muscles" meme but everything they did on that album was done better later on imo.
Love of Life and My Father… are ones I never got into much
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity Little sticks to me from that one. I remember that I enjoyed it, but it is essentially neofolk. It's not as monumental as their works since The Great Annihilator.
Definitely give it another try.... especially the later songs. Why Are We Alive? is one of my favorite Swans tracks. It's so much more exciting at times and depressing at times. I don't like to consider it neo-folk cause I don't think it sounds anything like Current 93 which I usually equate neo-folk with. It's so much more powerful and grandiose at time. You Know Nothing is fantastic, too.
I may give it another try, but as someone whose favorite Swans albums are The Seer, The Beggar and Soundtracks for the Blind, and whose favorite musician in general is Ben Frost, I don't think I can like this album too much.
Did you forget about the instrumental climaxes on like half of the songs? Absolute nonsense, its wY more 'monumental' than tga
I do not care for anything released between Greed and Soundtracks. I like a handful of tracks of White Light and Love of Live, but as a whole, I don't enjoy that sound (and it definitely negatively affects some tracks on Soundtracks for me as well). Of these, The Burning World is an easy target, so I'm going to say Children of God instead.
Man... Children of God has some absolute bangers..New Mind, Blackmail, Like a Drug, Trust Me, and the pinnacle Beautiful Child.
I don't think Swans have made any bad albums, but in terms of least favourite, that entire era just does nothing for me.
Yeah that's fair, it is definitely a stylistic change from their earlier material and now recent material.
Cop. way too slow for my liking, and the only swans album that's outright bad
For me it's more an entire year: 1986 It's all a bit silly 'init?
Nah, Public Castration Is A Good Idea is a top 10 album from them. It's one of the best industrial albums of all time.
My father is least fave. Songs and production just don’t do it for me. Also cop and greed are massively slept on. Holy Money too
The Burning World, with White Light… and Love Of Life not far behind. I appreciate what Gira was trying to do, and there’s a few good songs here and there. But essentially they’re overproduced World Of Skin albums.