uauh 1987 total nichilism I saw them live in 2011 in berlin alwayz impressive amazing powerful music coming from a life of suffering only.................
Forget the analytical analysis on why SWANS are the most important and astounding force in music for the last twenty years, I would prefer to make a primitive postulation that if you dont "get" Swans then you're a stone deaf cunt.
@dannysrlyblck not officially unfortunately, there's probably a bootleg but those are impossible to find. The live album "Feel Good Now" might have a similar sounding rendition but can't remember.
@WeHaveExplosive I read somewhere that the current CD edition of 'Feel Good Now' isn't the same as the original double album and isn't as good. Can any SWANS nuts out there confirm whether this is true? This footage is great stuff, by the way. Thanks for posting!
@spuffchops70 Yeah, the CD version on Atavistic has less tracks, though a lot of the missing ones are snippets from into tapes, audience banter and MG talking to the crowd, different track order too, the Swans page on Discogs.com is pretty concise if you're interested.
@danielcm81 gotta be kidding me, it's terrible how can you like something like this? just because its old and got a five star review on pitchfork or a bunch of names on some noise messageboard says its cool, its good. Industrial is not band music, keep rock and roll out of performance art.
@thundertower Reet, I'm no bastard, I'm not going to insult you or your music tastes like others might do. If you don't like this then that's fair play but please don't go discrediting it because you don't like.
I like SWANS because of their ability to make songs of pure nihilism without having to abide by a single genre of music, it's like they infuse the musical ethics of other genres into their own unique sound.
I know he's a really nice guy and all, but i would be fucking terrified to meet Gira in real life because some of these performances would be in the back of my mind. It really does punch you in the gut.
@jacc0placc0 Just listened to their new album . . . AWESOME!!!! I have had a boner ever since I found out they were touring this year!!!!!!! I will be at every live show within a 100 mile radius of my home . . . . at least!!
swans transcend metal and music in general, this is a trance like void, complete with murder, mayhem and madness. These guys were the real deal and scary as fuck! Bow down metalhead, God is in the house!
@dickdog1 sounds like we have ourselves another case of a typical nerd spending more time reading up on music gear than he does spending time listening to something that could swallow any other metal band whole.
@dickdog1 It is because of ignorant meatheads like you that people hate metal music. Swans has nothing to do with metal other than the fact that the music off their Cop album sounds like drone/doom-metal to some people.
@Atraiterm Well, Swans early Swans are about as close as you can get to doom metal without actually being doom metal. It's bruta, often hatefull music, but it just doesn't feel metal in the end. I recommend you check out Bodychoke, as they do make a very nice tribute to Swans in their sound.
I have seen the Swans performing in Rotterdam in the early 90s. It was one of their last gigs in Holland in those days. It was very impressive. It was in the club called ' NightTown' in Rotterdam. I think it was in 1994 or 1995. Everybody was dressed in totally black. I had my punk jacket on. But that was okay, nobody said anything. Only listened, and at the end of each song, a huge applause. Totally amazing. Very good music, and music that can hit you in your hearth and brain, and maybe soul.
@ DAkkermann: I couldn't agree with you more. I've played extreme metal pretty much my whole life, but this era of Swans is fucking devastating.
I've seen Gira perform without Swans several times too (Angels of Light, solo etc) and even when it's just him with an acoustic guitar it's always been crushing.
On a related note, I'm lucky enough to be working on a collaboration with Jarboe right now, too.
saw swans twice in 1987 loudest gigs ive ever been to, swans ceased to exist in my book on dec 31 1987, with the recording of lwtua and the beast was dead. The slight problem with this vid is you cant hear the bass, it was lifting me of the floor at the two gigs.
in 5000 years when aiens dig up swans records theyll all commit mass suicide hahaha :))) music strait from hell :)) -but awesome and great -most awesome
@Abortive that's funny cause i was just thinking the other day about how swans would probably fit cannibal holocaust perfectly. but i fucking hated that movie, so it would ruin the swans listening experience for me..
Amazing. As a teenager listening to this in Melbourne, the Swans answered all. Friggin hard, loud, demanding. NIN, Sunn O))) all owe heaps to this band. So what if MG was an alcoholic. Having a music brain like this would send you somewhere or you would have came somewhere bad to make it.
nikagandofacho ( just give your child to a shelter though it would be cool to kill a baby but you'd go to jail just fucking get rid of it i hate babies too
what a lot of people don't realize is that you are not watching music, but an excorcisim..Michael's early life and adolececence was filled with pain and misfortune and his music at this time was
a form fo release and reaization of that pain. We're all lucky he had musical talent or else he'd probably be doing serial killings..
Many so-called musicians today don't have one-one-hunderdth of Gira's talent, let alone his honesty..
@beowulven seeing as I have know Gira for over 23 years, I think I know from where I speak,...I'll stick with my assessment ; not the critique of som neo-black-metal goth fanboy...
Any fan of "brutal" death metal can eat their heart out. This might well be the most savage song ever recorded and if there is anything more brutal than this, then Swans made that as well.
I totally agree with you there, but the reason swans is more brutal is because you can relate to the human side of it, you can hear Giras human voice mourning and wailing. Amazing song. Amazing live show.
@DAkkermann Try anything on Raping a slave basically with the line up of Ted parsons on drums al Kizies on bass norman westberg on gutar jorbo on keys and Michale gira they were and still are unstopable as the most brutle band ever.
"Waxed chests", huh? I dunno about Westberg but in Giras case it probably has more to do with malnutrition and alcoholism. And really, who gives a monkeys bum?
There's a track on Giras solo album "Drainland" called "You See Through Me", an apparent tribute to Jarboe. The song contains a tape recorded confrontation between MG and Jarboe during which Gira is a totally drunk asshole to her very practical American girl pragmatism. He really shows his ass in that one and I've always respected his balls for doing so. It's really a must-have for any SWANS/Gira fan.
i did, on this tour at revival club in philly which was a coke hangout for aging hipsters.......they did 'your not real' then this song and blew the pa speaker......everyone asked for their ten dollars back, and it was a 'no go'.
posthumanhero: i interviewed gira after the sound check for the 1987 philly show you are referring to (for a little fanzine i contributed to). he was very patient with me as i hadn't really done my homework beforehand. nice guy, really. in exchange for the "publicity" we were promised two names on the guest list. When we got to the show, it was also a "no go," as in "no fanzines on the guest list dude! it's10 bucks." we were so pissed we just left and i have always regretted it!
u didn't miss much.........i liked them much better a year later when they played with (yes) living color at city gardens and did all material from their 'burning world'lp.....awesome.
Swans were one of the rawest and most minimalist underground bands of the 80s, powerful and uncompromising, and Gira was notoriously articulate and well-read.
This was the hight of there power michael with Al ted Norman jarbo they were unstopable. nothing since has come close they were so ahead of themselfs you hear them in so much today, so many new interpertations or lighter versions of what they started.
this music is all about suffering and discomfort, and purging yourself through the "filth". and if people find it so disturbing to the point of turning it off, then maybe they have some soulsearching to do
Such amazing raw power and ferocity. I find Swans compelling but don't know if I always derive any pleasure listening to them. This song is wonderful though. I'd love to see some footage of them in the "Filth" and "Cop" era, those albums are unlistenable.
Sonic Youth is more conventional song format noise rock whereas the Swans are all about getting a feeling across. Just because that feeling is one that is uncomfortable to you initially should not be a reason for you to be dissuaded from listening to other tracks by such an imaginative and impactful band.
ah fair enough, but not all this band's music was noise, this material was all about catharthic release of emotion through performance, just with a musical rythm. this band was actually capabable of really accesible music later on.
I don't know man, I enjoy both bands music or noise tremendously and Sonic Youth isn't/wasn't all musical value either.Some people would argue with you abot SY's musical value ha ha.I argue for both bands and their value. Also Moore played in the band's early period and both bands toured together supporting one another. Have you heard much Swans incidentally?
no offense taken, but explain why someone such as yourself would critise a band for being noisy, yet you are named after one two pioneering NOISE bands? the other being these guys. i dunno, maybe you need to listen more.
To be fair, their live shows were much more stripped down and minimal. Listen to the album cut of this song and you'll heare trumpets (keyboards probably) and a shrieking female chorus (Jarboe). It sounds like an angry imperial march.
I think I have to take a shit 30 seconds into this!!
samkev84 5 days ago
what I don't get is why you're insulting and swearing and picking on each others.
ElRodeo1970 1 month ago
THEEEEEEEESE ARE THE THINGS
kipolop 3 months ago
@kipolop .... I ......*HOLD*.....*ONTO*.....
AJtheory 1 month ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Swans
the 1st time i heard this band was in the 80s when spasm from lubricated goat played it at breakfast in sydney,awesome
SouthernCross33 3 months ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Swans
wow, he's got Mandark hair
JustOneMeatPuppet 4 months ago
just saw Swans in Boston on Sept. 29th. they were so fucking loud :^)
auxemoron87 4 months ago
god this is fucking intense
thereagauze 5 months ago
uauh 1987 total nichilism I saw them live in 2011 in berlin alwayz impressive amazing powerful music coming from a life of suffering only.................
svoboda73 5 months ago
Forget the analytical analysis on why SWANS are the most important and astounding force in music for the last twenty years, I would prefer to make a primitive postulation that if you dont "get" Swans then you're a stone deaf cunt.
TheRatjacket 8 months ago 27
@TheRatjacket I like your logic!
WeHaveExplosive 8 months ago
@WeHaveExplosive Appreciated, thanks! I want to extend my gratitude to you for putting up this awesome footage too.
TheRatjacket 8 months ago
I like how Norman the guitarist looks as content as ever while playing, particulary at 2:00 to 2:03
Atraiterm 1 year ago 2
That's Al Kyzsis on bass, a true sound and a true person.
maryshelleysman 1 year ago
THIS is the intensity I have been looking for.
Is there an album with this live recording?
dannysrlyblck 1 year ago
@dannysrlyblck not officially unfortunately, there's probably a bootleg but those are impossible to find. The live album "Feel Good Now" might have a similar sounding rendition but can't remember.
WeHaveExplosive 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive I read somewhere that the current CD edition of 'Feel Good Now' isn't the same as the original double album and isn't as good. Can any SWANS nuts out there confirm whether this is true? This footage is great stuff, by the way. Thanks for posting!
spuffchops70 7 months ago
@spuffchops70 Yeah, the CD version on Atavistic has less tracks, though a lot of the missing ones are snippets from into tapes, audience banter and MG talking to the crowd, different track order too, the Swans page on Discogs.com is pretty concise if you're interested.
WeHaveExplosive 7 months ago
@spuffchops70 yeah, the quality is poor but who cares. still kicks ass.
egwok5 7 months ago
@dannysrlyblck This is on the "Kill The Child" live album, it's a single hour long track of performances with this included. : )
Putyourknifinme 1 year ago
@dannysrlyblck @dannysrlyblck
yes there is,
This and a version of "like a drug" (posted by someone else round here) can be found on the "kill the Child 1985-87" live record
You can find it easily for download here and there
These are by far better recordings than the Feel good now "live, which sounds like crap.
A pity the german tv didn't record the whole gig (or maybe they did ...)
moesgard 9 months ago
@dannysrlyblck
Search for the Kill The Child 1985 / 1986 / 1987 LIVE album. I was able to purchase a copy pretty easily.
AlleyCatChum 9 months ago
@dannysrlyblck actually, this version is on one of their albums. The 1993 official release "Kill The Child: 1985/1986/1987 Live" has it.
LardGargantuus 8 months ago
this is more like it !!! not the acoustic drippy stuff, i will have to dig out my recordings from 86 87 and post up.
birdandthe 1 year ago
" i don't like his hair, but if i was 'Blind' i would not care.com "
Burningchromosome 1 year ago
michael gira
is so fucking
delicious
moondogmonologue 1 year ago
2:36 .....I love that. I know he's only fixing his pants, but I love it.
disconnected22 1 year ago
Gut wrenching
aboutdafunk 1 year ago
i put this on after i stuff my bed full of warm laundry and get romantic with myself
revelationgritz 1 year ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This kinda sucks..what is this Euro Trash shit? and I like everything..but this kinda sucks..
oneadamtwelve30 1 year ago
@oneadamtwelve30 After looking at your favourite videos, I'm really not surprised you don't "get" this.
WeHaveExplosive 1 year ago 12
@WeHaveExplosive i "get" it and i stil think it's shit. Fuckin pretentious windbag.
thundertower 8 months ago
@thundertower Good for you, now fuck off and watch stuff you like instead of wasting your time watching videos that you think are shit.
WeHaveExplosive 8 months ago
@WeHaveExplosive art is dead asshole
thundertower 8 months ago
Wrong.
touchandgod 8 months ago
@thundertower if you don't like it, why are you watching it and commenting fuckhead?
danielcm81 6 months ago
@danielcm81 gotta be kidding me, it's terrible how can you like something like this? just because its old and got a five star review on pitchfork or a bunch of names on some noise messageboard says its cool, its good. Industrial is not band music, keep rock and roll out of performance art.
thundertower 6 months ago
@thundertower Come back to it when you're ready. It'll still be here with arms wide open.
danielcm81 6 months ago
@danielcm81 just sayin'
thundertower 6 months ago
@thundertower your comment made my head hurt. watch something else.
drido 6 months ago
@thundertower Reet, I'm no bastard, I'm not going to insult you or your music tastes like others might do. If you don't like this then that's fair play but please don't go discrediting it because you don't like.
I like SWANS because of their ability to make songs of pure nihilism without having to abide by a single genre of music, it's like they infuse the musical ethics of other genres into their own unique sound.
ResidentMax 6 months ago
@thundertower if anything or anyone here is fucking pretentious it's you ya fucking twat..
youknowyourrite1 2 months ago
@oneadamtwelve30 Euro trash? i had no idea New York was in Europe. fucking moron.
TheLeaver1234 1 year ago
@oneadamtwelve30 ma vacagare.
shadowplayca 1 year ago
@oneadamtwelve30 ma vacagare.
shadowplayca 1 year ago
@oneadamtwelve30 Euro trash? Swans are from New York, America; they're not from the European Union.
industrymonkey 11 months ago
@industrymonkey Since when was the European Union a place?
simony999 9 months ago
THIS IS MY SACRIFICE!!! THIS IS MY DAMNATION!!
jesuscat29 1 year ago
THESE ARE THE THINGS
I......HOLD.....ONTO
AJtheory 1 year ago
Comment removed
anastu 1 year ago
I know he's a really nice guy and all, but i would be fucking terrified to meet Gira in real life because some of these performances would be in the back of my mind. It really does punch you in the gut.
Mansurus 1 year ago
Gira ate YOU for breakfast back then. And I guess again these days too. Try as I might, I can't write anything as unforgiving as this.
MrNobody425 1 year ago
Fucking brilliant performance, complete with Gira's "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" dance around four minutes into it.
nasalscarecrow 1 year ago
Forget genre, I saw them back then and it was like a fucking black hole had entered the room. Nothing has been as heavy as this before or after.
I can't go on the current tour, my ears are done and I can't risk it any more. : (
mountainenergei1 1 year ago
I saw these guys last night in Philly. Still amazing! And I can't hear anymore.
vintageviolencex 1 year ago 2
@vintageviolencex
Do you know the recent/current tour dates for SWANS?
AJtheory 1 year ago
thankz for uploading this footage man!!! u rock!
jacc0placc0 1 year ago
so happy yo be seeing them live this year and april next year again on the amazing roadburn!!!! dreams do come true
jacc0placc0 1 year ago 4
@jacc0placc0 I'm hoping to catch them in Glasgow in October, fingers crossed!
WeHaveExplosive 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive Coming to Denver next week!!
you4n00b 1 year ago
@jacc0placc0 Just listened to their new album . . . AWESOME!!!! I have had a boner ever since I found out they were touring this year!!!!!!! I will be at every live show within a 100 mile radius of my home . . . . at least!!
jubjub2112 1 year ago
Comment removed
NicksAreUseless 1 year ago
On dutch radio their sound was described as that of two dinosaurs making out - that's pretty close :)
Nesciio 1 year ago
whew! another big tune by swans, makes for great listening when the family is gathered around during the holidays.
coolsauce2102 1 year ago 4
swans transcend metal and music in general, this is a trance like void, complete with murder, mayhem and madness. These guys were the real deal and scary as fuck! Bow down metalhead, God is in the house!
cromlek 1 year ago
can't wait to see ya in dc!!!!!!!!!
detournemont 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
wusses, who does metal with a Tle with stock singkle coils. Mosquito tone.
HUGE FAIL>
dickdog1 1 year ago
@dickdog1 This isn't metal, you fool.
WeHaveExplosive 1 year ago 44
@dickdog1
WeHaveExplosive is right, in terms like "you fool" also
PetrMatas 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive are so right!
moni5194 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive
THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!!!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!!!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!!!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!! it makes the so-called-metal of today week!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@WeHaveExplosive THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!! it makes the so-called-metal of today week!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
@WeHaveExplosive THIS IS BEYOND METAL!!! it makes the so-called-metal of today week!
dreiproductions 1 year ago
@dickdog1 sounds like we have ourselves another case of a typical nerd spending more time reading up on music gear than he does spending time listening to something that could swallow any other metal band whole.
Huge fail kid.
scottasfuck 1 year ago
@dickdog1
That is possibly the most retarded comment I have ever seen on Youtube, ever.
And I've seen some zingers.
Congratulations
MGira 1 year ago
@dickdog1 how stupid can you be? this isnt metal.
TheLeaver1234 1 year ago
@dickdog1 It is because of ignorant meatheads like you that people hate metal music. Swans has nothing to do with metal other than the fact that the music off their Cop album sounds like drone/doom-metal to some people.
Atraiterm 1 year ago
@Atraiterm
Fcking Jackhole.
dickdog1 1 year ago
@dickdog1 Lolumad.
Atraiterm 1 year ago
@Atraiterm Well, Swans early Swans are about as close as you can get to doom metal without actually being doom metal. It's bruta, often hatefull music, but it just doesn't feel metal in the end. I recommend you check out Bodychoke, as they do make a very nice tribute to Swans in their sound.
NightmareGanon 9 months ago
Raw... at it's gutteral best. Very little, in music, touches this level of performance.
glyph68 1 year ago
I have seen the Swans performing in Rotterdam in the early 90s. It was one of their last gigs in Holland in those days. It was very impressive. It was in the club called ' NightTown' in Rotterdam. I think it was in 1994 or 1995. Everybody was dressed in totally black. I had my punk jacket on. But that was okay, nobody said anything. Only listened, and at the end of each song, a huge applause. Totally amazing. Very good music, and music that can hit you in your hearth and brain, and maybe soul.
RichardCyberPunk 1 year ago
@ DAkkermann: I couldn't agree with you more. I've played extreme metal pretty much my whole life, but this era of Swans is fucking devastating.
I've seen Gira perform without Swans several times too (Angels of Light, solo etc) and even when it's just him with an acoustic guitar it's always been crushing.
On a related note, I'm lucky enough to be working on a collaboration with Jarboe right now, too.
MostAncientOne 1 year ago
@swans1997 It's been like 2 years ... move on ?
SonicYouth1993 1 year ago
For a couple of years, M Gira was the craziest man in the world.
1Illby 1 year ago
I hope they've still got it. Headlining Supersonic in Birmingham. Will be CHAOTIC
davydude 1 year ago
christgau once called gira "the voice of god in the apocalypse" I think he was right!
aselfishimpulse 1 year ago
saw swans twice in 1987 loudest gigs ive ever been to, swans ceased to exist in my book on dec 31 1987, with the recording of lwtua and the beast was dead. The slight problem with this vid is you cant hear the bass, it was lifting me of the floor at the two gigs.
birdandthe 2 years ago 3
i think i have the cd of this it cost me $30 used but it was signed , this is great
msnikish1 2 years ago
Oh fuck, you lucky bitch.
Coberholt 2 years ago
He seems to be doing some kind of yoga exercise near the end.
Awesome.
Metamorposer 2 years ago
in 5000 years when aiens dig up swans records theyll all commit mass suicide hahaha :))) music strait from hell :)) -but awesome and great -most awesome
stiggyh 2 years ago
Łi. (ok) - bardzo ok, podoba mi sie :))) Thx!
wkyrks123 2 years ago
THIS IS MY LIFE!
ryanharrisonawesome 2 years ago 2
THIS IS MY DAMNATION!
raindog951 2 years ago 4
cannibal holocaust towards the end.. gira's mimicing the part where... the tribe sacificies a fetus and bops in some ritual
Abortive 2 years ago 2
@Abortive that's funny cause i was just thinking the other day about how swans would probably fit cannibal holocaust perfectly. but i fucking hated that movie, so it would ruin the swans listening experience for me..
youknowyourrite1 1 year ago
Force and Grace
TheIkaraCult 2 years ago
Amazing. As a teenager listening to this in Melbourne, the Swans answered all. Friggin hard, loud, demanding. NIN, Sunn O))) all owe heaps to this band. So what if MG was an alcoholic. Having a music brain like this would send you somewhere or you would have came somewhere bad to make it.
Wish I saw them.
craigmac303 2 years ago 5
Goddamn it I wanna kill my baby
nikagandofacho 2 years ago 4
nikagandofacho ( just give your child to a shelter though it would be cool to kill a baby but you'd go to jail just fucking get rid of it i hate babies too
subhumanmaster 2 years ago
you're killing my feelings... It's my beatiful child
nikagandofacho 2 years ago
holy shit this is fucking insane
InvisibleRobotFish42 2 years ago 4
what a lot of people don't realize is that you are not watching music, but an excorcisim..Michael's early life and adolececence was filled with pain and misfortune and his music at this time was
a form fo release and reaization of that pain. We're all lucky he had musical talent or else he'd probably be doing serial killings..
Many so-called musicians today don't have one-one-hunderdth of Gira's talent, let alone his honesty..
111noir2000 2 years ago 22
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@111noir2000
Bullshit. Why couldn't he kill and make music??? fucking pussy
zeeanthem 2 years ago
thank you, brain-dead 12-year old.
111noir2000 2 years ago
@zeeanthem
Why yall givin him thumbs down? I think this guy's a joker and that was pretty funny.
777v666 2 years ago
@111noir2000
I appreciate your passion, but I hope you're not older than 12. "Filled with pain and misfortune"? "Probably be doing serial killings"? Weak.
beowulven 1 year ago
@beowulven seeing as I have know Gira for over 23 years, I think I know from where I speak,...I'll stick with my assessment ; not the critique of som neo-black-metal goth fanboy...
111noir2000 1 year ago
@111noir2000
Weaker still.
beowulven 1 year ago
Really impressive! Great document. Thanks, Claudio.
nichelodeonband 2 years ago 2
heaviest. song. ever.
othartheom 2 years ago 5
seems as if gira had a bad day here ;))))
stiggyh 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Michael Gira IS metal.
gabeuop79 2 years ago
Any fan of "brutal" death metal can eat their heart out. This might well be the most savage song ever recorded and if there is anything more brutal than this, then Swans made that as well.
DAkkermann 2 years ago 63
True
Paley 2 years ago
I totally agree with you there, but the reason swans is more brutal is because you can relate to the human side of it, you can hear Giras human voice mourning and wailing. Amazing song. Amazing live show.
777v666 2 years ago
@DAkkermann Try anything on Raping a slave basically with the line up of Ted parsons on drums al Kizies on bass norman westberg on gutar jorbo on keys and Michale gira they were and still are unstopable as the most brutle band ever.
natesot 1 year ago
@DAkkermann
Post-"___" music is for faggots that are unsatisfied with society but lack the intelligence or resolve to change anything.
Cinerary 1 year ago
Comment removed
okavipra 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Cinerary so if i understood, Justin bieber is your man?
okavipra 1 year ago
@DAkkermann Boyd Rice.
I win.
egdeltur666 1 year ago
This is the best video on Youtube
temporaryguy 2 years ago 4
FuKKKing awsome!
SuBKuLtuRiSt 2 years ago
Norman Westberg is such a beautiful man.
Ted Parsons is a maniac!
bigstereo 2 years ago
"Waxed chests", huh? I dunno about Westberg but in Giras case it probably has more to do with malnutrition and alcoholism. And really, who gives a monkeys bum?
steinber 2 years ago 2
Didn't know Gira was an alcoholic. This kind of explains "Alcohol the Seed" off the Great Annihilator album.
Brock2097 2 years ago
There's a track on Giras solo album "Drainland" called "You See Through Me", an apparent tribute to Jarboe. The song contains a tape recorded confrontation between MG and Jarboe during which Gira is a totally drunk asshole to her very practical American girl pragmatism. He really shows his ass in that one and I've always respected his balls for doing so. It's really a must-have for any SWANS/Gira fan.
steinber 2 years ago 4
i'm glad i was able to see them live but i really wish i could have seen them in the 80's
dreiproductions 3 years ago
i did, on this tour at revival club in philly which was a coke hangout for aging hipsters.......they did 'your not real' then this song and blew the pa speaker......everyone asked for their ten dollars back, and it was a 'no go'.
posthumanhero 3 years ago 3
posthumanhero: i interviewed gira after the sound check for the 1987 philly show you are referring to (for a little fanzine i contributed to). he was very patient with me as i hadn't really done my homework beforehand. nice guy, really. in exchange for the "publicity" we were promised two names on the guest list. When we got to the show, it was also a "no go," as in "no fanzines on the guest list dude! it's10 bucks." we were so pissed we just left and i have always regretted it!
room1106 2 years ago
u didn't miss much.........i liked them much better a year later when they played with (yes) living color at city gardens and did all material from their 'burning world'lp.....awesome.
posthumanhero 2 years ago
A trivial point, but one I deem fair...
Swans were one of the rawest and most minimalist underground bands of the 80s, powerful and uncompromising, and Gira was notoriously articulate and well-read.
So why did they come to Europe with waxed chests?
groinhat 3 years ago 8
I like your thoughts
Paley 3 years ago
i don't believe al, the bass player, waxed his chest.
posthumanhero 3 years ago
Yeah, since all guys have hairy chests.
thenewhumandesign 2 years ago
whats the bass he's playing?
zxyqg 3 years ago
when gira drops his pants lol!!!!!! :-)))
stiggyh 3 years ago
this is the most psychotic performance i have ever seen and genious at the same time !!!:-)))
stiggyh 3 years ago 2
i think swans are considered "no wave" or something.
countscoopula 3 years ago
This is awesome these guys really tapped into something unique and great. I applaud their body of work.
sethpajak 3 years ago 2
i love Swans' early heavy stuff ;
sad, they eventually went folk...
tzar2007 3 years ago
Brutal
perpitbla5 3 years ago
Just watching AL is amazing he is so into it its like his back is about to snap.
natesot 3 years ago
This was the hight of there power michael with Al ted Norman jarbo they were unstopable. nothing since has come close they were so ahead of themselfs you hear them in so much today, so many new interpertations or lighter versions of what they started.
natesot 3 years ago 3
this video shows most great works come from about SUFFERING and UNHAPPINESS
kilgarenone 3 years ago 3
Everyone,just put your gun on your beer,sit back, listen and relax.
VUNDRBLUD 3 years ago 2
this music is all about suffering and discomfort, and purging yourself through the "filth". and if people find it so disturbing to the point of turning it off, then maybe they have some soulsearching to do
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago 5
Next you'll be saying bands like Skinny Puppy are really all about protesting animal cruelty lol.
mahhootenanny 3 years ago
Such amazing raw power and ferocity. I find Swans compelling but don't know if I always derive any pleasure listening to them. This song is wonderful though. I'd love to see some footage of them in the "Filth" and "Cop" era, those albums are unlistenable.
Sigubb 3 years ago 2
Sonic Youth is more conventional song format noise rock whereas the Swans are all about getting a feeling across. Just because that feeling is one that is uncomfortable to you initially should not be a reason for you to be dissuaded from listening to other tracks by such an imaginative and impactful band.
tribal425 3 years ago
WELL PUT.
PRETALIATION 3 years ago
LP i mean..oops
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago
damn fucking right its better than the garbage today....all i need now is the burning world ep then i have them ALL!!!
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago 2
Well ive had a look at the other Swans vids around but i still cant understand them ...................... Meh maybe thyr just not for me
Ne way ty guys.
Ps: At least its better than sum of the Garbage of the bands today.
SonicYouth1993 3 years ago
try love of life peoples if u dont like this
speedainteveryhting 3 years ago
Im not trying to start a fight or anything im just saying I cant get into it.
im sorry but i just like SY better.
SonicYouth1993 3 years ago
ah fair enough, but not all this band's music was noise, this material was all about catharthic release of emotion through performance, just with a musical rythm. this band was actually capabable of really accesible music later on.
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago
I don't know man, I enjoy both bands music or noise tremendously and Sonic Youth isn't/wasn't all musical value either.Some people would argue with you abot SY's musical value ha ha.I argue for both bands and their value. Also Moore played in the band's early period and both bands toured together supporting one another. Have you heard much Swans incidentally?
swans1997 3 years ago
no offense but this is just noise to me :( no real musical value in it.
SonicYouth1993 3 years ago
no offense taken, but explain why someone such as yourself would critise a band for being noisy, yet you are named after one two pioneering NOISE bands? the other being these guys. i dunno, maybe you need to listen more.
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago 2
To be fair, their live shows were much more stripped down and minimal. Listen to the album cut of this song and you'll heare trumpets (keyboards probably) and a shrieking female chorus (Jarboe). It sounds like an angry imperial march.
ClavicleofSolomon 3 years ago 4
Comment removed
Putyourknifinme 3 years ago
@SonicYouth1993 I don't know if I should be offended or just rolling on the floor with laughter. Probably the latter.
swans1997 1 year ago
@SonicYouth1993 since 2 years passed , i guess you like swans better now :)
okavipra 1 year ago
Swans = one of my earliest favorite bands!
kdub10009 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
THESE GUYS ARE HORRIBLE!!!
headinforshreddin 3 years ago
This is so damn brilliant.
Neuropelisis 3 years ago