this seems like a good way to figure out what's happening, if anything, with this band. i've got a cassette with "filth" and "cop" on it - and dig it, in a way - but dunno if the stuff afterwards, which i'm told veers in ambient directions, is worth my while or not. speak, people!

not crap
i like almost all of the gira material even his new stuff, not such a big fan of solo acoustic stuff.
a good record is gira drainland.........i see them all lined up

I always thought the Cop lp and the Raping A Slave 12" was the best- brutal! After that, Swans went disco w/ easy holy money or whatever. I never heard any of the Jarboe/ambient stuff, but enjoyed her keyboard work in the live video. pound pound pound.

Spotty.

Periods of greatness interspliced with crap.

Filth through holy money=great. -Im not sure where anyone gets "disco" out of the SWANS, they may have been many things, -but never disco.

Children of god era= some good/some flaky.

burning world= total shit

after that they slowly get better but not much untill:

The Great Annihilator: Doesn't sound like any of the other albums, rock and roll, but bizzarre and slightly creepy.

And finally Soundtracks for the blind:

I guess some of this sounds ambeint at times, but it would be the best ambient ever made. Once again sounds nothing like earlier material... Inovative and weird in a dismal epic sort of way.

-wilson

NOT CRAP simply for this story.

When they were on tour with Sonic Youth in 83 or around there, in the middle of a song Gira jumps off stage and beats a kid up. He gets back on stage and apologizes to the kid and says I'm sorry, but you were having too much fun.
That my friends is the definition of punk rock or being an asshole/dick.

Oh, and their music ain't half bad either. I prefer Angels Of Light.

I was going to make an m. gira poll, simply because he is one of the few artists i can think of that have had this much consistancy over 20 yrs. I'm sure people will argue with this, but most artists have a really good period and then 20 yrs down the road they still make an album every once in awhile, and your like "hey its not bad" but it really isnt very interesting, it seems like a vanity project. But when m. gira has a new album, it actually seems like a real album, something you would want to listen to more than once, something you would get excited about. Alot of people only like the "brootal" period swans, and while it is great, you know they couldnt have done that much longer, or they would have become a joke. And i think by changing they came up with some really great stuff. Angels of Light are even better than some of the later swans things.

NOT CRAP

ikilledfredmertz wrote:I was going to make an m. gira poll, simply because he is one of the few artists i can think of that have had this much consistancy over 20 yrs. I'm sure people will argue with this, but most artists have a really good period and then 20 yrs down the road they still make an album every once in awhile, and your like "hey its not bad" but it really isnt very interesting, it seems like a vanity project. But when m. gira has a new album, it actually seems like a real album, something you would want to listen to more than once, something you would get excited about. Alot of people only like the "brootal" period swans, and while it is great, you know they couldnt have done that much longer, or they would have become a joke. And i think by changing they came up with some really great stuff. Angels of Light are even better than some of the later swans things.

NOT CRAP

You're right on even though you come from Skynyrd country.

I voted "it all depends on whether jarboe is on the record", but what I really mean is "it all depends on whether Jarboe is singing". God, I loathe her highschool drama-club theatrics. The song "Hypogirl" alone is almost enough to put me off on Swans, and may have the silliest, yet most irritating vocals I have ever heard.

Swans, though, are still NOT CRAP. I just skip the Jarboe songs.

M. Gira solo and The Angels of Light are also NOT CRAP. "New City in the Future" is one of my favorite songs.

scelops wrote:

Im not sure where anyone gets "disco" out of the SWANS

Sorry, by "Disco" I meant less rhythmically interesting.

I'll have to listen to later Swans and the Angels Of Light, although that name makes me nervous. Solid "Not Crap" for Filth through to the live video thing.

not crap just for soundtracks for the blind and swans are dead discs.......i like all of them but these two sum up the swans. violent and beautiful. angels of light are amazing.... great live