Swans Are Dead is the fifth double and seventh overall live album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1998 and was recorded in 1995 and 1997 on the band's final tours, before reuniting in 2010. The setlists of this era in the Swans live show were probably the most varied in terms of chronology. Although many of the songs performed were taken from Soundtracks for the Blind, the band also resurrected songs from much earlier albums, including a re-worked version of "I Crawled" from the Young God EP (1984).

Background

Disc one (Black) was recorded during on the band's Final Tour in 1997: Amsterdam (March 13), New York City (January 24), Trondheim (February 15), Prague (February 27), Brussels (March 14) and Atlanta (January 29). Two other songs were performed on this tour, "The Man With the Silver Tongue", which appeared in a revised form on Angels of Light's 1999 debut LP New Mother; and "My Birth", which remained unreleased until it appeared on Swans's 2010 album My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky. However, neither tracks were included on the album. Other songs were also sporadically performed, such as "The Sound" (at least twice on the American leg of the tour). The liner notes state that disc two (white) was recorded in Norway on the band's 1995 tour (September 20-23). The songs "In", "Alcohol the Seed", and "Animus", that had been played during the tour and also for the Amsterdam concert, did not appear on Swans Are Dead (the concert has been recorded by the radio station VPRO, "Animus" is also cut on that recording).

Critical reception

The Rough Guide to Rock described the album as "a head-churning final statement".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Swans Are Dead adapted from liner notes.