''Children of God'' is the fifth studio album by American

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

band

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

. It was released on October 19, 1987, through record label Caroline and on K.422 in the United Kingdom.

Production

The album was recorded over the course of six weeks in February–March 1987 at

Sawmills Studios Sawmills Studios is a recording studio founded in 1974 by record producer, Tony Cox. It is located in Golant, on the banks of the River Fowey in Cornwall. Description The studio building is located on the tidal creek on the banks of the ...

Cornwall, England Cornwall (; or ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the Engli ...

. It represented a dramatic, experimental change in sound from earlier Swans releases, moving away from the brutality of previous work to explore acoustic instruments and more conventional song structures.

Release history

''Children of God'' was reissued along with the ''

World of Skin The World of Skin was a music project springing out of the American group Swans (band), Swans, which was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums bei ...

'' compilation (without the cover versions) as the 1997 ''Children of God/World of Skin'' CD. On the rerelease, the original album version of "Our Love Lies" was replaced with the version included on the ''

Love Will Tear Us Apart "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock music, rock band Joy Division, released on 27 June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis' marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was r ...

'' EP. The re-release also added "Damn You to Hell" and "I'll Swallow You" (under one title as "I'll Swallow You") from the '' New Mind'' single. The tracks "Sex, God, Sex", "Beautiful Child" and "Children of God" were shortened by several seconds with earlier fadeouts, and "Trust Me" fades directly into the brief interlude at the end. A

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

of the album, along with the live album '' Feel Good Now'', was released on November 13, 2020.

Track listing

;Original release Some pressings of the CD divide "Trust Me" into two tracks: The actual song (4:28), and an unlisted/untitled interlude consisting of a field recording of a rowboat on the water, with birds in the background (0:57). ;1997 re-release ''Children of God/World of Skin''

Personnel

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of ...

– vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, album cover concept and design,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, (born January 30) known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans ...

– vocals, backing vocals, piano, keyboards * N. Westberg – electric guitar, acoustic guitar *

Algis Kizys Algis Antanas Kizys (born September 8, 1960 in Chicago) is a New York City bass guitarist best known for his long-time membership in New York City band Swans. First joining Swans on 1986's '' Greed'' LP, he stayed with the group through ''The ...

– bass * Theodore Parsons – drums, percussion * Simon Fraser – flute on "In My Garden" *

Audrey Riley Audrey Riley is an English cellist and string arranger. Career Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn. She was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of the Family Cat. Ril ...

–

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

on "Like a Drug (Sha La La La)" *

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and th ...

–

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

on "Blackmail" and "Trust Me" * Wilton Barnhardt – piano on "Blackmail" * Rico Conning – production,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* John Cornfield – engineering * Laura Levine – sleeve photography * Paul White/Me Company – sleeve artwork

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Children of God 1987 albums Caroline Records albums Mute Records albums Albums produced by Michael Gira