Is this their best album? There is no doubt for me it's top three. It feels the least derivative and perhaps the most slept on rock album in history.
It's post rock without a the needless obsession for crescendo. I think this and Slint's Spiderland are my two favorite post-rock albums.
I don't have to even listen to that to know To Be Kind is better.
Stop being retardid
For some reason this album is such an anomaly to me. I listen to it and enjoy it but the praise it gets is frankly baffling. There are some amazing tracks on it, such as the opening track and helpless child, but it seems there is a lot of needless space to wade through. If there is anything that might be able to change my mind on that please tell me.
Well, it should be said that this is without little doubt Swans most ambitious and impressive release to date. This album saw Swans fully realize the art rock from the album "White Light from the Mouth of Infinity" by cranking up the atmosphere, length, variety, and overall grandness to the point that where it invented a new kind of post-rock that would prove highly influential on everyone from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Grimes.
The atmosphere is admittedly intense, and I wouldn't be surprised if it legitimately scared some listeners. Whether it's minimalistic dark ambient, creepy drone, cinematic post-rock, or even mildly disturbing EDM (yes, Swans composed at least one electronic dance music piece), there's never a moment of peace on this album. At the same time, the album never quiet erupts out of this intensity. Even at its fiercest, it still fairly subtle and subdued, which actually makes it an even scarier collection of tunes in many ways. The skeleton in the closet never pops out at you; he just hangs from a coat hanger and stares right into your eyes.
>Is it their best album
Yes
>least derivative
most of their albums arent
>most slept on
it's not slept on at all
Thanks. If there's one thing that can be said about the album at least for me, it's that i can't seem to get it out of my head. I always find myself thinking about it.
Yeah, maybe on rym and mu. Every other corner of the music worlds oddly treats My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky as Swans first journey into post rock.
Even the beloved melon seems to support this false narrative. The narrative being that Swans before hiatus was a completely different project. The reality is Swans was already well on it's way into this progression.
Unironically the best postrock record.
eh
yum-yab killers and hypogirl are objectively terrible songs and disrupt the flow of the album. prove me wrong
It took a really long time to grow on me, but the more I listen to it the more I like it as a whole.
I thought so too for a long time, but now I think SFTB is slightly better,
Sure, they're probably the worst songs off the album, but I wouldn't remove them from the tracklist.
It's definitely not the place to start with Swans.
I did that and it was a huge mistake. Hated the album in the beginning and thought Swans were shit. I still don't like it because it's so fucking long and some of the tracks are actual garbage but I really like other albums and Swans grew on me.
How do I into Swans? I started with SftB and thought it was 50% garbage filler, despite said filler creating the atmosphere they intended.
I'd recommend.
The inland empire of music
Either chronologically to experience their progression (which is quite apparent to even the casual listener) or with White Light from the Mouth of Infinity or Great Annihilator like said.
Personally I'd recommend WLftMoI --> GA and then choosing whether you want to loop back to no wave (their first albums) and go on from there or continue on to the more approachable modern Swans
I can tolerate Yum-Yab Killers, but yeah, Hypogirl is an awful song. God only knows why they are on Swans Are Dead instead of Red Velvet Corridor or Live Through Me or Blood Section but I agree with I still never skip Hypogirl even though it's absolute gobshite.
Soundtracks for The Blind is one of the greatest milestones in the history of rock music. If you disagree, you're a pleb
I don't like Yum-Yab Killers and Hypogirl and wish they weren't in the tracklisting. Whenever i want to listen to SftB i remember that those 2 tracks exist and i want to listen to it way less.
y'all are straight up fools for not appreciating the opening to hypnogirl.
there is literally nothing wrong with hypogirl nor volcano. yumyab on the other hand is shit.
>tfw Volcano makes me hard every time I listen to it
This user knows.
I'm not sure how I feel about this album. The only albums by them I've heard are SFTB and TBK (working my way through), but I think I prefer TBK. I've listened to that album 3 times, and it's undoubtedly a 10 to me. I've only listened to SFTB once, but first impression is that it's a bit too long for it's own good. I like pretty much every part of the first disc, but the second is too long. I'd probably cut half an hour from it. But who knows, it might grow on me. There's still way too many good things going for this album for me to hate on it. And I guess I like the sound of TBK more. Does anybody have any advice for me to like this album more? First time I listened to it I had to seperate the two parts, as it was so long.
Cant tell if you guys are memeing and I should actually listen to this long ass album.
Go listen to their other records and come back to this when you're finished.
Sounds good, I'll probably do that. Thanks, user
I'm and you definitely should. Even if it's just to see what the hype's about
yum yab is a fine track if you have testicles senpai
the bitching about yum yab is confusing to me
What are some more albums that have a sense of progression and discovery like this one? They don't have to be conceptual (often prog concepts only impede my enjoyment of the actual music, but there are lots of good concept albums), or long. Albums that are lean towards thoughtful pacing and careful track arrangement. I basically want trip music. I got a little list. I'm already familiar with the Swans and Angels of Light discographies.
Swirlies - They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons
Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
Unwound - New Plastic Ideas
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
Liars - Drums not Dead
Polvo - Exploded Drawing
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Travis Scott - Rodeo
Astor Piazzolla - Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night
Astor Piazzolla - Tango: Zero Hour
Most of the classic Can albums.
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Failure - Fantastic Planet
Lift To Experience - The Texas Jerusalem Crossroads
ayyy
Fuck I forgot this. This is an old favorite, I'm definitely gonna listen to this again soon.