Customer Reviews

Children of God/World of Skin

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This compilation chronologically precedes Various Failures, containing music recorded in 1986 and 1987. Most of the first two World of Skin albums are here plus Children of God, the work on which the band's transition from brutal industrial noise to a softer & seductive but deeply subversive style found true expression. New Mind and Beautiful Child are the only harsh numbers harking back to their earlier work; elsewhere the mood is one of resignation or sorrow over mostly gentle instrumentation.

The music is infused with mood and tension through remarkable arrangements like the beautiful melodic Like A Drug (Sha La La La). The overall theme appears to be the futility of love as manifested in seemingly gentle but emotionally charged songs like Our Love Lies, You're Not Real Girl, Real Love and Blind Love. Fans of dark, eerie music will love this work as it explores a side of the melancholy worldview that to some degree inheres in or finds repeated expression in the work of artists like Nick Cave, Peter Murphy, Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, Nico, Velvet Underground, John Cale etc., while it also partakes of the solemnity of sacred medieval music. In subtly insidious ways Children of God encapsulates this `gothic' mood `in extremis.'

Swans is an acquired taste but for those who understand or are attuned & who are not repelled but recognize the music's cathartic power and/or the serenity that sorrow brings or the elegance of melancholy, they're very special. If this 2-disc compilation appeals to you, you might also want to investigate some of their other masterpieces like The Burning World or Love of Life.

The second disc blends the two (World of) Skin albums Blood, Women, Roses, of 1987 and Shame, Humility, Revenge of 1988 in a way that finally individuates the personality of this collaboration between Michael Gira & Jarboe. The music for both albums was recorded in London from October to December 1986. As separate works, the first had Jarboe on lead vocal and the second Gira. The sequence of tracks on this CD integrates the two so that the voices of J and MG alternate most of the time.

The result is astonishing, an example of a confluence that becomes more than the sum of its parts, revealing a multidimensional aesthetic and previously obscured profundity in the work of WoS. Even more interesting is that, although some themes overlap, the tone and the texture are significantly different from those of the first disc. In other words, these little known songs preceded those of Children of God that were recorded in Cornwall during February & March 1987. The instruments used are piano, keyboards, cello, piano, strings, violins, viola, double bass, acoustic guitar, Indian oboe, drum programming and `sounds.'

Disc 2 opens with Jarboe's restrained 1000 Years which is followed by Gira's Everything at Once where electronic buzzing heralds his layered vocals & then contributes to a cohesive sound collage in which strumming guitars play a prominent role. One of the two covers on the Blood album, Cry Me A River, in its delicate treatment by Jarboe now has a stronger impact when succeeded by MG's Breathing Water with its extraordinary instrumentation & its theme that echo Swans albeit in a more humane, less harsh articulation. The simultaneously sinister & sorrowful My Buried Child on The Great Annihilator is the sequel to Blood on your Hands. Both of them are chant-like intonations, Blood being slow and mournful, a wail with a menacing undertone, while Child is an urgent, uptempo chant. But they are both lullabies ...

Nowhere else does Gira sound as human as on the absorbing Nothing Without You; subdued strains of moaning - as in John Berryman's line: "making a mild sound, softer than a moan" - are joined by MG's whispers and genuine tenderness, an emotion not usually associated with him. Not even on the third World of Skin album Ten Songs for Another World where his contributions mostly reflect the morbid and the malevolent.

The powerful sequence of tracks 10 to 12: Turned to Stone, Cold Bed & 24 Hours first suffers his world-weary groan, then the mix of droning wordless vocal, violins & resonating viola embellished by piano & keyboard patterns takes over, eventually subsiding for Jarboe's lengthy introduction to MG's voice which then rises strong, hard & almost shouting on the Swans-like 24 Hours. This is majestic music indeed. The tinkling sounds of Red Rose contrast sharply with Jarboe's multitracked alto/contralto and the dissonant atonal eruptions, whilst One Small Sacrifice calls to mind the first disc's Our Love Lies, that final word-sound on spiritual exhaustion.

Jarboe's Still a Child starts with chilling beats and echoes that are soon transformed into chiming that accentuates her bluesy `Lady Day' delivery. The WoS excursion concludes with MG's The Center of your Heart where her choral backing vocals form ghostly cadences with his soft and gentle speaking voice. There is a different tone & texture to World of Skin, unlike anything that either of them has done before or since. The sound shares a mournful spirituality with Children of God but the expression of it resonates to a tone that is all its own. How lovely to compare the two tonalities, so seemingly close yet so remote.

Jarboe's 2004 compilation album contains rare World of Skin material like Everything for Maria (dedicated to Maria Callas), Mystery of Faith, a version of Nick Drake's Black Eyed Dog, Still A Child and Dream Dream plus studio & live versions of The Man I Love. They are solemn; only Jarboe can put a chill into George & Ira. Many hidden treasures grace this work A Mystery of Faith: Unreleased Pieces: Swans + World of Skin.

Michael Gira has explored many styles, from the obliquely brutal metallic mayhem of early Swans through tuneful folk, dark rock, drones & ambient excursions to complex orchestral compositions. His post-Swans project Angels of Light reflects the same talent contained in these discs but is more accessible and digestible as the extremes associated with Swans are not the music's driving force. I highly recommend albums like New Mother, How I Loved You and We Are Him.

Swans have done so much for music, effecting music itself on an unconcious level. You can hear the eager strife of so many bands to capture what came naturally to Gira and Jarboe. It would truely depend on how well one knows music to give a decent description, but far more then knowledge it takes an open mind to love any band even close to Swans.

This album is a cold, soothing, beautiful and dark album and truely amongst thier greatests. While Swans began with Michael Gira without Jarboe and as something so aggressive and heavy with anger thier devouring and honest message had always been wakeing. In this album you can see how the patience and the maturity found the message and the evolution began to flow much faster and with not only the mind but the heart and the soul.

Swans would later go on to warm thier sound even more so with "Various Failures"(the inbetween albums are near impossible to find for now) but still you can hear the solidity and fluidity that never left them for a moment.

Swans music for this album was a mixture of heavily pounding beats at slow to mid tempo violins, viola's acoustic and electric guitars and synthsizers and various obscurities inbetween. Thier music will incant a mixture for the listener of gothic and american-folk music... early Industrial drum and synth patterns(remniscant of Coil, Clock DVA and Einsturzende Neubaten) and the ethereal and gorgeous ambiance of Dead Can Dance.

If you should happen to like anythng by Swans do yourself the explicit favor of purchasing "Various Failures"(my favorite), "The Great Annihilator" and this brilliant album as well.

I remember reading an interview in a book on women in rock a several years ago I had bought in my college days. Swans' other half Jarboe was in the book. Since then I had been meaning to check out Swans' music but I just didn't know where to begin. The other day I was at my local library. I found a copy of "Children of God/World of Skin" so I thought this was the perfect time tto listen to their music. I immediately loved what I heard on both cds. I was easily reminded of some of my favorite darkwave bands like Black Tape For a Blue Girl, Lycia, and Clan of Xymox. The music is dark and dissonant. Michael Gira's dark, haunting vocals reminds me of both Sam Rosenthal (of Black Tape fame) and Voltaire (maybe a smidgeon). Jarboe has an equally stunning voice. I especially love it when she starts to wail like a banshee. There is a cold, empty, mechanical feel to the music but at the same time there is something comforting that I get from it that I can't put my finger on. Some of the music is melodic and some can be very experimental and very minimalistic. It's a nice antithesis to the commercial junk that radio plays into the ground.

Children of God represented a progression in The Swans' sound. Some of the abrasiveness from their earlier albums is still here, but this album also leans towards the ethereal and abstract. At the time, Gira was obviously tired of The Swans being interpreted as a one dimensional act. Filth and Cop were abrasive and quite unfriendly records, albeit intellectual and beautiful in their own iconoclastic way. However, The Swans were always misunderstood. Filth and Cop made a strong impression on people. Even to this day these two records are infamous and, sadly, sometimes they overshadow the rest of the band's catalog. Gira even stated that clueless metal heads would show up at old Swans gigs to "rock out" and mosh to the music. He hated this kind of behavior and clearly saw The Swans as a more introspective band. The Swans were never intended to be party music, or music that everyone could easily enjoy. In reality, The Swans were a rejection of the corporate driven music industry. When they started attracting these elements, Gira realized that The Swans were becoming too easy to define and categorize. The art and the music was no longer challenging, it was becoming more commonplace and acceptable, even cliché. He realized that he was falling into a category. And in order to remedy this fault, he had to push The Swans to evolve into something higher, something more sophisticated and multidimensional. Children of God was the first step in this direction. And for The Swans, it was also one of their finest, most definite moments.

Children of God is the very first Swans album to incorporate acoustic guitar. Most of the songs are atmospheric. They are usually made up of a single riff that is stretched out for the entire duration of a song. It is simple, yet amazingly effective and hypnotic. Jarboe also plays a larger role in The Swans' music for the very first time. Her voice works well and adds to the hypnotic element of the music.

Other than that, Children of God is an interesting album. Gira was influenced by the charisma of televangelists. Throughout this album he is shouting in the same way as televangelists do during sermons, and it is interesting to hear some of the same things that these people say set to apocalyptic music. It is not overtly blasphemous, just an interesting experiment of comparing rock musicians to televangelists, who often times wild up crowds in the same fashion as rock musicians do. I like the fact that this album is not overtly blasphemous and that it looks at Christianity from a different perspective - more of a social conditioning perspective than a dogmatic one.

This is essential for anyone interested in The Swans.

Following their final studio album and subsequent breakup, Swans have reissued two of their greatest albums, documenting the period in their career that transformed them into a heavy, slow, and powerful noise/gloom band to the much more quiet and sorrowful duo of more recent years. M. Gira's grotesque, ragged, sadomasochistic, yet vulnerable vocals blend immaculately with Jarboe's darkly innocent lullabies and seem to reveal different aspects of the same person; a yin-yang of sorts. Swans' music reaches the listener as no other music can, touching raw emotion, horrible truth, true spirituality, and real love. CoG/WoS is a must for all true music lovers, from Industrial fans to Classical afficiandos. Buy it.

"New Mind" and "Beautiful Child" are two of the best things ever pressed to vinyl or CD. Amazing and convincing rage. Or is it the drama of darkness. You decide. Very good album. On the strength of this record I went on to scarf up all Swans I could find. Leads into their most sublime period, that from 1989 to 1991...
WORLD OF SKIN: Check out Jesus-as-psychic-vampire on one of the last Gira tracks. I've praised his name (MG's) elsewhere, so won't now. The Jarboe songs are more southern gothic, like Tennessee Williams on bad acid, but don't quite match Michael's stark dirges in power for me here.

I was compelled to write this review after reading the other review written by "music fan" from Englewood. Children of God/World of Skin was the first Swans album I ever bought. I got it years ago, shortly after it was reissued. I didn't know much about the band, but I was an avid music collector and I had heard some good things about them. Anyway, like "music fan", I was initially really creeped out by the music. So much so, that I didn't listen to it again for 2 years. Then one day, I must've been pretty bored because I popped it into my CD changer again. And for some reason... maybe because I was too lazy to put something else in the changer... I kept it in there for the next few days. And ya know what? The music grew on me. It's dark, seductive, powerful, and often quite beautiful. Today, it's one of my favorite albums and I own most of the other albums released by the band. If you've never heard anything by Swans, this is a good place to start. (A good midpoint between their early, abrasive sound and their later experimental stuff) And if you're initially disturbed by the music... that's okay. You may not understand why anybody would CHOOSE or even WANT to listen to this band... but if you keep listening, eventually you will understand. I only wish I hadn't waited 2 years before I gave it a second chance.

This compilation chronologically precedes Various Failures, containing music recorded in 1986 and 1987. Most of the first two World of Skin albums are here plus Children of God, the work on which the band's transition from brutal industrial noise to a softer & seductive but deeply subversive style found true expression. New Mind and Beautiful Child are the only harsh numbers harking back to their earlier work; elsewhere the mood is one of resignation or sorrow over mostly gentle instrumentation.

The music is infused with mood and tension through remarkable arrangements like the beautiful melodic Like A Drug (Sha La La La). The overall theme appears to be the futility of love as manifested in seemingly gentle but emotionally charged songs like Our Love Lies, You're Not Real Girl, Real Love and Blind Love. Fans of dark, eerie music will love this work as it explores a side of the melancholy worldview that to some degree inheres in or finds repeated expression in the work of artists like Nick Cave, Peter Murphy, Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, Nico, Velvet Underground, John Cale etc., while it also partakes of the solemnity of sacred medieval music. In subtly insidious ways Children of God encapsulates this `gothic' mood `in extremis.'

Swans is an acquired taste but for those who understand or are attuned & who are not repelled but recognize the music's cathartic power and/or the serenity that sorrow brings or the elegance of melancholy, they're very special. If this 2-disc compilation appeals to you, you might also want to investigate some of their other masterpieces like The Burning World or Love of Life.

The second disc blends the two (World of) Skin albums Blood, Women, Roses, of 1987 and Shame, Humility, Revenge of 1988 in a way that finally individuates the personality of this collaboration between Michael Gira & Jarboe. The music for both albums was recorded in London from October to December 1986. As separate works, the first had Jarboe on lead vocal and the second Gira. The sequence of tracks on this CD integrates the two so that the voices of J and MG alternate most of the time.

The result is astonishing, an example of a confluence that becomes more than the sum of its parts, revealing a multidimensional aesthetic and previously obscured profundity in the work of WoS. Even more interesting is that, although some themes overlap, the tone and the texture are significantly different from those of the first disc. In other words, these little known songs preceded those of Children of God that were recorded in Cornwall during February & March 1987. The instruments used are piano, keyboards, cello, piano, strings, violins, viola, double bass, acoustic guitar, Indian oboe, drum programming and `sounds.'

Disc 2 opens with Jarboe's restrained 1000 Years which is followed by Gira's Everything at Once where electronic buzzing heralds his layered vocals & then contributes to a cohesive sound collage in which strumming guitars play a prominent role. One of the two covers on the Blood album, Cry Me A River, in its delicate treatment by Jarboe now has a stronger impact when succeeded by MG's Breathing Water with its extraordinary instrumentation & its theme that echo Swans albeit in a more humane, less harsh articulation. The simultaneously sinister & sorrowful My Buried Child on The Great Annihilator is the sequel to Blood on your Hands. Both of them are chant-like intonations, Blood being slow and mournful, a wail with a menacing undertone, while Child is an urgent, uptempo chant. But they are both lullabies ...

Nowhere else does Gira sound as human as on the absorbing Nothing Without You; subdued strains of moaning - as in John Berryman's line: "making a mild sound, softer than a moan" - are joined by MG's whispers and genuine tenderness, an emotion not usually associated with him. Not even on the third World of Skin album Ten Songs for Another World where his contributions mostly reflect the morbid and the malevolent.

The powerful sequence of tracks 10 to 12: Turned to Stone, Cold Bed & 24 Hours first suffers his world-weary groan, then the mix of droning wordless vocal, violins & resonating viola embellished by piano & keyboard patterns takes over, eventually subsiding for Jarboe's lengthy introduction to MG's voice which then rises strong, hard & almost shouting on the Swans-like 24 Hours. This is majestic music indeed. The tinkling sounds of Red Rose contrast sharply with Jarboe's multitracked alto/contralto and the dissonant atonal eruptions, whilst One Small Sacrifice calls to mind the first disc's Our Love Lies, that final word-sound on spiritual exhaustion.

Jarboe's Still a Child starts with chilling beats and echoes that are soon transformed into chiming that accentuates her bluesy `Lady Day' delivery. The WoS excursion concludes with MG's The Center of your Heart where her choral backing vocals form ghostly cadences with his soft and gentle speaking voice. There is a different tone & texture to World of Skin, unlike anything that either of them has done before or since. The sound shares a mournful spirituality with Children of God but the expression of it resonates to a tone that is all its own. How lovely to compare the two tonalities, so seemingly close yet so remote.

Michael Gira has explored many styles, from the obliquely brutal metallic mayhem of early Swans through tuneful folk, dark rock, drones & ambient excursions to complex orchestral compositions. His post-Swans project Angels of Light reflects the same talent contained in these discs but is more accessible and digestible as the extremes associated with Swans are not the music's driving force. I highly recommend albums like New Mother, How I Loved You and We Are Him.

After reading about Swans and watching some live video on Youtube, I decided to purchase their first album, Filth. The heavy, near industrial beats and enraged, repetitive vocals seemed cool to me, even though for the most part the songs themselves were of limited appeal. The stomping, atonal and often awkward rhythms and shouting was powerful, macho and rather interesting but I have to admit I could only take so much. Yet, I remained fascinated with the band's philosophy and I purchased another Swans collection, this one.

Not surprisingly, Children of God is much more evolved and fascinating than that early material. Micheal Gira, while not shouting so much, conveys darkness nearly as much as on Filth and Jarboe's poignant singing really does add a whole new level of emotion to the music. Swans music lumbers along turgidly as always while the atmosphere swings between gorgeous arrangements and soul crushing harshness. I might describe this as intellectual-metal, or say that Gira and Jarboe elevate Gothic bleakness and angst to the status of highbrow art. I might be completely off in that assessment, because Swans existed in their own sphere of music and like all classic artists were above simple genre classifications.

The World of Skin cd is nearly as good, but less coherent, being a compilation of different "Skin" works (a Gira and Jarboe Side project that ran concurrently with Swans). I don't care much for their cover of the Iggy Pop song "Now I wanna be your dog" but I enjoy the cd overall.

The value of these Swans reissues (at least two albums in one? !Madre de Dios!) definitely make them worth purchase, even for those just curious about the band. For fans who don't already own this, I can't imagine a release more essential. Easy five stars for Children of God/World of Skin.

This album marks the biggest evolution in Swans. Gira starts to stray from the noise and dissonant sounds of his previous work,and adds melody.(Jarboe giving a defenite push) The songs on this record are minimal dark passages with singing rather than screaming. Setting a way more gothic tone for later works.