LIVE ROPE

Live Rope was a pleasant suprise to say the least. I originally purchased the album with just the intent to fund Swans' next studio album, but I got much more than I initially bargained for. Starting out, the live performances selected for the album blew me away. I had seen Swans on their 2023 Europe tour in Tavastia, so I had an inkling of what to expect. I knew that the Beggar live rendition would be over an hour long, and that the intensity would be much closer to the 2010-2016 Swans material.

The Beggar track is honestly the best track in the album, full stop. The version on the record isn't flawless (Michael has a slip up with his playing near the start), but it does so much right. As with most long Swans tracks, the rendition slowly climbs from progression to progression, while the musicians batter the listener's senses with fevor. Gira's vocal performance could be described as raving, which fits the torrent of sound just wonderfully. Even the portions where he starts shouting gutteral worldless howls, I find them more than appropriate.

Birthing was a song I had no real thoughts on after seeing the Tavastia show, so I was more than pleased to hear that it had evolved into a very distinct form. At points the blended sound of the guitars brings to mind cold shifting waters, which is followed by a wonderfuly torturous guitar solo by Pravdica (I believe, but I could be wrong). The rest of the tracks weren't as notable as Beggar and Birthing, but were still more than pleasant to listen through. The tracks that were present on earlier studio albums succeeded in being distinct from their earlier appearances, and at points managed to be a better version of the track, like with The Hanged Man (remember to fill your bingo card on spot "live Hanged Man is better").

The only real issue with the album is the fact that you can no longer purchase the un-cut rendition directly from YGR. Unlike the earlier crowdfunding albums, Swans has decided to continue selling Live Rope after the fundraising was completed. However, the only available option is the 2x CD version, which has some segments cut down in order to fit the tracks on the discs. I personally bought the Vinyl+CD+digital wav package, and based on listening to the different versions, the full version is the best. The CD version is still very much worth it, even more so if you liked the 2010-2016 Swans material, but just keep in mind that it's not ideal.