How do you even begin getting into Swans?

>>71853137
You listen to it

>>71853137
as for me, I started chronologically
what a trip it was

Incredible band! Some songs could drive you to suicide however!

Chronologically is the only way

You might want to set aside a couple weeks to actually get through all of their stuff, especially with the newer material it's pretty draining to listen to an album in one sitting and you probably won't want to listen to another right after

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>>71853137

>>71853234
same, it was the right way to go for me at least

>>71853137
Glowing man is such a killer track
Try catch them live first

>>71853627
it's an experience for sure

>>71853137
Not for nothing, but watch the Deep_Cuts youtube video on the Swans, it's really informative, good points on each album and such.

With their first album, like you would any other artist.

If you're looking for the most accessible starting points I'd say that belongs to Children of God and The Great Annihilator. The former catches the band's transition from no wave to post-punk, the latter sees their brand of post-punk refined while seeing shades of their post-rock style begin to take form, and both probably make for the band's most conventionally digestible set of songs. A lot of their material is exhausting in either their scale or their assault, and even their quietest material has the capacity to overwhelm. But Children of God and The Great Annihilator are about as easy and inviting as Swans gets, save for The Burning World but that's also by an order of magnitude the band's least essential release and is hardly even a proper Swans record. But yeah, I'd check out the early stuff if you like Children of God and the later stuff if you like The Great Annihilator.

The Great Annihilator

you are 5 years late to party

>>71853937
nonononono
Children of God and The Great Annihilator are important transitional pieces but they are not accessible. Find me one non-Swans fan that wouldn't be turned off by I Am the Sun, or any of the Jarboe tracks on Children of God. I love both of those but it took some conditioning, and I went through each of the other albums before those. If you want accessibility, listen to Cop, White Light From the Mouth of Infinity, or To Be Kind.

>>71853897
i always start with the last album and work my way backwards, then take the reverse path

Children of God --> Filth --> The rest
https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/swans

>>71853137
With the first album, as you would with any other artist

>>71853137
Whenever we have these threads everyone always says either Filth or Children of God, but honestly I think 90% of the band's modern fanbase probably got into them through The Seer or To Be Kind.

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Couldn't get into Swans until I listened to White Light. Now I love every record from them.

>>71853248
Listening to No-wave Swans has genuinely increased my hatred for bourgeois existence ten fold.
It really is malignant music.

>>71853234
me too tbhfam. i downloaded all their discography and listened to it non-stop. funny thing is i never noticed when a new album started

>>71855589
this

White Light is the easiest album to get into

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>>71853248
This looks like something Scaruffi would write

>>71855106
>I Am the Sun
>inaccessible
I don't listen to punk. I don't listen to metal. I am a pretty typical prog/synth fan. TGA was the 3rd album by Swans I'd heard while I was marathoning their albums and let me tell you I immediately fell in love with I Am the Sun when I first heard it. I then, and now still consider that track to actually be the best song on the album, second place goes to Blood Promise.

>>71853137
believe it or not my first Swans album was actually Soundtracks For the Blind. I loved how experimental and out-there it sounded. To be honest I'm angry there isn't much Swans material out there that sounds the same, save for To Be Kind and The Great Annihilator. Though it seriously depends on who you are for a starter. Obviously if you're into heavier, punk-esque music you should start on either Cop or Filth. Into more experimental shit I'd go for SFTB, TBK and TGA like I already mentioned, but preferably i the order of To Be Kind, then The Great Annihilator, then SFTB, which funnily enough was the opposite order in which I listened to them. If you're into depressing shit like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, or any Post Rock then listen to The Glowing Man, The Seer and To Be Kind. Personally I don't actually like The Seer, can't pinpoint exactly why. Again if you're up for a challenge and a trip and you think you can handle it go for SFTB first, it's fun as hell to go through for the first time.