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Product Details:
Audio CD Release Date:
January 22, 2002
Studio:
Young God Records
Number Of Discs:
1
Format:
Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Average Customer Rating:
based on 22 reviews
Description:
Their 12th album, 'The Great Annihilator, is a majestic symphony of haunting melodies and shifting moods. Spirituality - or rather the absence of it - provides the linking motif. Taken on its own, this album is a vivid example of how to combine the dissonant with the dulcet while retaining a dangerous edge. Viewed in the context of the Swans' 12-year journey from audio pornography to majestic romanticism, The Great Annihilator serves as an epic apotheosis. Packaged in a Digipak. Young God Records.
Track Listing:
1.
In
2.
I Am the Sun
3.
She Lives
4.
Celebrity Lifestyle
5.
Mother/Father
6.
Blood Promise
7.
Mind/Body/Light/Sound
8.
My Buried Child
9.
Warm
10.
Alcohol the Seed
11.
Killing for Company
12.
Mother's Milk
13.
Where Does a Body End?
14.
Telepathy
15.
The Great Annihilator
16.
Out
17.
I Am the Sun
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Their most approachableApr 13, 2008 The Great Annihilator is an almost awkward collection of music. Positioned one step away from the end of the Swans' career, and coming at the tail end of quite possibly the most radical reinvention ever seen in popular music. The tunes here aren't quite the sunny, psychotic ballads of White Light, nor are they the freeform noise collages that would make up their final effort. The Great Annihilator is smack dab in the middle of the two, featuring basic song structures, driving rhythms, ambient synths and samples (with some interesting exploratory touches), and the vocal syzygy of Jarboe and Gira at its most harmonious. With this record, which would have been the signal that the formula was getting old for any other band, the Swans accomplished what seemed for them to be far out of reach, they made an accessable album.
It's nothing set to top the charts for sure, with songs like Telepathy and She Lives lyrically calling to mind Gira's moonlighting stint as a serial killer while writing The Consumer. But the ever-present emotional lead weights that came piled on much of the band's earlier material seem to have been left out of this one. Sure it's dark and brooding, but the airy, shimmering synthesizer and guitar work coupled with lively tempos set it a world apart from nearly everything else they've done. Still, this is unmistakably the Swans. Touchstones like warped spirituality, self-contained tragedy, and blunt repetition are all here, albeit in prettier, poppier packages than ever. So if you're curious, but don't feel like diving into the deep end of this band, this is for you.
Oh and be certain to buy this from Young God Records directly to get it autographed by MG for free.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Swans ReviewDec 13, 2007 I came into contact with the Swans through a long process. I had long been a fanatic of Godflesh and other J.Broadrick side groups and wondered what it was that they listned too. I heard in an interview that Slayer was one group but that was it, I heard in the same interview that Godflesh was all about extremes. Well, the Swans were also about extremes, perhaops nopt as a dogma but in execution Gira and Jarboe have been able to conjure the most dark and trudging despairs and the most uplifting and beautiful pieces. This album runs the gauntlet from heavy and brutal to lofty and beautiful, both lyricaly as well as in sonics. Fanss of Cop/Greed/Holy Money and the like will still find the album congenial as elements of the older albums are still present in feeling if not force; but as with Burning World and Various Failures there is a transition to the melencholic and self introspective style one might find in the modern Angels of Light releases; heavy as hell but more melodic. I am a massive fan of this album and suggest it to anyone interested in this much missed group. If you are just looking for your first Swans album I suggest this one and work backwards perhaps to ease into the oldder material, but if you are a standing fan already chances are these are wasted words and you already own it- and if you don't, you should. Its part of the "celebrety lifestyle".
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
"The Great Annihilator" - SwansNov 14, 2007 This album is one of the greatest, most memorable pieces of music I have ever heard! I am a new listener to Swans and I have to say that this album left me speechless. The low, male vocals and Jarboe's vocals mixing with the strange, dark tones of the music creates its own atmosphere. This album creates something beautiful!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
The closest thing to LSD in musicMay 05, 2007 This is honestly some of the trippiest, most erotic music I've heard in my life. The Swans draw on a whole host of emotions throughout this album. I've danced to this music, dreamed to it, made love to it, driven across the country with it, and even meditated to it. Songs range from dark and gothic (Celebrity Lifestyle) to bright and a bit like bellydancing music (In) to Indian-influenced rock (I Am the Sun) to the brooding bass-driven march-like dance (Telepathy).
If you like pop music, hip-hop, or country, stay away from this album. It's too complex for your tastes and you'll probably just think it's weird. If experimental, trippy, and especially eastern influenced music is your forte, get this. You'll be better off for it.
0 of 5 found the following review helpful:
good...but...Mar 03, 2007 I just bought this after all the hype and 5 stars on amazon. I just listened to this 4 times in a row and it is good, not great. The reason for only three stars is that I have all of the Dead Can Dance from 1983-1996. The Swans sound like an angry DCD and the music and vocals are no where near as good. I could tell you 5 different albums to buy fron DCD that are better than this but I won't bother. If you don't know then you never will. If you want beauty, buy DCD. If you want anger, buy Slayer. They do a much better job.
based on 22 reviews
