To Be Kind

Swans

2014

2.98

Rating

Votes

10%

29%

27%

21%

13%

Distribution

Rock

User Submitted Album

Album Summary

To Be Kind is the thirteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on May 12, 2014. A double album, it was recorded by producer John Congleton in Texas. The songs were developed during the band's 2012 and 2013 tours. The deluxe edition includes a live DVD of the band's performance at the 2013 Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. The album received widespread critical acclaim, continuing a string of well-received albums from the band. The album peaked at number 37 on US Billboard 200, and debuted at number 38 on the UK Albums Chart. Both are the highest chartings that Swans had ever achieved on a studio album and it is the first time that the band cracked the top 40 in both countries. Benjamin Bland of Drowned in Sound gave the album a 10/10 score and stated, "This is an album that emphasises rather than establishes Swans' reconfirmed position at the top of the experimental rock tree, but that doesn’t make it any less of a thrill." He further commented, "Now that this mission has been completed there is space for To Be Kind, and future Swans records to affirm, rather than prove, that Swans are, and perhaps always have been, the greatest rock group on the face of the planet." Writing for Rolling Stone, Kory Grow compared the album to The Seer, as well as the 1996 effort Soundtracks for the Blind, noting how "Swans' sound has evolved so that they "don't just crush—they hypnotize".

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Reviews

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Oct 17 2025 Author

This was a wild ride, and I may have found a new band that I love. This is probably the most experimental rock album that I've ever heard, or at least the most experimental that actually hit the target. I loved this album and will be listening to it for a long time.

Oct 12 2025 Author

Mad as a box of frogs, but a lot more fun. Seems to be trying to be all the styles and genres, often within the same song. Perhaps not an essential listen, but unique, interesting, and entertaining. Sometimes, that is enough.

Oct 29 2025 Author

This is an album that really gets someone like Anthony Fantano ~fluttering~. Pretty fun 2 hours.

Nov 02 2025 Author

This album reminds me of being in my last year of college and getting really into Anthony Fantano’s YouTube channel. A rough time for all involved but a stunning album. A droning and hypnotic 2 hours of purgatory that feels like you’re waiting to explode

Nov 14 2025 Author

My goats

Oct 12 2025 Author

I don’t really know why but I had a different expectation of what Swans were. I thought they were one of the Gallagher’s bands after Oasis. No idea why I thought that. Turns out I was wrong. Who knew? I enjoyed some compositions more than others. Sometimes I thought it was brilliance and sometimes I thought it was noise. I did it a disservice and listened to it on my phone and not my main system. I’ll have to try and use a bigger sound next time. This needs another listen or too before I really know how it lands.

Oct 20 2025 Author

I've really never listened to Swans before, but color me intrigued after this one. I'm generally a fan of experimental rock, and this hit the sweet spot for me. Reminds me of Godspeed You Black Emperor in places, but they definitely have their own thing going. I'm going to have to check out their other stuff and see how far the magic spreads 4/5

Nov 06 2025 Author

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Screen shot, She loves us, Oxygen

Oct 26 2025 Author

I swear I’d listened to this one before but it looks to have slipped past me. I was familiar with the more accessible tracks (if you can call them that) like ‘Screenshot,’ but had never done a full run through. Though there was much more silence than I would’ve liked in an album that runs over 2 hours, I loved the agonizing builds that ultimately exploded into discord and carefully-structured chaos. Two hours seemed to slip right by, and when the LP focuses in it’s almost a hypnotic experience. Even with its early-era noise additions, the main 1001 sorely lacks in more experimental, confrontational albums like this that are earning modern classic status, so I’d say this was worth the add.

Nov 18 2025 Author

Big ass album, huge, large even. Calling this a challenging listen is putting it mildly. There's a song on here that's longer than some entire albums. Michael Gira creates music by picking paper slips from a hat containing the words "Sun", "Baby", "God" and "Blind" on them, yelling them, then grunting for 30 minutes while every instrument ever invented plays at the same time. I have no fucking idea what this dude is on most of the time, but it still manages to be completely engrossing.

Nov 21 2025 Author

OK, so just yesterday I marked down an album for being too long. This is too, but, I just like it better.

Oct 13 2025 Author

If OP can supply the heroin (and the childcare) I might just be able to make it through the 2 hour run time. It’s a bit like the Trainspotting sound tracks, minus the fun bits.

Oct 19 2025 Author

Way too long.

Nov 16 2025 Author

I’m not sure why but this is the first album In the awhile where I’ve poured myself a whisky and sat in front of my proper hifi system to listen to on a Saturday night and wow I was blown away. The sound quality the building of tension absolutely brilliant completely sucked me in. My only complaint is 2 hours is far too long for an album.

Nov 28 2025 Author

This deserves a timeline review: 1st song: I'm truly sad for those who have this album as their favorite. It's a bizarre song collection that lacks sufficient experimentation to justify its existence as an art experiment. Some minutes later... this is the best album I've ever listened to. Another song... 40-minute song? Are you kidding me? Worst album ever. "Kirsten supine" started: This is my favorite song of all time. Finishing the album: I'll probably never listen to it again, despite it being one of the best selections on the list. I'm sad for myself. Far from a perfect album, but at least it made me think, and it's impossible to say that it's not a good experience.

Nov 28 2025 Author

I found a lot to like here. I didn't have the day available to spend the time, but what I got to listen to held my interest

Oct 23 2025 Author

This kind of experimental drone rock isn't my kind of thing

Nov 16 2025 Author

This is boring, sometimes annoying, and always too long. I listened to two hours of this nonsense and can’t recall a single bit. Just nonsensical screaming. The production and instrumentation were good. Vocals and lyrics did not stand out. Songwriting seemed experimental with no real purpose. I lost to much time to this one. 2/5

Oct 23 2025 Author

2 discs for 2 hours and 1 minutes uhm did not finish

Oct 29 2025 Author

I tried, I really tried. But it’s a no from me.

Oct 22 2025 Author

I'd been wanting to listen to this album for years. I listened. I never will again.

Oct 23 2025 Author

Wikipedia says this is experimental rock. I’d say this experiment is a success! I liked the sort of avant garde-meets-Nick Cave vibe a lot. I would totally give this 4 stars except that it’s OVER two hours long. So, to whomever submitted this: I have two tickets that I bought here. I’d like to give them to you, so that you can take a flying fuck

Nov 18 2025 Author

Not without interest, but on the balance not for me. The vocals didn't do a lot for me and the protracted noise events wore thin. I don't regret the listen though.

Nov 18 2025 Author

The fact swans has been releasing music since the late 80s is pretty crazy. Even crazier is it took them 30 years to conjure up this prog/avant garde rock album that really made them more relevant. Maybe due to Fantano’s love of this album. If it wasn’t so long I would have listened to this more than a couple times. It’s not a bad album by any means, very experimental and unique. Just hard to grasp for my generic ears. Should listen to it more but we’ll see 6.3/10

Nov 03 2025 Author

Idk man

Nov 05 2025 Author

Experimental rock, noise rock, drone, art rock. Le iba a poner un 3 pero al final es tan largo y taaaaaaan machacón que se me ha hecho bola. Un 2.

Nov 19 2025 Author

Okay but far too long

Nov 24 2025 Author

Every idea in this album could have been covered in about 15 minutes. This may be the most repetitive album I have ever heard.

Nov 25 2025 Author

I've only generated 13 user albums so far and this is the 5th or 6th on that is 2 hours long.... This maybe would've been a 2 or 3 for me if this album was a reasonable length, but it just went on forever until I grew to despise it.