Children of God (Swans album)

Children of God is the fifth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. 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 in Cornwall, England. 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. "By 1986/7 Swans had run its course with the physical assault of sound that we had employed previously for the most part. I wanted to move on to other things and didn’t want to get stuck in some style, which in our case had the potential of becoming cartoonish if we’d continued in that direction. So, I pushed the music into unfamiliar territory."

Release history
Children of God was reissued along with the World of Skin 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 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 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 – vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, album cover concept and design, production
 * Jarboe – vocals, backing vocals, piano, keyboards
 * N. Westberg – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
 * Algis Kizys – bass
 * Theodore Parsons – drums, percussion
 * Simon Fraser – flute on "In My Garden"
 * Audrey Riley – cello on "Like a Drug (Sha La La La)"
 * Lindsay Cooper – oboe on "Blackmail" and "Trust Me"
 * Wilton Barnhardt – piano on "Blackmail"
 * Rico Conning – production, engineering
 * John Cornfield – engineering
 * Laura Levine – sleeve photography
 * Paul White/Me Company – sleeve artwork