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10.0
65428
10.0 |
The Arts Desk
A unique and compelling piece of work that doesn’t resort to clichés of any kind. It could very well be an early contender for the best album of 2014
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10.0
65430
10.0 |
Drowned In Sound
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
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10.0
65467
10.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
To Be Kind sounds alternately like a derailing freight train, a spreading wave of nuclear obliteration, the scream at the end of the world, and the chilling calm afterwards – but for all that, it might be the most accessible Swans album yet
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10.0
65524
10.0 |
musicOMH
Of course it gets full marks – how could it not
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10.0
65604
10.0 |
Beardfood
Swans' newest undefinable album reaches all new heights never understood to be potentially touched in music
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10.0
66645
10.0 |
Entertainment.ie
Close the book on album of the year, it's already before us. To Be Kind is a stunning riposte to those who claim that rock music has lost the capacity to excite and amaze
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9.5
65942
9.5 |
Earbuddy
A two-hour long rock album without filler that remains engaging in spite of its length. I won’t say this will be the best album you’ll hear all year, but this is easily the best I’ve heard so far in 2014
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9.5
65478
9.5 |
The Quietus
Despite clearly being intricately crafted down to the tiniest gestures, To Be Kind's songs feel more fluid and open-ended than before, expressive and rich in possibility
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9.3
65598
9.3 |
Paste Magazine
There is no end to the nuances and subtleties that lay within. Find your starting point and start exploring
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9.2
65527
9.2 |
Pitchfork
As it plays out, To Be Kind starts to resemble a cult procession unto itself, a mesmerizing spectacle of an omnipotent band whose sound continues to expand in scope and ranks swell in size
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9.1
65603
9.1 |
Pretty Much Amazing
To Be Kind is a loving ode to chaos, full of deranged, mutant energy and even more brilliant for it
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9.1
65557
9.1 |
A.V. Club
Throughout To Be Kind, it seems as if Swans can barely contain Gira’s vision of what his music can surround, conquer, and absorb. Until that glorious apocalypse comes, To Be Kind will serve as another generous exhibition of his cruel mercy
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9.1
65562
9.1 |
Consequence Of Sound
Swans’ music scrapes away to expose the bone, allowing Gira’s seemingly simplistic mantras direct access to the blood stream
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9.0
65579
9.0 |
Spin
Where The Seer's title track ran 32:14, To Be Kind's centerpiece is 34:04, and four more songs crack the 10-minute mark; only one song, in fact, is under seven minutes long. It's that kind of record
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9.0
65448
9.0 |
The Music
To Be Kind is a masterwork of the highest order, one of 2014’s finest releases, and a highlight from a 30-year-plus discography
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9.0
65449
9.0 |
NME
This album still has the ability to shock and scare. It’s an insane and challenging, ambitious and exceptional work of art
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9.0
65425
9.0 |
Clash
Near perfection
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8.0
65426
8.0 |
FasterLouder
After 10 songs, two discs and over two hours of this, you’ll feel like you’ve lost a layer of skin
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8.0
65427
8.0 |
Time Out
It is a literally awesome record, huge, stark songs that explode with tectonic immensity
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8.0
65429
8.0 |
The Skinny
Despite the two-hour plus running time, Swans appear to be – gasp! – enjoying themselves
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8.0
65431
8.0 |
Mojo
Swans turn up the intensity a notch or three for the latest magnum opus. Print edition only
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8.0
65432
8.0 |
Q
Putting it on is less like listening to an album and more like scaling a mountain. Print edition only
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8.0
65433
8.0 |
Uncut
Michael Gira is not only moving forward but making some of the best albums of his career
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8.0
65438
8.0 |
DIY
A unique and wonderful achievement from a unique and wonderful band
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8.0
65447
8.0 |
All Music
The world of the Swans is a place where joy doesn't visit very often, but it's not as monochromatic as one might imagine, and the craft and vision behind this music is often stunning
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8.0
65529
8.0 |
PopMatters
The resurgence of Swans has served as a crystallizing instance of something important: People are still willing to give music their time and money. With albums like To Be Kind, it’s easy to see why
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8.0
65547
8.0 |
The 405
Incredibly, they're becoming even less safe, even less predictable, as they near pension age
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8.0
66282
8.0 |
Fact
Though Swans’ records are invariably seedy, To Be Kind is downright sexy, tender like a snake and surprisingly intimate
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8.0
65592
8.0 |
No Ripcord
That this all comes from a 60 year old making music that sounds like none of his other two dozen releases, of whom it was written in the mid 1990s that he may be "running out of ideas" is pretty impressive
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8.0
65731
8.0 |
The FT
The music is tethered to mesmerising grooves and insistent pounding riffs
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7.5
65580
7.5 |
Under The Radar
The nine lengthy works contained in the 2-CD/3-LP To Be Kind require an investment of attention
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7.0
65559
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Two straight hours of spook-house drones, battering-ram guitar blasts and Michael Gira's howled imperatives about love, sex and death
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6.0
65685
6.0 |
The List
These ten tracks reach deep into the darkest recesses of the blues, toy malevolently with a riff or rhythm long enough to induce hypnosis and then unleash hell
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6.0
65464
6.0 |
The Guardian
To Be Kind is uncompromising to the point of overindulgence
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