History Music / Swans

** When Young God Records began reissuing Swans' discography, Gira compiled what he felt were the best tracks from ''The Burning World'', ''White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity'', ''Love Of Life'', the Skin album ''Ten Songs From Another World'', and other singles and b-sides into a two-disk set titled [[SelfDeprecation ''Various Failures'']]. Only a few tracks from ''The Burning World'' were used.

In January 2010, their MySpace page was changed to display "SWANS ARE NOT DEAD", and Gira released a solo album on Young God, entitled ''I Am Not Insane'', to raise money to record the new Swans album. In September of 2010, this was realized with the release of ''My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To the Sky''.

Later on down the line came ''Love of Life'', the EP/single ''Love of Life/Amnesia'', and 1995's ''The Great Annihilator'', possibly their most accessible album. Eventually, though, Gira decided to break up the band, and released an epic double-album (one of the most highly regarded albums of their career) ''Soundtracks for the Blind'' and went on a world tour. In 1997, Gira decided to disband Swans, citing exhaustion, audience misconceptions, and a desire to start over and work on a smaller scale. Their live album ''Swans Are Dead'' was released as a testament to their last years together. Jarboe moved on to a successful solo career, while Gira started a more folk influenced band Angels Of Light.

Later on down the line came ''Love of Life'', the EP/single ''Love of Life/Amnesia'', and 1995's ''The Great Annihilator'', possibly their most accessible album. Eventually, though, Gira decided to break up the band, and released an epic double-album (one of their most highly regarded albums of their career) ''Soundtracks for the Blind'' and went on a world tour. In 1997, it was widely considered that Swans was dead; a release in 1998, called ''Swans Are Dead'', shared this point of view. Jarboe moved on to a successful solo career, while Gira started a more folk influenced band Angels Of Light.

* LyricalScaleOfLyricalHardness: In spit of the music going all over the range, this one more or less stays at a fixed 7+.

'''Swans''' is a [[GenreRoulette rather diverse]] No Wave and [[PostPunk post-punk]] band from NewYorkCity. The band was initially formed in 1982 and ran until 1997 with various lineups, and was reformed in 2010. Throughout its history, Michael Gira has been one of two constant members; the other being Jarboe, who was with the band from 1984-97.

* BigNameFan: Gira counts as a BigNameFan of LisaGermano, since he signed her to his Young God Records label because he enjoyed her music.

* BlackSheepHit: ''Love Will Tear Us Apart'', and, for the most part, the majority of their '90s work.

->''I've worked so hard all my life. At 15, I was digging ditches in the deserts of Israel, and I put myself through college painting houses. I never saw any money from any of our records. So by the time I finally got that carrot dangled in front of me, it was like, at last I can make a living at what I love to do.''

They took the offer and released ''The Burning World'' in 1989. It featured more melodic pop melodies, but the lyrics, just as with anything before it, were often dealing with depression, death, greed and despair, but were sung, as opposed to chanted or shouted. Troubles with Uni/MCA, though, led to 1991's ''White Light from the Mouth of Infinity'', which combined the earlier hard rock influences and the later pop melodies, making for a rather complex record in comparison to earlier work.

In January 2010, their MySpace page was changed to display "SWANS ARE NOT DEAD", and Gira released a solo album on Young God Records (their record label for their later career and now), entitled ''I Am Not Insane'', to raise money to record the new Swans album. In September of 2010, this was realized with the release of ''My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To the Sky''.

Following ''Children of God'', Gira stated that he was tired of Swans being affiliated with the brutal noise of the first four LPs and also felt that the audience had expectations that he probably wouldn't fulfill. Going on into the 90's, Jarboe began to have an even bigger role in the band and softer elements, including classical instrumentation and, in later years, vibraphone.

They got their start with the EP of the same name in 1982, followed by their LP debut ''Filth'' in 1983. The latter is known for its harsh [[NoiseRock noise-rock]] and {{industrial}} influences, and very well could be considered a [[UrExample Ur Example]] for {{grindcore}}. (For the record, Mick Harris, a drummer for [[NapalmDeath Napalm Death]], was describing the sound of Swans to a friend in 1984 and used the term "grind"; therefore, Swans could also be credited for inspiring the term "grindcore".)

They are primarily an underground act, and the one song that the public (might) know best would be their cover of [[JoyDivision Joy Division's]] [[SignatureSong signature song]] ''Love Will Tear Us Apart''. They've also released two other singles, 11 studio albums, 9 live albums, 7 compilation albums, 11 [=EPs=], and have made four music videos, but these aren't exactly well known.

'''Swans''' is a [[GenreRoulette rather diverse]] No Wave and [[PostPunk post-punk]] band from New York City. The band was initially formed in 1982 and ran until 1997 with various lineups, and was reformed in 2010. Throughout its history, Michael Gira has been one of two constant members; the other being Jarboe, who was with the band from 1984-97.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They bounce all around the scale; their acoustic stuff (such as "Love Will Tear Us Apart" or "Failure") probably counts as a 1 or 2, whereas most of ''Cop'' comes in at a hard 9 or higher. And then there's stuff like ''Love of Life'' in between at about 4, and other stuff like ''Soundtracks for the Blind'' or "Look At Me Go" that [[MindScrew just sits outside of the scale entirely]].

* VillainSong: Several. "Thug" is an unusual [[SecondPersonSong second-person]] variation.

* BlackSheepHit: ''Love Will Tear Us Apart'', and, for the most part, the majority of their 90s work.

* IndecipherableLyrics: "Young God" is primarily slurred with some yelling. You can't make out more than ten words, even with the lyrics in front of your face... Though comprehension is ultimately irrelevant.

* LyricalDissonance: Practically a trademark style.

* SerialKiller: "Young God" and "Killing for Company" are about Ed Gein and Dennis Nilssen respectively.

* StalkerWithACrush: "Volcano".

Once Jarboe joined the band, Swans slowly moved away from the brutal aggression of ''Filth'' and the 1984 releases of ''Cop'' and ''Young God'', opting for slightly softer (but just as insane) music, beginning subtly with the 1985 ''Time Is Money'' 12" and culminating with ''Children of God'' in 1987.

Following ''Children of God'', Gira stated that he was tired of Swans being affiliated with the brutal noise of ''Filth'', ''Cop'' and ''Holy Money'' and also felt that the audience had expectations that he probably wouldn't fulfill. Going on into the 90's, Jarboe began to have an even bigger role in the band and softer elements (such as piano not being used for grim effect ''à la'' the song ''Fool'' from ''Holy Money'').

Once Jarboe joined the band, Swans slowly moved away from the brutal aggression of ''Filth'' and the 1984 releases of ''Cop'' and ''Young God'', opting for slightly softer (but just as insane) music, beginning with the 1985 single "Time is Money (Bastard)" and becoming more pronounced with ''Children of God'' in 1987.

They got their start with the EP of the same name in 1982, followed by their LP debut ''Filth'' in 1983. The latter is known for its harsh [[NoiseRock noise-rock]] influences, and very well could be considered a [[UrExample Ur Example]] for {{grindcore}}. (For the record, Mick Harris, a drummer for [[NapalmDeath Napalm Death]], was describing the sound of Swans to a friend in 1984 and used the term "grind"; therefore, Swans could also be credited for inspiring the term "grindcore".)

Once Jarboe joined the band, Swans slowly moved away from the brutal aggression of ''Filth'' and the 1984 releases of ''Cop'' and ''Young God'', opting for slightly softer (but just as insane) music, possibly (and subtly) beginning with 1986's ''Holy Money'' and becoming more exemplified with ''Children of God'' in 1987.

They took the offer and released ''The Burning World'' in 1989. It featured more melodic pop melodies, but the lyrics, just as with anything before it, were often dealing with depression, death, greed and despair, but were sung, as opposed to chanted or shouted. Troubles with Uni/MCA, though, led to 1991's ''White Light from the Mouth of Infinity", which combined the earlier hard rock influences and the later pop melodies, making for a rather complex record in comparison to earlier work.

The only uniform traits that you could get from their music, if you will, is that the song structures often focus on repetition, instrumentally and/or lyrically, but that they still manage to not get tiresome because of the chaotic nature of their work (although [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on that one.) This is especially apparent on their earliest work.

* IndecipherableLyrics: "Young God" is primarily slurred with some yelling. You can't make out more than ten words, even with the lyrics in front of your face... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Though comprehension is ultimately irrelevant.]]

* AntiLoveSong: "Blackmail".

* [[HeReallyCanAct He Really Can Sing In Audible Octaves]]: Gira on ''Children Of God'' and especially ''Love Will Tear Us Apart''.

* SillyLoveSongs: Usually averted. '''Hard'''. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Except on]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome "Her".]]