Children of God is the eighth album by the American band Swans

Swans (band)

Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...

, released in 1987. It was re-released along with some songs by World of Skin

World of Skin

The World of Skin was a project springing out of the American group Swans, and was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the...

 on CD in 1997, as Children of God/World of Skin

Children of God/World of Skin

Children of God/World Of Skin is the 1997 re-release of the 1987 Children of God album by the American post-punk band Swans.The re-release comes with a bonus track , and an additional disc, World of Skin, the band's side project, containing most of the songs from its...

. On this re-release, the original album version of Our Love Lies was replaced with the version included on the Love Will Tear Us Apart EP. Also, the re-release added Damn You To Hell and I'll Swallow You (under one title as I'll Swallow You) from the New Mind

New Mind (EP)

New Mind is an EP by the New York band Swans. The title track would appear in a one minute longer version on their next studio album Children of God...

EP as a bonus.

Track listing

1. "New Mind
   New Mind (EP)
   New Mind is an EP by the New York band Swans. The title track would appear in a one minute longer version on their next studio album Children of God...
   
   " – 5:13
2. "In My Garden" – 5:34
3. "Our Love Lies" – 5:50
4. "Sex, God, Sex" – 6:49
5. "Blood and Honey" – 4:46
6. "Like a Drug (Sha La La La)" – 5:36
7. "You're Not Real, Girl" – 4:21
8. "Beautiful Child" – 5:16
9. "Blackmail" – 3:34
10. "Trust Me" – 5:23
11. "[Unlisted/Untitled Interlude]" – 0:57
12. "Real Love" – 6:23
13. "Blind Love" – 7:46
14. "Children of God" – 4:34

Personnel

Swans

• Michael Gira
  Michael Gira
  Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , sounds, keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , acoustic
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
   guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Jarboe
  Jarboe
  Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
  
   – vocals, all female background vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  , sounds, piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Algis Kizys
  Algis Kizys
  Algis Kizys is a New York City bass guitarist most well-known for his long-time membership in No Wave indie band Swans. First joining Swans on 1986s Greed LP, he stayed with the group through The Great Annihilator...
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Ted Parsons
  Ted Parsons
  Ted Parsons is an American drummer most notable for his membership in bands such as Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke and Jesu.-Biography:...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Norman Westberg
  Norman Westberg
  Norman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
  
   – electric
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
   and acoustic guitar

Additional musicians

• William Barnhardt – piano on "Blackmail"
• Lindsay Cooper – oboe
  Oboe
  The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
  
   on "Blackmail" and "Trust Me"
• Simon Fraser – flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
   on "In My Garden"
• Audrey Riley
  Audrey Riley
  Audrey Riley is a cellist and string arranger based in the UK. Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn and was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The Family Cat. She has been a member of the post-minimalist band Icebreaker...
  
   – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  on "Like a Drug (Sha La La)"