The Glowing Man

The Glowing Man is the fourteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on June 17, 2016 on Young God and Mute.[7][8] It is considered the third and final part of a three-album "trilogy", the other two parts being The Seer and To Be Kind.

The Glowing Man
A simple drawing of a bent arm
Studio album by
Swans
ReleasedJune 17, 2016 (2016-06-17)
StudioSonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas)
Elmwood Studios (Dallas, Texas)
Studio Litho (Seattle, Washington)
CandyBomber (Berlin)
Micro-Moose (Berlin)
Jen Turner's apartment (Brooklyn, New York)
B.C. Studios (Brooklyn, New York)
Genre
Length118:23
LanguageEnglish
Label
ProducerMichael Gira
Swans chronology
The Gate
(2015)		 The Glowing Man
(2016)		 Deliquescence
(2017)
Singles from The Glowing Man
  1. "When Will I Return?"
    Released: May 27, 2016
  2. "Finally, Peace."
    Released: November 18, 2016

The song "The World Looks Red/The World Looks Black" contains lyrics written by frontman Michael Gira that were used in the Sonic Youth song "The World Looks Red" in 1983; the music is new, with no relation to the earlier version.[8] Swans and Sonic Youth both developed in the early 1980s post-punk/no wave scene of New York City, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore was an early member of Swans appearing on the live album Body to Body, Job to Job (recorded 1982–85, released 1991). The title track for The Glowing Man has previously been referred to as "Black Hole Man"[9] and "Black-Eyed Man" and includes a section of "Bring the Sun / Toussaint L'Ouverture" from the 2014 album To Be Kind. The song "When Will I Return?" was uploaded to YouTube on May 27, 2016.[10]

Prior to its appearance on The Glowing Man, "Frankie M." was part of Swans' live sets as early as 2014, its length and arrangements differing each time it was performed.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[11]
Metacritic81/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. ClubB+[13]
Consequence of SoundB+[2]
Financial Times[14]
Mojo[3]
Pitchfork8.1/10[15]
Record Collector[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Spin8/10[18]
Uncut8/10[19]

The Glowing Man was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for Exclaim!, Griffin J. Elliot called the album "a meticulous exercise in the band's streamlining their abstract sound, taking what they've done before and playing it under a newer, grander spotlight."[20] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni wrote for Pitchfork, "The love in [Gira's] music is as terrible as it is beautiful, a wrenching act of spiritual determination. Swans make this sound effortless, though, in a fitting end to a remarkable chapter of their career."[15] Paul Simpson of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, describing the album as "another exhilarating portal into the unknown."[1] Louis Pattison, writing for Uncut, claimed the album is "gesturing towards something more contemplative" and is "certainly weathered by the journey."[21]

In a more mixed review, Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten stated that "While their long, drawn-out, circling dark clouds remain potent, ultimately The Glowing Man is the weakest of the three powerful epics they’ve released since 2012."[22]

Several music criticism websites included The Glowing Man on their lists of the best albums of 2016. Rockdelux ranked the album at twelfth in their top international albums of the year.[23] Sputnikmusic ranked it at thirty-eighth, with staff member Raul Stanciu writing that "[The Glowing Man] takes an important step forward for Swans, thus deserving its place as another significant achievement in their discography."[24] The Quietus placed the album at eighty-seventh on their list, with writer Lior Phillips writing "the instrumentalists ripple out in meditative layers, never covering over or distracting from it, but rather reinforcing."[25]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016 2016 87[26]
Sputnikmusic Staff’s Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016 38[27]
Uncut Top Albums of 2016 2016 46[28]
Rolling Stone (Germany) Top Albums of 2016 2016 16[29]
Rockdelux Top International Albums of 2016 2016 12[30]
Rockerilla Top Albums of 2016 2016 14[31]

Track listing

All music is composed by Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christopher Pravdica, Christoph Hahn, Thor Harris and Phil Puleo, except where noted

Disc one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Cloud of Forgetting" 12:43
2."Cloud of Unknowing" 25:12
3."The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black"Michael Gira14:27
4."People Like Us"Michael Gira4:32
Total length:56:54
Disc two
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Frankie M." 20:58
2."When Will I Return?"Michael Gira5:26
3."The Glowing Man" 28:50
4."Finally, Peace."Michael Gira6:15
Total length:61:29
Vinyl version (Side one)
No.TitleLength
1."Cloud of Forgetting"12:43
2."Cloud of Unknowing" (Part 1)6:04
Vinyl version (Side two)
No.TitleLength
1."Cloud of Unknowing" (Part 2)19:48
Vinyl version (Side three)
No.TitleLength
1."The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black"14:27
2."People Like Us"4:32
Vinyl version (Side four)
No.TitleLength
1."Frankie M."20:58
Vinyl version (Side five)
No.TitleLength
1."When Will I Return?"5:26
2."The Glowing Man" (Part 1)15:02
Vinyl version (Side six)
No.TitleLength
1."The Glowing Man" (Part 2)13:55
2."Finally, Peace."6:15

Personnel

Adapted from the official Young God Records website:[8]

Swans

Guests

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[32] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33] 39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[34] 69
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[35] 49
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 54
UK Albums (OCC)[38] 61
US Billboard 200[39] 151

References
  1. Simpson, Paul. "The Glowing Man – Swans". AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  2. Barry, Sean (June 17, 2016). "Swans – The Glowing Man". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  3. Segal, Victoria (July 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man". Mojo (272): 92. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  4. "Swans – The Glowing Man". Spectrum Culture.
  5. "Swans – The Glowing Man". The Line of Best Fit.
  6. "Swans – The Glowing Man". Pretty Much Amazing.
  7. Camp, Zoe (April 5, 2016). "Swans Announce New Album The Glowing Man, Share Title Track: Listen". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  8. "The Glowing Man (preorder)". Young God Records. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  9. "Swans Live Review @ Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn Vegan". Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  10. SWANS (May 27, 2016). "When Will I Return". Retrieved June 15, 2016 – via YouTube.
  11. "The Glowing Man by Swans reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  12. "Reviews for The Glowing Man by Swans". Metacritic. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  13. Warwick, Kevin (June 17, 2016). "With The Glowing Man, Michael Gira caps off Swans' golden age of exploration". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  14. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (June 24, 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man — review". Financial Times. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  15. Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (June 21, 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  16. Hamnett, Alun (July 2016). "Swans – The Glowing Man". Record Collector (455). Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  17. Weingarten, Christopher R. (July 11, 2016). "The Glowing Man". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  18. Camp, Zoe (June 21, 2016). "Review: Swans' Actual Swan Song Is a Cloud of Unknowing on 'The Glowing Man'". Spin. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  19. Pattison, Louis (July 6, 2016). "Swans – The Glowing Man". Uncut. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  20. Elliot, Griffin J. (June 16, 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  21. Pattison, Louis (July 6, 2016). "Swans – The Glowing Man". Uncut. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  22. Weingarten, Christopher R. (July 11, 2016). "The Glowing Man". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  23. "Acclaimed Music". www.acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  24. "Sputnikmusic – Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2016: 50 – 31 « Staff Blog". Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  25. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  26. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  27. "Sputnikmusic – Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2016: 50 – 31 « Staff Blog". Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  28. "EOY 2016 – Uncut Magazine (UK) – Acclaimed Music Forums". acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  29. "EOY 2016-Rolling Stone (Germany) – Acclaimed Music Forums". acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  30. "Acclaimed Music". www.acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  31. "Rocklist.net...Rockerilla End Of Year Lists..." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  32. "Austriancharts.at – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  33. "Ultratop.be – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  34. "Ultratop.be – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  35. "Dutchcharts.nl – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  36. "Offiziellecharts.de – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  37. "Swisscharts.com – Swans – The Glowing Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  38. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  39. "Swans Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
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