Filth is great. I like Children of God/World of Skin too.
Overall fantastic band, can't wait for the "reunion".

the reunion thing is bullshit, hardly anyone that mattered and gira hasn't played in a while will be involved.

A pretty underated album is Omniscience. Its a live show from '92 I think featuring mostly songs from White Light / Love of Life but as per usual most of the songs are modifyed/cut up almost beyond recognition. Awesome sound quality and the songs are all mixed together giving it a rad as flow. Been cranking that one heaps of late.

I'm actually not sure what you are sayin here. Rephrase please.

=Reunions sucks ass.

They died after Holy Money, Harry Crosby left and Jarboe was in and that was it.

Swans reunion??! a "clay band"???


Swans - Cop

get into this car. get into this car.
bow your head down. your flesh is soft.
your flesh is clay. flesh is easy to shape.
flesh is easy to shape. get into your cell.
get into your bed. your flesh is soft.
your flesh is clay. flesh is easy to shape.
flesh is easy to shape. now you're a clay man.

You REALLY need to get Children of God, which is the Apex between the old Swans and the heavily Jarboized World of Skin and Mouth of Infinity stuff.

Y'know, I don't agree with the commonly held idea that it was Jarboe that changed them. I think they would've gone that way anyway, look at the fact that Gira's solo stuff has all been way closer to the Swans later period than any of Jarboe's really is.

Yeah, but I think she changed him more than she changed them. He still called the shots but from a new perspective. Would he have found it without her? Who could ever know?

Ooooooooh good point.

besides "reunions are bullshit"?

is gira going to reunite with the original lineup? are they gonna do cop/young god/filth? or is this going to be another lineup of angels of light but now calling it swans and doing "i crawled" every once in a while?

I'd actually prefer a combo of both: Reunited early lineup makes new music, with the occasional oldie thrown in on tour.

I don't want to see the original band rehash the older stuff (a la Pixies); nor do I want to see Gira drive the good name of Swans into the ground all by himself (a la Billy Corgan).

totally agreed, but what are the chances of this happening?

Slim to none, my friend!

Well I doubt it's going to be just Gira. Surely he'd at least get Jarboe.

Better than you might think. I'm not betting it will work out, but I was blown away by how good the reunited Mission of Burma was, including great new songs on The Obliterati. It can happen if the musicians aren't all burnt out and just doing it because they have no other choice to eat.

Really? You think a good band can ruin their own name? Smashing Pumpkins weren't ever all that great, originally.

How (i.e. by what method) does a good band ruin it's name? This sounds to me as though this has more to do with the hipness of the band's credibility rather than the music itself. Does the actions of a band generations after the fact really effect your opinion of the original material? The sounds more like your problem than the band's.

Well, Gira pretty explicitly said that while he would not be going at all for a straight "reunion" (scratch the Pixies route), he would be picking up where Soundtracks for the Blind and the final tours left off... Which, I would think, is very good news. If, that is, he can get Jarboe on board... Otherwise, I have serious doubts. Not that it will be bad so much as that it will not be... Swans.

You tell me that Smashing Pumpkins weren't all that good to begin with (an opinion that many would share with you) and then go on about hipster credibility? If you knew me you wouldn't be making these accusations as I really could care less about popular opinion OR underground/hipster opinion... I like what sounds good to my ears.

Having said that, a band can ruin their good name for me and/or the public in general. Just check out all the articles and blogs about how Billy Corgan has done nothing but embarrass himself these last 10 years (especially with this recent Pumpkins fiasco). This doesn't destroy the band's early output, but it certainly can create a stigma around a band's name. I for one think Adore is an outright masterpiece and have continued to enjoy Corgan's stuff including his gorgeous solo record right thru to the Zwan album. This recent Pumpkins mess is too much, even for me, however. It will make it hard for me to take anything that he/the band puts out in the future seriously.

and how is it going to work? he's going to play on one stage and she on another?

last i heard, mere months ago, was that they hated each other still.


i listened to both their reunion albums when they came out and though they were boring as hell.

they could still pack a punch live, i don't know, but on record, yach!!


well, in billy corgan's case, he took a decent band (at worse) and made it just a name to attract people (i did see the reunion, and it was fun listening to the old songs i already liked, but it was mostly because with such an amazing drummer, he couldn't fail).

the pixies reunion was horrible because those guys didn't bother to rehearse, let alone gather enough enthusiasm to give a shit about playing. mostly it sucks because it's bands that can't play as hard and passionate as they could when they were younger. or they just don't care as much anymore.

that thing about credibility is bullshit, it can propel a tour and album, but if the band isn't playing well, then sorry but that makes it worthless.

the two reunions that sound really great live, and right where they left off, are dinosaur jr and brutal truth. in my opinion.