Various Failures

Swans | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Young God Records
• ASIN: B00000I60J
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,621 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Given the label troubles which rendered much of Swans' late-'80s/early-'90s work out-of-print all too quickly -- Gira's comments on MCA and Sky Records since that period have never been less than utterly scathing -- this particular entry in the late-'90s reissue series was one of the most eagerly awaited releases by fans, though not without controversy. Rather than completely reissuing everything -- Burning World, White Light, Love of Life, the World of Skin album Ten Songs From Another World, plus numerous singles and the live Omniscience -- Gira compiled and fully remastered a broad-ranging (and as has often been the case with these reissues, non-chronologically ordered), two-disc distillation of what he considered to be the best moments of the period. (In many cases he selected alternate or unreleased takes, some notably better than the more familiar versions, as with Burning World's "God Damn the Sun," one of only two tracks taken from that troubled album; Omniscience itself is not featured at all on this collection.) There was some griping from Swan's fan base over this, but the fact is Gira's instincts were spot on; Failures pulls together all of the fantastic, often unappreciated highs from these years, resulting in something arguably better than all of the original releases put together. The band's spectral, mysterious, folk-influenced side (such as "Failure" and the World of Skin's take on Nick Drake's "Black-Eyed Dog") and the epic, film soundtrack-sounding side ("Better Than You," "The Golden Boy...") are both featured in full force, as are the many side explorations and combinations of the same. As a further welcome bonus, just about every B-side from the singles of those years appears here, including such wonders as Gira's take on "Song for Dead Time" and the acoustic version of "New Mind," along with Jarboe's truly fascinating take on "Love Will Tear Us Apart." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Plain Scary., February 12, 2001

By 

Scott Sweet "Music Freak" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Various Failures (Audio CD)

If you're new to Swans: These are the songs Johnny Cash would sing after killing his children in their sleep. These are the songs Mrs. Cash would sing after deciding he did the right thing. They'd sit in the dark, and wait for God's judgment. Melodramatic? Sure, but I'm tellin' you...

"Various Failures" showcases Swans in their Old Testament folk-rock period. After the first several releases, they moved away from death-march discord into more conventional music. There's easily more wrath and despair in Swans than in any other band I've heard. Michael Gira sings of a world where human life has no value ("Was He Ever Alive?", "Failure," "The Childs Right") and the only effective diversion is devouring the weak. Jarboe is the queen of oblivion ballads ("Song for Dead Time," "When She Breathes," "I Remember Who You Are").

This album, along with 1996's "Soundtracks for The Blind," makes me wonder if there wasn't some actual possession going on; it couldn't ALL be done through vivid imagination alone. The stories are so intense, the music so skillful, and the cd packaging so inspired that "Various Failures" remains a powerful example of Swans in its middle age. Plus, Jarboe does some cool covers ("Black Eyed Dog," "Can't Find My Way Home," and "Love Will Tear Us Apart"). Do not listen to this stuff in the dark.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Years of love, January 20, 2004

By 

FormerZygote "Opinion" (Right Here, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Various Failures (Audio CD)

I've owned this double album for 3 years and only love it more with the passage of time. Not since the band "Neurosis" have I felt music more in the quietest places of my mind that continue to encant such calm and depth in the loudest crashing of thunder.

Swans are amongst the deepest places you'll ever look for music and you'll find a world of music open to you. You will find Michael Gira and his "Angels of Light" and just the end of last year you get to hear Jarboe with Neurosis(the 2 making a perfect collaboration) and many solo albums and projects along the way for both Jarboe and Michael Gira.

The music of Swans in this album is so warm. Swans become the warmth of the darkness. Never a cold and lonely place to be. The acoustic guitars, keyboards and drums all lend so much while the beats will pound like thunder and the gentle elegant melodies give way to an enrapture of intensity completely unexpected lending the listener a new set of ears.

Most people that are new to Swans will like them in the most uncertin way. Like all things that are worth thier time should require time, Swans go slowly and directly into your darkness and remain as friends.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal Achievements, May 19, 2000

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Various Failures (Audio CD)

This 2-disc compilation draws from the Swans albums Burning World (1989), Love of Life (1991) & White Light from The Mouth of Infinity (1991) plus the EP single Love Will Tear Us Apart (1988), as well as Ten Songs for Another World (1990) by the side project World of Skin. It also includes a few previously unreleased tracks. The music is spread over two discs:

1 YELLOW DISC

Here one finds the chilling interpretation of Nick Drake's Black Eyed Dog with Jarboe's howling vocals as hair-raising as on Mother Father from The Great Annihilator. Eerie breathing and disembodied electronic barking add another layer of unease; this song makes your hair stand on end. If the Edvard Munch painting The Scream was given a voice, this is exactly what it would sound like.

For merciful contrast, there are gentle ballads with beautiful melodies like The Golden Boy that was Swallowed by the Sea sung by Mike and Jarboe's The Other Side of the World and the achingly beautiful I Remember Who You Are where her voice excels as a vehicle of tenderness, empathy and hope.

On the eerie number Her, Michael's lullaby like introduction is followed by a harsh, atonal & intrusive rock riff that gives way to the voice of a teenage girl talking about summer, her boyfriend Charlie, the Atlanta International & Monterrey pop festivals, musicians like Janis Joplin, The Who, Johnny Rivers and The Grateful Dead, with period radio commercials and static noise in the background.

Michael sings The Child's Right, a desolate ballad about death and decay with hints of religious imagery and Blind that sounds like a take from the Burning World sessions. A moving melancholic ballad, it deals with one of his favorite subjects, alcoholism in lines like" "Because when I'm drinking, I'm out of control/No I was never young, and nothing has transpired/And when I look in the mirror, I feel dead, I feel cold, I am blind."

This much abbreviated version of The Most Unfortunate Lie is deceptively titled "instrumental," as it does contain a few lines of Michael's vocals and the spectral children's voices.

This disc's total running time is 75:52.

2 RED DISC

This one opens with Michael's harrowing Failure and is followed by Identity, another strange one with a little boy reciting a weird spiritual poem over riffs rife with minor-chords and snatches of distorted male vocal.

Breathtaking is the word for their interpretation of Steve Winwood's Can't Find My Way Home, hypnotically and spookily sung by Jarboe over eerie instrumentation. Jarboe's version of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart is a further masterpiece.

The haunting Jarboe track Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes is the poem To Celia by Ben Jonson (1573-1637) set to hymnal music. A cursory glance at Jonson's lyrics reveals nothing overtly spiritual; the theme seems to be romantic love. Still, there are ambiguities and the melody undoubtedly originates from the Olde English Hymne tradition. This version has lost its Lord's Prayer ending

One of Michael's moments of extremity is the devastating God Damn The Sun, where he out-Cohens Leonard on a slow, meandering ballad with an achingly beautiful tune. On the previously unreleased Picture of Marianne, he gently interprets this poignant and gentle ballad.

This disc also has Jarboe in oneiric mood appearing as the angel of morphia, luring you into the other-world of the melodious Dream Dream. More of her work with Swans & World of Skin is available on the Mystery of Faith album.

The red disc's total running time is 78:02.

The fold-out leaflet contains the lyrics to all the songs plus 5 full-color illustrations by Deryk Thomas. I have deducted one star for important omissions. Various Failures is an impressive achievement but imperfect archive since a few of my favorite songs from the period have been omitted: Saved from The Burning World, The Sound Of Freedom from Love Of Life & Everything For Maria from the 3rd World of Skin album.