Search - Swans :: Cop / Greed / Holy Money

Cop / Greed / Holy Money
Swans
Cop / Greed / Holy Money
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock, Metal
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (15) - Disc #2

This double-disc set compiles the complete material from three LPs and one EP released during the Swans' early years: 1984 through 1986. The band's general sound is that of a grungey electric guitar dirge, angry and sullen...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Swans
Title: Cop / Greed / Holy Money
Members Wishing: 7
Total Copies: 0
Label: Thirsty Ear
Release Date: 3/23/1999
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock, Metal
Styles: Hardcore & Punk, Indie & Lo-Fi, American Alternative, New Wave & Post-Punk, Progressive, Progressive Rock
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 700435705920

Synopsis

Amazon.com
This double-disc set compiles the complete material from three LPs and one EP released during the Swans' early years: 1984 through 1986. The band's general sound is that of a grungey electric guitar dirge, angry and sullen, not unlike a cross between a slowed down Killing Joke and Lou Reed's Street Hassle. The material is slow and methodical, somewhat spartan, with raspy semi-spoken vocals coming across like some anti-Western mantra. The first, earlier disc is the most stripped down--fuzzed guitars and bass, with a plodding beat. The second disc, although maintaining the same style, features a larger band and fuller sound, with occasional keyboards, female voices, and more complex drum patterns. The Swans' music is very unsettling, seeming at once angry and heavily medicated, as if the composer's rage is being filtered through a haze of antidepressants. It is also very good at conveying this combination of fog and emotion on a visceral level. --Michael C. Mahan
 

CD Reviews

Sheer misanthropy
S. Holliday | 08/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"One point I want to get out of the way is that the music of Swans is really NOT for everyone. Anyone looking for a positive, upbeat message is going to be sorely disappointed here. Swans are perhaps the most bleak, depressing, unfriendly band that ever existed. In other words, they are the band that most metal groups want to be. Their music defies easy categorization. The music on the first disc is like a brutal, abrasive electric dirge, with molasses slow drumbeats and heavy guitars, M. Gira's raspy, deep voice spewing bile over it all. The second disc is much more industrial in tone, and by industrial I mean Throbbing Gristle, not nine inch nails. It is slightly more accessible, with some beats occasionally approaching a danceable speed, but the lyrics are, if anything, even more caustic and disturbing than those on Cop/Young God. I don't really know what audience would truly appreciate this music. Most punks would find it too slow and repetitive. Most goths would dislike the atonality and lack of melody. Perhaps Flipper fans would get into it. It is worth seeking out if you are an adventurous listener, and are not easily depressed."
Angry Gnostics Discover Electricity and Make Ears Bleed
C. Gardner | Washington D.C., D.C. United States | 10/30/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"No pain, no gain. Swans were genuinely one of a kind in these early recordings, making records that were cathartic rituals for player and listener both. It's guaranteed you'll never hear anything like this music, which demonstrates a huge degree of psychological and spiritual insight. Many people are tempted to laugh when confronted with this band's music, so bleak and full of loathing it seems at first, and it's understandable when the other alternative--to take them seriously--seems too painful...But Michael Gira's is a truly individuated musical and philosophical stance. "Hanging" on disc two is one of the most powerful pieces of organized sound I've ever heard, some kind of Gnostic hymn directed at a blameworthy God...But prepare yourself to be pummelled by bass frequencies and the most beautifully dissonant vocal harmonies."
Bloodsweatandnotears
fear-of-pop | portugal | 12/27/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"the first 4 albuns of the swans are an aquired taste..people who adore korn or staind will never understand this music because this was not made for them...it's that simple. there are no catchy lyrics, no melodies no handsome faces: this is music made to punish the listener: repetative, pounding, abrasive and suffocating: exactly what the mainstream despises. michael gira's screams and rants about power, humiliation and control are about as real as it gets.. this is true sonic masochism, try it someday.. if you like it spread the word..."