What is your favorite Swans album and why? I like pic related because imo it has the perfect balance of repetitive...

What is your favorite Swans album and why? I like pic related because imo it has the perfect balance of repetitive, meditative drone, and actual songwriting. Take The Glowing Man for example... it's good, but it has a little more focus on the droney aspect. The Seer is perfect. Of course, I like their older stuff, but I do believe this band's best work is Soundtracks for the Blind and beyond.

I don't know, The Seer is really strong as a 2 hour holistic piece, but I kind of think it falls apart when you get down to the individual songs on it. It is hard to appreciate the softer folkier side of it when not listened to with the context of the full album. A lot of the songs just aren't strong enough to stand on their own. This is why I think "To Be Kind" is stronger, it may not be as "cinematic" as The Seer is, but it is incredibly strong in its own right. It isn't concerned with atmospherics or mood, it just gets right down to it with the crushing repetition and grooves.

I can listen to it over and over and it never gets old. It packs such a punch, each and every individual song stands strong on its own.

I will say that "The Seer" (Track) is by far their greatest 25+ minute song. By FAR. BTS or TGM don't compare. Also "The Aposate" is the greatest song in the entire Swans discography.

Gotta go with Soundtracks for the Blind. I've never loved the post-reunion trilogy all that much to be honest; to me, they feel like they meander along longer than they need to without anything that really captivates me. They're not bad records by any means, I just think SFTB manages to be a much more engaging listen with a similar runtime. The Great Annihilator and Love of Life are tied for second favorite.

I like pic related because it's actually challenging.
It's harsh, dissonant and it actually feels like being hammered to death.

I feel like SFTB is more meandering than the new trilogy and goes on longer than it needs to, although its still great

Pic isn't my favorite, but the best were already posted.

This was my first Swans album, which makes me like it more than others, and Killing for Company is fucking fantastic

honestly I 100% agree with these. although TBK was my first and I was in the Seer camp for quite a while, TBK is still my favourite when I look back after some time.

SFTB feels like it has 10 or so minutes of filler, which is pretty laughable.

meant to quote instead of

>none of these answers being Cop

Filth, it's the only one of their aggressive albums with a sense of rhythm beyond plodding DUN.DUNDUN.DUN. There's good bits trough the rest but they're a chore to take as full albums

SFTB doesn't have filler, it just has too fucking much music and doesn't have the cohesiveness of the new trilogy that makes them fucking amazing

Cop is boring as fuck, it's just Filth but shit

I like the seer but imo filth is better

cop is the choice for dumbass contrarians
every album in their filth-children of god period is better, people just say it's the best because HURRDURR IT'S HEAVIER BECAUSE NOTHING HAPPENS AND IT'S BORING AS SHIT

I think the title track kind of skews opinion too, it's head and shoulders above the rest of the album, if not most of their songs

agreed
half life, cop, and clay man are all good. if the album didn't have those it'd be worthless

Pic related for me, I've always found it to be underrated among the reformed Swans albums. It keeps up with the experimental and progressive tones of The Seer and To Be Kind, but also has a folk-like vibe at times, reminiscent of The Burning World which gets a bad rep because it's Swans not being Swans.

What up melonhead

>tfw i absolutely love the seer but can't bring myself to listen to to be king or the glowing man more than once

It's amazing listening to all three in a row

nigga that takes likw 73 hours

If you have 6 hours to spare, it's worth it.

>the flute following each shout in Coward like someone is crushing your windpipe