@@lilwaterpump3289 saying "you must have adhd if you don't enjoy this album" is a stupid thing to say inb4 the moronic explanations like "oh but no that wasn't the point at all", nobody but that idiot mentionned adhd
@@Arkain89 you can't 🙅♂️ enjoy 😄 sad 😔😢 music 🎶🎧 unless 🚫 you 👉 got depression 😞😥 so go 🏃♂️ dip 🍯 your balls 🏈🏈 in some 🏋️♂️ thousand island 🏝 dressing 👗
@@aviemoreno9721 ah, I must've missed that video. That makes sense though, though in my opinion, a lot of albums I would rate very highly I don't need to be in a mood to listen to. I can enjoy them in basically any context. But that's just me, thanks for the response!
@@aviemoreno9721 I listen to Loveless, Carrie & Lowell and Lesser Matters basically all the time though, for perhaps 6 months. Can't get enough of it. It basically puts me in the mood whenever I put it on, so I don't need to be in the mood for it.
I feel almost spoiled that To Be Kind is the first Swans album I ever heard. I immediately fell in love with it and the band, and have been exploring their other music ever since, but nothing will top To Be Kind for me.
I personally think that Soundtracks is better but To Be Kind is definitely amazing. If I want to listen to Swans more casually 9 times out of 10 I listen to The Sound or the live version on Blood Promise on full blast. It blows me away every time
Swans is almost 2 bands for me. Anything pre White Light From the Mouth of Infinity is so much less meditative and brief compared to what would come next. With that in mind the viscerality of Cop and Holy Money give me the same level of enjoyment, but in a completely different way. Those albums also just feel much more like a snapshot in time. A look into a kind of regional music scene that can't exist post internet.
I decided to take a 7-mile walk through my local nature trail while listening to this album for the first time a couple weeks ago. Loved every second of it.
I was listening to this album last night, lying in my bed, lights off, eyes closed, experiencing this record. I agree, it’s more than just music, this is something I’ll return to a couple times a year and reserve 2 hours just to lose myself in it. Not many albums have done that
@@tylersquanto8938 was at my brother's house having a few beers one night and had my laptop and put on swans. It was lunacy off of the seer. He comes in joking like what is this chant core??? Lol a week later I saw him post a swans song to his Facebook so win
Thank you, Anthony, for putting me onto this album and consequently putting me onto Swans and throwing me into the noise rock/no wave/experimental rock genre. It has become one of my favorite of all time (as you may notice).
Out of all your 10/10 records this album has gripped me the most (ironically The Money Store is "only" #2). At this point I have listened to the record quite a lot of times and it is still feels like a journey every time. So thank you Anthony for showing me this beast of a record that I probably would have overlooked if it wasn't for your review five years ago.
For me, there's something inherently existential about their music. It cuts right through the bullshit and hits at the heart of what makes people uncomfortable, and then makes you relish that discomfort as you keep listening, because their rhythms are almost hypnotic despite being purposely dissonant and atonal at times. That's difficult to do, especially coming back after a decade and sounding similar but still saying something different. All their new albums are like that.
I’ve listened to To Be Kind once during a drive down to LA in summer of 14’ and it was enough to have a lasting impression. It’s the first album where I feel I am not ready to go back to listen again. I may do so after watching your review ✨👍🏽
@@IvefoundthetruthonMay I think after listening to the Seer a little more A Piece of the Sky is the best song of the new Swans era but I think To Be Kind as an album is a little more consistent. Soundtracks is objectively their best album, and I think that one day, long after Gira dies, it will be the album that makes more people appreciate Swans. Don't sleep on Swans Are Dead and Public Castration either.
@@tk3136 Agreed. And I think you're right about that. Swans Are Dead is one of the best live albums ever recorded. + Michael Gira has a song "Blind", if you heard it. It's beautiful, phenomenal.
@@IvefoundthetruthonMay Blood Promise from Swans Are Dead I think is my all time favorite Swans song. I really like the live version of Helpless Child too
Swans Are Dead was their undeniable peak. The Blood Promise version is so fucking cathartic it's not funny. Dude at the end implores a "Don't stop" and then Gira trolls us by screaming really hard in our ears
@@TheXducharme No way, the vocal performance is what sells the song - Michael literally barking like a dog over the horn section is so absurd and disturbing alone its brilliant.
I was fortunate enough to catch Swans live - in a converted gothic style church in Scotland (raining outside of course)...INTENSE...when I first discovered Swans I was unable to listen to any other music for months. I was gripped trying to fill myself on them. Gira is a true artist using music to reach deep inside this human. I had a 2 hour cross country car ride yesterday and revisited To Be Kind - as intense, gripping, visceral, terrifying....entertaining as ever. I COMPLETELY agree Fantano here. Open your mind and give it a go
been following you way before this review, but finally listening to swans. man i wish i didn’t wait this long. soundtracks for the blind is up next of my listening sessions
I’d never heard of Swans until I watched a Tool interview yesterday. I then watched your reviews of them. The universe wants me to listen to them it seems.
I still think the most impressive quality about Swans is that they can keep a schedule. While Kanye is in year two of Yahndi being done “maybe soon, maybe not soon” (and this isn’t the first time he’s run up against deadlines), Swans say they will finished mixing in July and finish mixing in July, say they will release in October and are still on schedule to meet that. Not to mention that Tool are releasing a fifth album after a dozen years of saying “we promise it’s going to happen soon.” I just hope the best for them all, but Swans deserve more credit for how dutifully they seem to get things done on these massive opuses they create every few years now.
this album really thrills on vinyl. when you listen to the record, the title track becomes a new favorite. i have no idea how they got the end so loud. its like the re-release of Shape of Punk to Come, where the chorus of Liberation Frequency is disproportionately visceral (in a good way)
Agreed, this record seems ripped from another dimension. The performances are very dynamic, meditative, spiritual - It's also so well paced and is as engaging as any film which is appropriate given michael calls this quasi visual
To take these to the next level, do a commentary video where you watch your own review and reminisce about how you felt back then and how great you were.
I find it interesting that TBK is your favourite of the contemporary Swans trio; I always thought it the poppiest / radio-friendly of the three and The Seer to be the most aggressive / abstract, i.e. the pinacle of the concept you were discussing in this video.
I have very mixed feelings about Swans in general. This album, though, is magnificent. I feel like To Be Kind is a good balance of Swans' ability to resonate in a disturbing way, *and* remain actually kind of catchy. I still revisit "Oxygen" on a regular basis. "A Little God In My Hands" and "Just a Little Boy" still make me feel gross. If sound could rot, this would be it. EDIT: Also, I don't know whether you're planning to revisit albums from this decade regularly - it would certainly be time-consuming - but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on Sun Kil Moon's "Benji" after five (?) years. I haven't enjoyed much of his output as much as you, but that album still sticks out as the best parts of Sun Kil Moon in one record.
“I can listen to this album and get something new out of it each time. Potentially forever.” *listens to a song where they repeat the same note for 5 minutes straight.*
Dynamics, progression via arrangement rather than chords, minimalism juxtaposed by maximalism and structured improv. Great songwriting both poetic and via mantra. Yes. Totally the same thing over and over.
I think the theme of the album is a father coming to terms with his own fatherhood and the amount of responsibility and power that comes with that. It's similar to Eraserhead. "A little god in my hands" is the thesis, the acknowledgement that this child now controls his entire being. "To be kind" is him acknowledging the banality of everything while still accepting what he has to do. He comes to terms with the fact that it is his responsibility, and even though he never valued kindness before he has to turn to it now even if it doesn't feel genuine. It's about a father's switch from nihilistic and almost hedonistic behavior, to embracing a more existential approach.
I dunno if it's as simple as that, personally. I do like the idea of that particular song being about an infant/child realising what it is ("eye full of sun, hand full of mud"). Or even at the very least, a "universal" summation of the innocent point of view of a child. I don't know how far those themes stretch beyond just that track though. No examples really come to mind
Not sure if Gira put that much thought into the album concept. I can't remember where I read this, but I once saw this album being compared to a newborn baby's experience of the world. Everything they see and hear is new and disorienting and likely awe-inspiring but they don't know how to express it so they just cry. I would say if there is any theme Swans were consciously trying to get across it's maximalism. I've heard a lot of loud, heavy, grating music, but this was the first record where I thought of the word "maximalist" to describe it.
It is a great album. I think they were able to reach their purest sound in To Be Kind, in the same direction they aimed back in The Seer. I feel The Glowing Man was kind of an iteration towards the same idea, a development that feels like "ok, we have reached the limit here".
I'm still wrapping my head around this album as well. There is plenty to love and a great many memorable moments in the hypnotic vastness. Personally I enjoy The Seer the most out of the three latest albums.
This album is indeed an epic experience. A new Swans album this year? Hell yeah! That and hopefully a new Kendrick album too and 2019 will be a satisfying close for this decade of many musical extravaganzas.
Christian Withers just because TPAB is dense does not mean kendrick is overthinking it. once you study and dissect the album it makes perfect sense and everything connects beautifully
“5 years later, I feel that I’m enjoying this album even more...”
To Be Kind officially 11/10
wow
@@SlashMMR wiow
Can't wait for The big day: 5 years later
Depression Cherry lmfao
@@死神-v5w no one:
you: 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
@@死神-v5w what's wrong with you?
@@voss9352 honestly i don't even know how he comes here everyday lmao
jesus christ 死神 is a fucking circus at this point
"This uhh... this 5 year old Swans record? It's not good *boom*"
This but unironically
Take it back
@@Arkain89 saying that they won't enjoy something isn't the same as looking down on them
@@lilwaterpump3289 saying "you must have adhd if you don't enjoy this album" is a stupid thing to say
inb4 the moronic explanations like "oh but no that wasn't the point at all", nobody but that idiot mentionned adhd
@@Arkain89 you can't 🙅♂️ enjoy 😄 sad 😔😢 music 🎶🎧 unless 🚫 you 👉 got depression 😞😥 so go 🏃♂️ dip 🍯 your balls 🏈🏈 in some 🏋️♂️ thousand island 🏝 dressing 👗
Never would have thought that Melon would reveal that he only gave this album a 10 because it has a suffering child on the front.
@h z it's not slander, it's libel.
@h z slander is spoken
Melon is just a little boy
@@cokedupnormies2651 He's not human.
@@MrMortombachman On print it's libel
Logic’ Supermarket - 4 Months Later
please
-3/10
Did they had the right or left side of cats couse this days i can't tell the diffrence
You can't just give it a 0 all of a sudden because "the baby on the cover didn't age like a normal person"
ha
I laughed at this comment.
Benjamin “M. Gira” Button
I wonder if Anthony listens to the album's he gives 10's to regularly
@@aviemoreno9721 ah, I must've missed that video. That makes sense though, though in my opinion, a lot of albums I would rate very highly I don't need to be in a mood to listen to. I can enjoy them in basically any context. But that's just me, thanks for the response!
@@aviemoreno9721 I listen to Loveless, Carrie & Lowell and Lesser Matters basically all the time though, for perhaps 6 months. Can't get enough of it. It basically puts me in the mood whenever I put it on, so I don't need to be in the mood for it.
@@aviemoreno9721 I listen to TPAB like everyday
He said the albums which are 10/10 or classics for him he doesn't listen to them as much as 8-9/10 albums
Bruno Oliveira the only thing that he definitely said is that he listens to some 8s more often than certain 9s
Can you please say bruh in one of your videos
bruh
Bruh moment
Bruhthony
Bruhtano here
Creeper
He should make this a patreon goal
Anthony really be blending in with the blinds in the background tho
To Be Blinds
i love both of you haahahahahahaaa
Anthony's in this video?
*Day 5 of asking for a classics review of LMFAO's Sorry For Party Rocking!*
Cal
The very first 11/10
MusicMan 655 i actually love the album ist stupid fun to get fucking wasted while listenig and throwing chairs through windows and stuff
My favourite glitchtronic/power violence album
party rockers in the hou
I feel almost spoiled that To Be Kind is the first Swans album I ever heard. I immediately fell in love with it and the band, and have been exploring their other music ever since, but nothing will top To Be Kind for me.
I personally think that Soundtracks is better but To Be Kind is definitely amazing. If I want to listen to Swans more casually 9 times out of 10 I listen to The Sound or the live version on Blood Promise on full blast. It blows me away every time
@@coldercoronet6248 Yeah Swans are Dead is their best
i like the darker theme of the seer but tbk is definitely more intense
trust me.... its nothing compared to when Jarboe was in the band
Swans is almost 2 bands for me. Anything pre White Light From the Mouth of Infinity is so much less meditative and brief compared to what would come next.
With that in mind the viscerality of Cop and Holy Money give me the same level of enjoyment, but in a completely different way. Those albums also just feel much more like a snapshot in time. A look into a kind of regional music scene that can't exist post internet.
You didn’t say “hope you’re doing well”
I see how it is, Melon
9 years later i've come back to this record and i'm even more appreciative of it, one of the best albums of the 2010s for sure
“To me this is not a casual fun music listening session”
*me, who listens to Swans everyday*
I decided to take a 7-mile walk through my local nature trail while listening to this album for the first time a couple weeks ago. Loved every second of it.
Day 1 of asking for a buffcorrell's Death Grips covers: Worst to Best.
Hicham Mariche holy shit i would be so happy
Zuhzuzhzuhzuhzazazaza*
readysetgo ahzuhzuzhuhzuuuzuhuzuhuzuzuzuhhuz eeezuzuzuzueeeezuzuzurezuzuzuzeee
Buffcorrell is life!!!!
Legends say Michael Gira is still screaming "BRING THE SUNN!!!! BRING THE FIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRREEEE!!!!!" after all these years
Anthony gave Vespertine by Bjork a 10 on his livestream, just so you know🙃
Agreed
rateyourmusic.com/list/nickzadr/anthony-fantano-theneedledrop-10_10-albums/ this is a list of every 10 Anthony has given plus implied 10s
as he should
It’s an 11/10
It’s NOT UP TO YOUUUUU
I was listening to this album last night, lying in my bed, lights off, eyes closed, experiencing this record. I agree, it’s more than just music, this is something I’ll return to a couple times a year and reserve 2 hours just to lose myself in it. Not many albums have done that
But you didn't do one for The Money Store 😭
He'll comment on it on his best albums of the decade vid
He didn't do it for Mbdtf either
Rob Skinner he said he’ll do this for when new albums are coming out from the same artist and it’s been some time
It doesn’t need one. It will always go down as the most worthy 10 hrs given
I'm shocked it's been five years already😳
hydra9on same 👴🏼💀⚰️
I've still been unable to finish this album from start to finish, it gives me a panic attack around a hour in each time. Would recommend
Bring the Sun goes beyond music
I once played Bring the Sun at work when i worked in a restaurant and the dishwasher said it made her feel like she was in an insane asylum. Fitting
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN BRING THE SUN
☀ SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ☀
@@kvltslime2261 I can’t play their stuff in a casual setting or else people nearby will think I’m trying to engage in some ritual or something
@@tylersquanto8938 was at my brother's house having a few beers one night and had my laptop and put on swans. It was lunacy off of the seer. He comes in joking like what is this chant core??? Lol a week later I saw him post a swans song to his Facebook so win
Melon you didn't have to butcher a live Swan then eat the corpse.
@Jeff • 69 minutes ago Its not just a meme. Its another way for the fans to interact and show strong influence in the comment section.
This album changed my life. Thank you for introducing me to this album 5 years ago.
Thanks for the intro to Swans. First band since 90s Spiritualized that truly blew me away , particularly live.
Thank you, Anthony, for putting me onto this album and consequently putting me onto Swans and throwing me into the noise rock/no wave/experimental rock genre. It has become one of my favorite of all time (as you may notice).
"I just feel like i'm about to burst"
- Fantano, 2019
Out of all your 10/10 records this album has gripped me the most (ironically The Money Store is "only" #2).
At this point I have listened to the record quite a lot of times and it is still feels like a journey every time.
So thank you Anthony for showing me this beast of a record that I probably would have overlooked if it wasn't for your review five years ago.
What’re your favorite older Swans albums?
@@dtanaka869-d you don’t like To Pimp A Butterfly?
Wow, Anthony, I didn't expect you to change your grade on TBK to a 0/10, but ok...
"it's too long I only like the pleighboiii"
For me, there's something inherently existential about their music. It cuts right through the bullshit and hits at the heart of what makes people uncomfortable, and then makes you relish that discomfort as you keep listening, because their rhythms are almost hypnotic despite being purposely dissonant and atonal at times. That's difficult to do, especially coming back after a decade and sounding similar but still saying something different. All their new albums are like that.
can't wait for MBDTF: 6/10 days later
Kanye West doesn’t care about black people.
@@Chrisratata OK?
your mum ok
@@Chrisratata lul classic.
Anthony, I am so glad we can both agree that 5 years later be kind rewind is a classic
I’ve listened to To Be Kind once during a drive down to LA in summer of 14’ and it was enough to have a lasting impression. It’s the first album where I feel I am not ready to go back to listen again. I may do so after watching your review ✨👍🏽
Chance The Rapper "The Big Day" - 10 seconds later
Such a magnificent album. TBK unlocked a different world of music for me. I was able to really get into Swans. Thanks Melon
Personally, I don't think the fact that the baby is Aryan should affect your album listening experience but, other than that, good video mr melon man!
now he needs to do a 10 years later
Still one of the best albums of the 2010s and of all time
Soundtracks For The Blind and The Seer are imo better in their discography, but god To Be Kind is still like a high 9
@@IvefoundthetruthonMay I think after listening to the Seer a little more A Piece of the Sky is the best song of the new Swans era but I think To Be Kind as an album is a little more consistent. Soundtracks is objectively their best album, and I think that one day, long after Gira dies, it will be the album that makes more people appreciate Swans. Don't sleep on Swans Are Dead and Public Castration either.
@@tk3136 Agreed. And I think you're right about that. Swans Are Dead is one of the best live albums ever recorded. + Michael Gira has a song "Blind", if you heard it. It's beautiful, phenomenal.
@@IvefoundthetruthonMay Blood Promise from Swans Are Dead I think is my all time favorite Swans song. I really like the live version of Helpless Child too
Swans Are Dead was their undeniable peak. The Blood Promise version is so fucking cathartic it's not funny. Dude at the end implores a "Don't stop" and then Gira trolls us by screaming really hard in our ears
anthony could you please stop filming videos in my dads house thanks
Hahahahahahahahahahahshshahshahahahahahahahahahahshahshshshahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha good one Bob
Bob Ross that’s only the ones that appear on Pornhub.
Bob Ross smh rude af
Album is utterly perfect, and Oxygen is a gym banger too lol
sauron saruman really? I thought the track was lackluster. Still a solid project overall, with She Loves Us leading the pack for me
@@TheXducharme No way, the vocal performance is what sells the song - Michael literally barking like a dog over the horn section is so absurd and disturbing alone its brilliant.
Dude you don't know for how long I would have A Little God In My Hands on repeat while at the gym when this dropped, those drums hella fucking hard
@@BIadelores Yo fr thoe, even when walking that song make me feel all kinds of things.
I was fortunate enough to catch Swans live - in a converted gothic style church in Scotland (raining outside of course)...INTENSE...when I first discovered Swans I was unable to listen to any other music for months. I was gripped trying to fill myself on them. Gira is a true artist using music to reach deep inside this human. I had a 2 hour cross country car ride yesterday and revisited To Be Kind - as intense, gripping, visceral, terrifying....entertaining as ever. I COMPLETELY agree Fantano here. Open your mind and give it a go
You need to interview Michael Gira
been following you way before this review, but finally listening to swans. man i wish i didn’t wait this long. soundtracks for the blind is up next of my listening sessions
Yeah but he’s gonna give another 10 today - Rich Brian - The Sailor
this aged perfectly
liz likes music yep my bad
I’ve discovered this record a couple of weeks ago thanks to Melon’s review. Its fucking good!
Isn't it? Still digesting this beast. Even have began studying Buddhism and meditation which gives even more clarity to the nature of the record.
Now listen to Soundtracks for the Blind :)
I didn’t see a 5 years later for ‘The Money Store’! I DEMAND IT BE SHOWN RESPECT
we got the 10 year
Five years?!
How...
I feel like time has been going by way too fast.
I’d never heard of Swans until I watched a Tool interview yesterday. I then watched your reviews of them. The universe wants me to listen to them it seems.
Which Tool interview may I ask ?
Can’t wait for “‘To Be Kind: 5 Years Later’: 5 Years Later”.
Beat me to it
I still think the most impressive quality about Swans is that they can keep a schedule. While Kanye is in year two of Yahndi being done “maybe soon, maybe not soon” (and this isn’t the first time he’s run up against deadlines), Swans say they will finished mixing in July and finish mixing in July, say they will release in October and are still on schedule to meet that. Not to mention that Tool are releasing a fifth album after a dozen years of saying “we promise it’s going to happen soon.” I just hope the best for them all, but Swans deserve more credit for how dutifully they seem to get things done on these massive opuses they create every few years now.
this album really thrills on vinyl. when you listen to the record, the title track becomes a new favorite. i have no idea how they got the end so loud. its like the re-release of Shape of Punk to Come, where the chorus of Liberation Frequency is disproportionately visceral (in a good way)
Awesome! Just getting into Swans lately and I was actually just listening to this album.
Man. It's been awhile since I've given this one a play through. Now I kind of wanna do that again. Thanks for reminding me about them.
It's nice to see melon just talking about music he loves
Can we please try and get melon to say bruh
Just because there is an underaged baby on the cover doesn't mean you give it a 10/10 Anthony
“Underaged baby”
@@slugdoom5373 underaged baby
its because the baby appears to be aryan
Melon is an over aged baby
@C Burgess with teeth.
well it's almost been 10 years later
I need a review of "Great Annihilator" this year for classics week. C'mon, Melon. Long overdue...
Either that or White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity
Agreed, this record seems ripped from another dimension. The performances are very dynamic, meditative, spiritual - It's also so well paced and is as engaging as any film which is appropriate given michael calls this quasi visual
To take these to the next level, do a commentary video where you watch your own review and reminisce about how you felt back then and how great you were.
this album is in my top 3 records ever released honestly
I still go back to this album from time to time.
You should do this to all of the 10/10
10 year anniversary of The Money Store
@@jaroslavknapek6533 I can't believe we're almost there
Man I just saw your original review and listened to the album for the first time yesterday. Wild.
Still listening to it .. still discovering things about it
4:35 the melon confesses that this album gives the melon the satisfaction that no lowly human, man or woman, could ever give him
Been listening to this album more this year than ever
I was listening to that album when you uploaded :O
Anthony one day I will make a 10 out of 10 album
I find it interesting that TBK is your favourite of the contemporary Swans trio; I always thought it the poppiest / radio-friendly of the three and The Seer to be the most aggressive / abstract, i.e. the pinacle of the concept you were discussing in this video.
Lol it just has more rhythm in comparison, is not poppy at all in any sense.
I like this. Revisiting albums on video just before artists put out a new album
I just listened to this album today and it definitely deserves a 10 out of 10.
It will only get better on repeated listens - Trust me.
william moore The Seer is better
@@sammo2560 I'm going to have to look into that.
william moore definitely check out Soundtracks For The Blind too. That's their true masterpiece imo. Children Of God is phenomenal as well.
i second soundtracks. that album is a species of its own
10 years later and it's still an amazing record
I just got around to giving this album some love after sleeping on it so long
I have very mixed feelings about Swans in general. This album, though, is magnificent. I feel like To Be Kind is a good balance of Swans' ability to resonate in a disturbing way, *and* remain actually kind of catchy. I still revisit "Oxygen" on a regular basis. "A Little God In My Hands" and "Just a Little Boy" still make me feel gross. If sound could rot, this would be it.
EDIT: Also, I don't know whether you're planning to revisit albums from this decade regularly - it would certainly be time-consuming - but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on Sun Kil Moon's "Benji" after five (?) years. I haven't enjoyed much of his output as much as you, but that album still sticks out as the best parts of Sun Kil Moon in one record.
Fascinating...an interesting retrospective on an album highly praised. Cool video. I await more 5 years later videos.
5 year later after this 5 year re review I think and I still think
it’s been five years since you left me, daddy anthony. please come back.
“I can listen to this album and get something new out of it each time. Potentially forever.”
*listens to a song where they repeat the same note for 5 minutes straight.*
Dynamics, progression via arrangement rather than chords, minimalism juxtaposed by maximalism and structured improv. Great songwriting both poetic and via mantra. Yes. Totally the same thing over and over.
From a 10 all the way down to a 6? Time sure changes ones mind
Of course his thoughts on Dark Fantasy went from a 6 to a 10, so at least we have something.
this album is an 11 in my mind
I think the theme of the album is a father coming to terms with his own fatherhood and the amount of responsibility and power that comes with that. It's similar to Eraserhead. "A little god in my hands" is the thesis, the acknowledgement that this child now controls his entire being. "To be kind" is him acknowledging the banality of everything while still accepting what he has to do. He comes to terms with the fact that it is his responsibility, and even though he never valued kindness before he has to turn to it now even if it doesn't feel genuine. It's about a father's switch from nihilistic and almost hedonistic behavior, to embracing a more existential approach.
I dunno if it's as simple as that, personally. I do like the idea of that particular song being about an infant/child realising what it is ("eye full of sun, hand full of mud"). Or even at the very least, a "universal" summation of the innocent point of view of a child. I don't know how far those themes stretch beyond just that track though. No examples really come to mind
Not sure if Gira put that much thought into the album concept. I can't remember where I read this, but I once saw this album being compared to a newborn baby's experience of the world. Everything they see and hear is new and disorienting and likely awe-inspiring but they don't know how to express it so they just cry.
I would say if there is any theme Swans were consciously trying to get across it's maximalism. I've heard a lot of loud, heavy, grating music, but this was the first record where I thought of the word "maximalist" to describe it.
It is a great album. I think they were able to reach their purest sound in To Be Kind, in the same direction they aimed back in The Seer. I feel The Glowing Man was kind of an iteration towards the same idea, a development that feels like "ok, we have reached the limit here".
This video made me realise it’s already been 5 years since I graduated high school and gave me a panic attack. Thanks Melon
Every word you used to describe To Be Kind applies perfectly to your original review of To Be Kind. The ultimate evolution of music review.
I cant believe its been 5 years
It’s nice to hear Anthony absolutely rave about an album he enjoys.
excellent ....Im still loving it too...and anticipating .."Leaving Meaning"
Do 'I Hate Mars Bars'.
Do i hate Mars bars
wrong channel
‘I Hate Chance the Rapper Bars’
I'm still wrapping my head around this album as well. There is plenty to love and a great many memorable moments in the hypnotic vastness. Personally I enjoy The Seer the most out of the three latest albums.
It is also my favorite Swans album
This album is indeed an epic experience. A new Swans album this year? Hell yeah! That and hopefully a new Kendrick album too and 2019 will be a satisfying close for this decade of many musical extravaganzas.
I don’t have the patience to listen to it all the way through
TPAB: 5 years later. Is it still a 10?
Poketh yeah
still the best hip-hop album of the decade
Nicolas Wilmington yeah either TPAB or MBDTF imo
Christian Withers just because TPAB is dense does not mean kendrick is overthinking it. once you study and dissect the album it makes perfect sense and everything connects beautifully
S Mac agreed
Can’t wait for a Money Store: 10 years later review
Truly something that just feels eternally great
I really could loop Screen Shot for like 4 hours without any drugs or pee breaks
I love Swans they are my favorite pop band
What you described is how i feel about the original 4 Godspeed You! Black Emperor releases
Reid Betten agreed, it’s only the first 2 for me though
wait why do you not have a little god in my hands in your library