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2016 studio album by Swans From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Glowing Man is the fourteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on June 17, 2016 on Young God and Mute.[7][8] It is considered the third and final part of a three-album "trilogy", the other two parts being The Seer and To Be Kind.
| The Glowing Man | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 17, 2016 | |||
| Studio | Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas) Elmwood Studios (Dallas, Texas) Studio Litho (Seattle, Washington) CandyBomber (Berlin) Micro-Moose (Berlin) Jen Turner's apartment (Brooklyn, New York) B.C. Studios (Brooklyn, New York) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 118:23 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Michael Gira | |||
| Swans chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Glowing Man | ||||
| ||||
The song "The World Looks Red/The World Looks Black" contains lyrics written by frontman Michael Gira that were used in the Sonic Youth song "The World Looks Red" in 1983; the music is new, with no relation to the earlier version.[8] Swans and Sonic Youth both developed in the early 1980s post-punk/no wave scene of New York City, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore was an early member of Swans appearing on the live album Body to Body, Job to Job (recorded 1982–85, released 1991). The title track for The Glowing Man has previously been referred to as "Black Hole Man"[9] and "Black-Eyed Man" and includes a section of "Bring the Sun / Toussaint L'Ouverture" from the 2014 album To Be Kind. The song "When Will I Return?" was uploaded to YouTube on May 27, 2016.[10]
Prior to its appearance on The Glowing Man, "Frankie M." was part of Swans' live sets as early as 2014, its length and arrangements differing each time it was performed.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10[11] |
| Metacritic | 81/100[12] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[13] |
| Consequence of Sound | B+[2] |
| Financial Times | [14] |
| Mojo | [3] |
| Pitchfork | 8.1/10[15] |
| Record Collector | [16] |
| Rolling Stone | [17] |
| Spin | 8/10[18] |
| Uncut | 8/10[19] |
The Glowing Man was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for Exclaim!, Griffin J. Elliot called the album "a meticulous exercise in the band's streamlining their abstract sound, taking what they've done before and playing it under a newer, grander spotlight."[20] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni wrote for Pitchfork, "The love in [Gira's] music is as terrible as it is beautiful, a wrenching act of spiritual determination. Swans make this sound effortless, though, in a fitting end to a remarkable chapter of their career."[15] Paul Simpson of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, describing the album as "another exhilarating portal into the unknown."[1] Louis Pattison, writing for Uncut, claimed the album is "gesturing towards something more contemplative" and is "certainly weathered by the journey."[21]
In a more mixed review, Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten stated that "While their long, drawn-out, circling dark clouds remain potent, ultimately The Glowing Man is the weakest of the three powerful epics they’ve released since 2012."[22]
Several music criticism websites included The Glowing Man on their lists of the best albums of 2016. Rockdelux ranked the album at twelfth in their top international albums of the year.[citation needed] Sputnikmusic ranked it at thirty-eighth, with staff member Raul Stanciu writing that "[The Glowing Man] takes an important step forward for Swans, thus deserving its place as another significant achievement in their discography."[23] The Quietus placed the album at eighty-seventh on their list, with writer Lior Phillips writing "the instrumentalists ripple out in meditative layers, never covering over or distracting from it, but rather reinforcing."[24]
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Quietus | Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | 87[25] |
| Sputnikmusic | Staff’s Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 38[26] |
| Uncut | Top Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 46[citation needed] |
| Rolling Stone (Germany) | Top Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 16[citation needed] |
| Rockdelux | Top International Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 12[citation needed] |
| Rockerilla | Top Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 14[27] |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cloud of Forgetting" | 12:43 | |
| 2. | "Cloud of Unknowing" | 25:12 | |
| 3. | "The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black" | Michael Gira | 14:27 |
| 4. | "People Like Us" | Michael Gira | 4:32 |
| Total length: | 56:54 | ||
All music is composed by Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christopher Pravdica, Christoph Hahn, Thor Harris and Phil Puleo, except where noted
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Frankie M." | 20:58 | |
| 2. | "When Will I Return?" | Michael Gira | 5:26 |
| 3. | "The Glowing Man" | 28:50 | |
| 4. | "Finally, Peace." | Michael Gira | 6:15 |
| Total length: | 61:29 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cloud of Forgetting" | 12:43 |
| 2. | "Cloud of Unknowing" (Part 1) | 6:04 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cloud of Unknowing" (Part 2) | 19:48 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black" | 14:27 |
| 2. | "People Like Us" | 4:32 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Frankie M." | 20:58 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "When Will I Return?" | 5:26 |
| 2. | "The Glowing Man" (Part 1) | 15:02 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Glowing Man" (Part 2) | 13:55 |
| 2. | "Finally, Peace." | 6:15 |
Adapted from the official Young God Records website:[8]
Swans
Guests
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] | 24 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] | 39 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] | 69 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[31] | 49 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] | 29 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] | 54 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[34] | 61 |
| US Billboard 200[35] | 151 |
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