Various Failures
1988-92 was a time of two primary radical shifts in Swans' general musical approach-learning new ways to work and ignoring the preconceptions dogging them as a result of their early extremism. The music on Various Failures ranges from delicate, acoustic ballads with accompanying strings to almost bombastic Phil Spector-influenced arrangements, to cinematic sound collages with found vocal narrations, all unified by Swans' essential intensity of feeling. This double-CD collects the best of the material released previously on their "Love Will Tear Us Apart" 12-inch (1988), The Burning World album and its various singles (1989), the World of Skin album 10 Songs for Another World (1990), White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1990/91), and the Love of Life album and its various singles (1992), all of it out of print. Judging by inquiries addressed to the Swans website and post office box, Various Failures is bound to be the most sought-after release in Swans' ongoing series of reissues/compilations.