Many find Angels of Light material to be so much more satisfying than Gira's work in Swans. Not that it's necessarily any better - it's just that with the Angels of Light Gira seems a lot happier with what he's doing, that he's unburdened by the history of what Swans was and so he's more free to play what he wants. We find that rather satisfying.

One gets the impression that his work with Devendra Banhart has rubbed off on him. Where the first album was more like a melodic, song-based Swans release, this one is substantially more folky (though not to say folk).

We also get the impression that if this wasn't a Michael Gira album it wouldn't be as good; he just knows how to deliver the songs in such a way as to keep them from falling apart.

Also, the way the liner notes are phrased is pretty charming.