How do I get into Swans?

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fuck you

Listen to filth or to be kind to start

Listen to Michael Gira's other band that is way better instead: Angels of Light.

Mother of the World is the first song I heard from them.

I thought it was kind of cool, but too much. Couldn't dig it.

The following week I heard it playing in my head constantly. The two notes repeating over and over.

Went back and listened to it again and it clicked, so maybe start there?

Filth is their debut LP and it's fantastic. Their discography is pretty long and they go through a lot of different styles, but I think these are the best:

>Soundtracks for the Blind
Seems to cover most of their "phases" in this album. Everything from drone to post-rock to electronic dance music to folk to heavier rock. Amazing album. Insanity, depression, religion, and childhood are common themes.

>The Seer
Hard to describe. It's like rolling in a pile of your own shit until it has no effect on you. It digs into that place in your mind that you don't really like to visit often, and forces you to be okay with it. Final track is incredible.

>To Be Kind
More accessible. Meditative rock album.

>Filth
High tier no-wave.

>Public Castration is a Good Idea
Live album that captures the intensity of their earlier shows. One of the best vocal performances from Gira on this release. For open minded listeners.

> The Glowing Man
I honestly didn't really care much for this album except for the first two tracks, which I think are some of Swans best tracks. It seems to turn away from the "beating you down" to lifting you up.

Swans get shit for being a meme but I feel like it's all for fun. Most people that know about them have a lot of respect for them, even if they don't like their music.

Their post-punkish albums are probably the easiest to get into. Try Children of God, White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, Love of Life, and The Great Annihilator.

Wide stylistic range of creative output and yet nothing truly thrilling to listen to in any of them. Why bother ?

>no Greed

Stop this Scaruffi propaganda

I'd say start with My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky. It's one of their weaker albums but it's the best album by them to start with IMO. .

I like everything Swans has ever done, I am just suggesting some albums that I feel are iconic in a way.

Plus Holy Money > Greed

Honestly I love this album

Sent a depressed qt "no cure for the lonely." She loved it. Definitely a great album. Gira hates it lolol

COP

Wait wtf am I thinking that track is on Love of Life.

I gotta re-listen to this.

Hey, OP here. Thank you all for your suggestions. It is much appreciated.

this

Check out this live version of "Thug."

youtube.com/watch?v=HbY0W09neAg

In all honesty, try To Be Kind.

It has the modern production, good chunk of 5-7 minutes that's not too long to listen to, and big long songs to lost yourself in it. It is also one of their best CD.

After this album, just explore the rest.

Holy Money is like the b side of Greed.
Greed is Kid A and Holy Money is Amnesiac.

makes sense.

The live version of Another You on Public Castration is one of the best things I've ever heard.

fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffffffffffffffteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen steeeeeeeeeps

Don't start with Soundtracks for the Blind.

Filth is pretty accessible.

Chronologically, start from the beginning.
That's how I get into every band though, I feel like it's almost how you're supposed to do it.
See, I listened to Swans EP and fucking loved it, so then I listened to Filth, then Cop and so on. They're one of my all time favorite bands, to be quite sincere my dude

Just go chronologically. Except for Soundtracks For The Blind. Save that for the end

Agreed, definitely the most effective way of absorbing what a band is really about.

Not the quickest or easiest way, but if there's a band you're serious about understanding, start from the beginning.

I'd say The Great Annihilator is their most accessible

become a rape apologist.

>Holy Money is like the b side of Greed
>muh it's Scaruffi's fault!
Stop spreading these dumb as fucking memes. It's very common in music for people to not like an album that feels like a transitory one to an artist's most popular one (ex. metal band At The Gates; for ages their first couple more complex works were lambasted since they hadn't reached the simpler more melodic stuff they are popular for until the last ten or so years.) Swans are rarely the only band that get this. Greed/Holy Money are definitely great in their own right despite the perception of some fans.

Holy Money is certainly not the B sides get the fuck out of here with that bullshit they spent a lot of extra months making it. Even the repeat tracks have more complex arrangements attached to them and have their intensity upped considering Greed as a whole lacked Holy Money's intensity. You can like whichever one you want more (I personally like HM more), but to say Holy Money is just B sides is straight up factually wrong.

Do NOT listen to anybody who says to start with Soundtracks for the Blind. It's pretty inacessible but it's a great album, just for when you're more experienced with the band. I started with The Great Annihilator, and now they're one of my favorite bands.

Start with this OP
youtube.com/watch?v=yHES9YAGGkU

My current guide on how to into Swans
If you like punk:
Filth
Young God
Greed

If you want something a lot more brutal:
Cop
Public Castration is a Good Idea

If you like post-rock:
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
The Glowing Man
The Seer

If you're not sure where to start:
The Great Annihilator
To Be Kind

If you want to ruin the experience entirely (or if you really like drone and experimental music):
Soundtracks for the Blind


Don't bother with (until you're into Swans):
We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head
My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
Love of Life
Various Failures
Young God
Children of God
World of Skin
Holy Money