Soundtracks For The Blind (studio album) by Swans

Soundtracks For The Blind by Swans
Year: 1996
Overall rank: 392nd   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 485 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1996 (7th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1990s (72nd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (392nd)
Product Details
Availability

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Swans - Soundtracks For The Blind [New Vinyl LP]
Condition: New


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Swans Soundtracks For The Blind (Vinyl)
Condition: New


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SWANS - SOUNDTRACKS FOR THE BLIND 3 CD NEW!
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Swans bestography

Soundtracks For The Blind is ranked 2nd best out of 37 albums by Swans on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Swans is To Be Kind which is ranked number 241 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,190.

Swans album bestography « Higher ranked (241st) This album (392nd) Lower ranked (449th) »
To Be KindSoundtracks For The BlindThe Seer

Upcoming concerts

Apr
12
Fri
20:00
Swans, Kristof Hahn
Howard Theatre, Washington D.C., United States. United States
Tickets from $35.00 (Ticketmaster) Get tickets
 
Apr
13
Sat
20:00
Swans
Union Transfer, Philadelphia, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
14
Sun
20:00
Swans
The Broadberry, Richmond, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
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Listen to Soundtracks For The Blind on YouTube

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Soundtracks For The Blind track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
3.
Track pick
Rating: 91 (197 votes)Comments: 8
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7.
Rating: 86 (119 votes)Comments: 4
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8.
Rating: 82 (89 votes)Comments: 0
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9.
Track pick
Rating: 87 (121 votes)Comments: 2
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10.
Rating: 81 (86 votes)Comments: 1
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11.
Rating: 83 (88 votes)Comments: 1
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12.
Rating: 87 (105 votes)Comments: 0
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13.
Rating: 82 (86 votes)Comments: 0
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14.
Track pick
Rating: 90 (144 votes)Comments: 1
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16.
Rating: 82 (87 votes)Comments: 0
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17.
Rating: 79 (87 votes)Comments: 2
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18.
Rating: 80 (86 votes)Comments: 0
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19.
Rating: 85 (93 votes)Comments: 0
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21.
Rating: 83 (86 votes)Comments: 2
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22.
Rating: 80 (83 votes)Comments: 1
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23.
Rating: 82 (85 votes)Comments: 1
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25.
Rating: 79 (80 votes)Comments: 1
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26.
Rating: 79 (82 votes)Comments: 3
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Soundtracks For The Blind rankings

Soundtracks For The Blind collection

Soundtracks For The Blind ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 485 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 485 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
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03/23/2024 00:16 RadioGraaah  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 55277/100
 
100/100
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03/01/2024 16:02 DrewHamster  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,63369/100
 
85/100
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02/29/2024 17:07 DriftingOrpheus  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 62381/100
 
100/100
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02/15/2024 08:41 miltiadis2001  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 65584/100
 
90/100
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02/10/2024 06:31 AAL2014  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,62677/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.9/100, a mean average of 82.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.0.

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Soundtracks For The Blind comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 32 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 03/06/2023 22:24
A great early record for Swans that is probably the most dark and mysterious album they have ever created. This is because the music on here is closer to post rock than their later releases which are more near the experimental rock sort of genre. This leads to a tense and atmospheric listen with the group creating an amazing environment for us. Where they shine, as they always do, is on the longer tracks with The Final Sacrifice, The Sound and Helpless Child being the peak of the record and the latter being amongst the greatest ever Swans songs. Swans are just the masters of longer songs as they have this ability to make them so engaging and complex that they become so rewarding to listen to. However, this release is held back by the shorter songs. There is quite a few of them on here and they just feel pointless for the most part and a lot of them could be skipped. I am someone who loves the fact that Swans albums are extremely long but when they have songs like this that continuously take me out of the music it makes the record drag and feel elongated. Overall, I personally prefer their more experimental albums that came later in their career but this is still great and I can easily see why people would rank it so highly as its full of a lot of high quality moments.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/19/2022 05:50
This band and this album are not first listen lovable, but when it hits you, it hits you veeeeeeeeeery hard
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/29/2022 13:14
One of the most interesting, beautiful, and scariest albums of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/01/2021 22:41
Gigantic sound, gigantic album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/31/2020 10:54
Fav. Tracks:

-Red Velvet Corridor
-I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull
-Helpless Child
-The Beautiful Days
-Volcano
-All Lined Up
-Animus
-The Sound
-YRP
-The Final Sacrifice
-YRP 2
-Surrogate Drone
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/28/2020 04:07
Interesting music I like to hear this. Some songs are not so good but other songs are immense good. Very good I mark this as favorable. Very recommended to listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 05/09/2020 23:19
This was powerful. It felt like all the music I have ever listened to had been in preparation for this arresting sonic experience, and I can’t wait to truly get to know this record, a feeling that doesn’t happen often when you’re always trying to listen to new stuff. A true contemporary epic!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/30/2020 23:23
Even though this may not stand up to wonderful trio of albums Swans crafted in the 2010's, it still is a polarizing and infinitely interesting piece of work that never loses its luster, instead it evolves with each listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/17/2019 22:24
The first half is perfect and the second half is almost perfect. When climate change hits, I'm blasting this album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/28/2019 21:59
Not so much an album as a catalogue of all Swans' previous experimentation distilled into the series tracks which act as scenes of an invisible film. The cues range from blurry, lo-fi vignettes to raging wall-of-sound chaos in a chronology which simultaneously makes no sense yet completely works. At times nail-bitingly gripping and at others hauntingly serene.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1996
1. If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle And Sebastian
2. Pinkerton by Weezer
3. Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow
4. Ænima by Tool
5. Odelay by Beck
6. Long Season by フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans]
7. Soundtracks For The Blind by Swans
8. Tigermilk by Belle And Sebastian
9. ATLiens by OutKast
10. Everything Must Go by Manic Street Preachers
11. Richard D. James Album by Aphex Twin
12. The Score by Fugees
13. Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z
14. Sublime by Sublime
15. Murder Ballads by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
16. Beautiful Freak by Eels
17. New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M.
18. Being There by Wilco
19. On Avery Island by Neutral Milk Hotel
20. All Eyez On Me by 2Pac
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