Swans - The Seer FLAC download

Has anyone else noticed that each LP has a different weight?Mine are (approximately):LP1 - 150gLP2 - 130gLP3 - 170gI thought my mind was playing tricks on me, whenever I swapped records, so I actually got a set of scales and weighed them.Is this just my copy?Mind you, it doesn't seem to make a difference to the sound, which is still absolutely flooring.

Bought it from amazon and I have 2 x disc 3 and no disc 2...

I just bought a copy of this, and it has no download card. Has anyone else gotten a copy like this?

Mine had the same issue. I emailed YG and they sent me a link to download the MP3s.

Me too really strange, can't hurt to email Young God records?

Just bought this a couple weeks ago. Great pressing, and a better tracklist than the digital version.

This album is HARD. Which is why it's awesome.

It seems to me that Mr. Gira's lyrics are becoming smaller with time, which is discouraging given the maturity one naturally expects from a man of his age and breadth of experience. The music is flawless but the lyrics keep intruding a clichéd narrowness of vision and mind that is distressing and distracting. Swans should have remained extinct.

That's good to hear! I like the quote that says: "They're quite heavy on the words - the longest narrative songs I've written." Good news indeed for people who love words! He then goes on to say: "Still finding my way into them, but I think they're good. If you attend one of the shows, I hope they offer something worthwhile... I suspect that the next Swans album will be a variety of these songs, highly (and I hope, tastefully) orchestrated, and then perhaps in opposition some more atmospheric pieces which will draw on and extend the approach evidenced in the more "strumato" moments on the last few Swans albums".I'm glad that "They're quite heavy on the words" and that they're "the longest narrative songs I've written" too. Hopefully they'll play some of these songs at their new shows as highlighted in his quote "If you attend one of the shows, I hope they offer something worthwhile".

Young God Records and Michael Gira sent this email on Monday 5th February 2018:I've been working on new songs, and I'll be performing those as well as some older material.The new songs are the first steps on my way to formulating the next Swans album. I've been working on new songs, and I'll be performing those as well as some older material.The new songs are the first steps on my way to formulating the next Swans album. They're quite heavy on the words - the longest narrative songs I've written. Still finding my way into them, but I think they're good. If you attend one of the shows, I hope they offer something worthwhile... I suspect that the next Swans album will be a variety of these songs, highly (and I hope, tastefully) orchestrated, and then perhaps in opposition some more atmospheric pieces which will draw on and extend the approach evidenced in the more "sfumato" moments on the last few Swans albums... Still finding my way into them, but I think they're good. If you attend one of the shows, I hope they offer something worthwhile... I suspect that the next Swans album will be a variety of these songs, highly (and I hope, tastefully) orchestrated, and then perhaps in opposition some more atmospheric pieces which will draw on and extend the approach evidenced in the more "sfumato" moments on the last few Swans albums... So it sounds like, from the quote, "They're quite heavy on the words - the longest narrative songs I've written." that the next phase of Swans will be very text / lyrics based.

Could you provide more elaboration on how you feel the lyrics are becoming "smaller"? Do you mean repetitive? I would say these are some of the most epic, grandiose lyrics I have run into. They can be repetitive within songs, and the album definitely has a theme running throughout, but I feel quite the opposite about them being "smaller".And to say they should have remained extinct... well that does not compute. How can you say that in the same breath as "The music is flawless"???? A gripe about the lyrics is enough for you to say this band shouldn't be making music? Especially given how little emphasis there is on the vocals. Personally, I think Swans have reached a higher plane in their music in the resurrection. They are making my favorite stuff of theirs' right now. Sublime album.

The only problem with the vinyl version of this is the way the tracks are split up; it doesn't make much sense to me that they couldn't keep the original track list as intact as possible, like so.A1: LunacyA2: Mother Of The WorldB1: The WolfB2: The Seer Pt. 1 (there's no way to fit this on one side)C1: The Seer Pt. 2C2: The Seer ReturnsD1: 93 Ave B. BluesD2: The Daughter Brings The WaterD3: Song For A WarriorD4: Avatar (the d side might be cramped, I'm not sure about this)E1: A Piece Of The SkyE2: The ApostateAs the tracklist is, it's a bit irritating to hear three of the best songs get cut off in the middle to move to the other side.

The Apostate should be F1. Other than that this should be perfectly fine as the tracklisting. Not sure why they mixed it up so much.

There's a lot of hooplah about this particular issue and I have to say I am quite opposed to your view. I only have the album on vinyl and so that was how I familiarised myself with it, and therefore I'm prepared to accept some presence of bias. Yes it was initially a pain to have to split up The Apostate, but the breaks were as deftly handled as possible. More important are the artistic implications of the track-listing. After hearing the CD version a few times , I simply couldn't reconcile The Seer as the opener and The Apostate as the closer. It just doesn't make sense for me. The Apostate (after Lunacy of course) is such a powerful, blistering, formidable shock-intro to, yes, one of the greatest albums of all time, and certainly among Swans' finest. The Seer title-track, dense, merciless beast that it is, is the only way this album can end. It is a closer if ever there were one. The other way just never felt right. So sorry, I'm a flagbearer for the vinyl track-listing and I also strongly believe that Micky G designed it this way preferentially. Listen again carefully to both versions after reading this, try to overcome the near-negligible irritation of flipping the sides mid-track (considering the colossal pay-off), and see if you can really FEEL what I'm saying. After many patient sessions, alone and with others, I am convicted now more than ever and never listen to the CD track-listing. I even kinda feel sorry for all the schmoes that only bought the CD and missed out on the far more epic journey of the vinyl version. Thankfully, we weren't confronted with the same problem on To Be Kind. Hope yr all looking forward to the next - and final :-( - album later this year!

Nope, Side D would be of fine length, there are sides on the as-is track listing that go about 20 minutes in length. However, A Piece of the Sky would be E1 and Apostate would be F1; they could not be put together on the same side - at 42 minutes in length it could very well be the longest side of a 33 1/3 12" in history...

You're correct, they absolutely could have done this tracklisting. Hopefully they reissue it and use the correct order

Someone know why the STUMM363 Mute release is not discogs (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Seer-VINYL-Swans/dp/B00I8XHSTW/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE)? I can only see the US press called YG45? And does it matter for collectors which one they get if they - I mean wouldn't only the YG45 be called a real first press? Hope to get help from some clever people in here! Jonas

How does this album sound on vinyl?

For what it's worth, I really like the track order changes - the album flows perfectly for me, and the fades to flip the record make sense and feel fine. I guess it's just opinion really. But yes, it does sound fantastic on vinyl. The only way to listen for me.

It sounds absolutely flooring. The bass response is obviously better than the CD or MP3 versions. The only problem is how the tracks are ordered changes how the album feels and cuts off three of the songs halfway through to move to the other side.

Great, great, nothing less than great !!! This is the kind of music,that makes life worth living.......

for music fans willing to go to the dark side... it's time to take on Swan's magnus opus from 2012:: "The Seer"... also my fave album of the past 5-10 years... well the best album i can recall since Ben Frost's 2006 LP "Theory Of Machines"... then hearing parts of "The Seer" live at ATP Melbourne 2013 was one of the most amazing live performances ive witnessed from a band... it's the only time ive watched a live gig and felt like i was insane to some level, not to mention that i felt totally off my head / wasted, yet i was totally straight... the only thing i can compare it to is watching Kubrick's "The Shining" for the first time, where i came out with the insanity of Jack brooding inside me... the best way i can describe the sound they have molded over the decades till this pinnacle album's inception is like walking towards the gates of hell, one step at a time, with your skin being burnt and ripped off... but still willing to keep walking forward... tho it's not just pure evil tension, u get rewarded with a cool down periods, mid tempo deep & funky stuff, straight charging aggressive rock or beautiful vocals and arrangements that make u want to cry... but all set in a minimalistic structure, where each element of each track flows and slowly progresses, taking you through so many emotional states... fkn next level...CD1 will give you the drift, but if u can get past the epic 32min s/t piece "The Seer", you are already on yr way to listen to one of the most amazing albums ever created... cause by the time u get to CD2, uv alrdy been on such a journey, that you're quite gob smacked... it took me about 5 listens to finally get through the whole album cause it's so FUCKING DENSE... yet so balanced... a perfect balance between darkness and light... over 2CD's this is one album that instantly became my uncontested album of 2012 upon release... tho i havent listened to it many times all the way through with total concentration... cause i get stuck on so many moments throughout the double album, i want to keep going back before going forward... and if you do totally lock in, like ive done on a few occasions at home, or live at ATP, i was absolutely destroyed and emotionally torn... cause ive been taken thru the gates of hell, but when you finally work your way through the intricate nooks of the furnace, you come out feeling enlightened...

This version is well worth getting, the dvd is very good quality and quite long also.

A monster of an album, and though it doesn't approach the mind-bending conlfagration of their live shows (if anybody knows how to make such a recording possible, please let me know), it comes pretty damn close. A Piece of the Sky is just that, and when the beat comes in halfway through after the shimmering bliss of the dulcimer and crackling fire, the sky does indeed open up and a shard of light falls into my eye. The Seer is as close to an aural approximation of a McCarthy-esque apocalyptic landscape as anything I've heard in recent memory. And it kicks ass. The shorter songs are just as powerful, the aqueous beauty of Daughter Brings the Water belies the tremors of hysteria lurking beneath, and Avatar... kaboom. My only gripe is... WHY SPLIT UP THE TRACKS ON THE VINYL? You could've easily put "The Apostate" on one side and "A Piece of the Sky" on another, and though it's totally understandable to seperate the mammoth title track into two halves, it makes no sense to disturb the thrill of these longer songs, which follow one another on the CD version by the way, by cutting them in half. Don't know why that decision was made, and if anybody can explain to me why this was done... It makes no sense to me.

While you are correct about sound quality concerns, your math is off in regards to The Seer. Adding it up, side A = 19:25, side B = 19:12, side C = 20:53, side D = 18:50, side E = 20:31, side F = 19:32. So they certainly didn't aim to make each side around the fifteen minute mark. And they don't need 4 LPs, come on. The two songs that are around the twenty minute mark would fit on one side. I have tons of vinyl that has side long tracks around twenty minutes. A Piece of The Sky is 19 minutes, so that is easy. I don't know how much the sound quality would be reduced by fitting the 23:01 minutes of The Apostate, but I bet it would be very difficult to tell for most listeners on most stereos. I wish that there was a statement of intent from Gira about this decision. Has anyone come across an explanation by the artist of this vinyl pressing and alternate track listing decision.

the reason some tracks were split up on the LP is you can get a good / punchy pressing sitting around 15mins per side... with "The Seer" (the highlight of the album and such a fucking dark journey) clocking in at 32mins, it wouldnt be possible on 1 side... not sure of the max you can do on 1 side, ive got sum vinyl tracks that hit the 20min mark but the quality drops... also consider manufacturing costs... they could split the album up more, but to do this double cd release justice on wax, it would need to be at least a 4LP box set... which means thicker packaging, more production, more cost... at least double price for retail...tho with this album, i compare it to some of the finest music arrangements ever... each track has moments of morph and change, which is where they have tried to cut the track short and continue it on the other side... no crescendo's are cut short so i think they've done a gr8 job considering the restrictions

I've got 4 copies of this album (1 on CD and 3 on vinyl) and I think I would buy some more. I don't why am I doing this but I simply can't stop myself when I see "The Seer" in record stores.

I know right. Weird. What is it with this album? I too have this 'problem' - buying it obsessively on the few occasions I've seen it on the shelf. Then I just give it to friends, y'know, just BECAUSE...

I recommend you to store 2 vinyl copies in a box with a lot of protecting foil and put it in the attic, so they will always be perfectly mint. I hate it when a really good record is not fully mint.

Superblind86: I completely understand, sympathise and am in agreement with you regarding not being able to stop yourself buying copies of The Seer whenever you see them in record stores. I´ve got 2 copies - so far...A simply monumental piece of work and packaged in a monumental way.