my favorites are "Too Dark Park" "Last Rights" "Mind The Perpetual Intercourse" and "Rabies." Can't really go wrong with Puppy though :)

id say go with the Process first and work your way backwards thru the catalogue to get a good feel for them :)

then check out Download and such. cEvin Keys solo stuff also is great. but for more stuff that sounds like TGWOTR you should also check out the ohgr solo stuff too

I quite enjoy most of their mid to late 80's work, as well... Mind: TPI, Cleanse Fold and Manipulate, VIVIsectVI... and always was a big fan of Too Dark Park.

Personally, The Process didn't do much for me. While I'm not going to go on some purist rant about how they 'abandoned their sound', there was something lacking to my ears. I will give them the credit that they were experimenting with a new direction, which I can support... it just all seemed to be coming at a bad time for the band. Trying to kinda get their shit together when Last Rights was thought to be their final release, the addictions - Dwayne was at his worst in that timeframe, the whole label switch appeared to be a bit of a stressful transition, there were writings about mudslides, power outages... etc... things just didn't seem to be going their way at all, and while they had all sorts of wonderful ideas to work with, they just couldn't give their all into focusing strictly on the album. It wasn't the fault of an 'old, tired band' so much... just unfortunate circumstance.

Being that I was younger at the time, and in a place where these genres didn't have much of a foothold at all (even though I come from the same province as Dwayne - about an hour+ away from where he lived), my own first exposure to them was on their 1990 release "12 Inch Anthology", covering their earlier singles. That might be worth checking into, to get a feel for a couple of their albums all at once.

yeah definetly a weird time for it to come out ill agree there. i dont know, i personally loved it, but love everything else too

i got my little sister into skinny puppy a few years ago i remember. she didn't care for any of the older albums but loved the process and from there she started picking up albums almost completely backwards and now loves their entire catalogue

didn't shangri-la get flooded out too during that time?

maybe i´m wrong or getting too old for this kind of music, but i think the latest puppy is almost no diferent from the ohgr releases. something is missing there, the process is far better... or vivisect vi

the tracks warlock, assimilate, testure + far too frail are among the best songs every written hehe ( among others of course )

If you like Greater Wrong of the Right, you'll like Ohgr's SunnyPsyOp and maybe Welt.

Tha latest Puppy release is by far the most accesible. Try thier best of, the Doomsday live album, and Too DArk Park to see what you think of the old Puppy. Too Dark Park is prob the next most accessible album.

The Singles collection has the songs AlphaQuadrant speaks. He is wise in his song choice.

I personally like "rabies" a lot. The "Dys Temper" remix cd is awesome. I think it came out in 1998. The remix of the track "rodent" is crushing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Their track on the Underworld sound track is quite amazing as well.

Telephasic said it best. "you can't go wrong with puppy" its all great.

Cheers for the recommedations - will take em all on board - they playing Ireland hydro or ya gonna drag yer arse over here mate!??!

Hh ha, I was just over in London for NIN's July 4 gig in Brixton Academy (amazing) and I would definitely consider coming over to see SP!! We aint gonna get 'em in Eire, methinks!

Gotta say, London doesnt look too inviting at the mo....its absolutely shocking. Someone from work is heading over in a weeks time, and I'm all like stay off the tube and buses...take taxis everywhere!


I think you should definitely pick up SunnyPsyOp, its a really good album.

my SP-faves are "too dark park" and "last rights". "worlock" on "rabies" is imho the best electro-song ever!!!

how about the worlock video as a visual to compliment the sounds?

If you only need to own one Skinny Puppy cd, make it the Singles Collection...Id also suggets Last Rites, and yes, Greater Right of the Wrong, which feels like a kind of evolution from Last Rites. Skip the Process tho, the magnitude of my disappointment the day that came out was big.

xenocanon: i don't find the process too ear-friendly either, i rarely listen to it. i think the last one is better.

Demog: Damn right, Worlock is one of my favourite tracks ever.

I second eXitanYwhere though. If the original poster has just got into them via the new disc then Process would be the logical step.

Rivetmike

the one thing missing from all these skuppy recommendations is the large amounts of drugs best consumed while listening to Tha Dawg.

not that i am endorsing drug use. drugs are bad, m'kay?

What narcotics go best with SP then??

drugs are bad, real bad ummkay...
powdered goat urine sprinkled into cloves is amazing while rockin' to the puppy. Its natural and legal.

"so what's it gonna be pal?"

"ALL"

"looks like i'm gonna close early today"

*puts Skinny Puppy CD's in pocket*

"Hey you can't do that!"

"WRONG"

yep - so what drugs is shaloinmonkey on then??

no drugs, it´s shaolinmonkys normal state of mind lol

word to that Alpha!

Going to see Skinny Puppy next month for the first time. My friend has loaned me "The Greater Wrong of The Right" and I really like it.

they are playing the UK? rock!

They sure are! We are going on the 10th August, I can't remember where though! My friend has arranged it all!!

I saw Puppy twice last year on tour in the states. Both shows were amazing. I'm shocked that nobody recommended two of my favorites. "Remission" and "bites." I say buy them all. especially Too Dark Park, VivisectVi, and Mind the perpetual Intercourse, Last Rights, Cleanse Fold and Manipulate as well as Bites and Remission. If you are more into the guitar element start with "Rabies." There is also a great live disc called Ain't it Dead Yet from SP's 1987 tour.

Skinny Puppy RULES "Nuf Said" EH?

cheers for all the recommendations - now I need a little more help - I had the UK tour dates sent to me via an e-mail - they are down to play these dates

Manchester, UK Monday 8th August MANCHESTER UNI
Nottingham, UK Tuesday 9th August ROCK CITY
London, UK Wednesday 10th August ASTORIA


But I'm sure I've seen a Sheffield date (my adopted home town) somewhere since I received this - there's nothing (as yet) on the Corporation site which I think is the venue - anybody got any more info please??

Again many thanks for all the recommendations - will probably be starting with Too Dark Park!!

jeffo:As far as I know there is no Sheffield date, you might be thinking off KMFDM.

Rivetmike

I know it's the most disliked Skinny Puppy album, but I really really like The Process.
Didn't sit well on first listen though...

Otherwise I would say Too Dark Park, Last Rights, (and the rest of their back catalogue)

I'm thinking you could be right there rivermike - though I don't see a sheffiled date up on thier site either at the moment - thanks mate!

Go for Remission and Bites, my two favs. Also Cleanse, Fold, and Manipulate and Too Dark Park. Start with those. :)

Being a Skinny Puppy consecrated i can tell the following:

I must admit that even though i did enjoy "The Process", i do not think it belongs nowhere near the "my favorite" category.

While I have enjoyed the metal guitar works, whether sampled or actual, conducted by electro/industrial bands like Front Line Assembly, Noise Unit´s "Drill" and even Rammstein, i found the guitars on "The Process" highly protagonic.

Sure the album embodied a new vein of evolution in the life of the band.

The first track "Jahya", although making a spectacular intro, with strong lashes of metal guitar, Ogre´s growled whispering, blood-chilling female sampled voices and superb programming, lead to a lesser impressive metal like song named "Death".

Whenever i´m asked which one of Puppy´s works I prefer my response moves between "vivisectVI" (Harsh Stone White!) and "too dark park". Also the more organic "Bites" belongs within the highly appreciated albums of the band.

About "The Process", i think it really varies. For example i got into that kind of music few years ago, and the first Skinny Puppy album i heard, was The Process. So, out of all their albums, its my favourite. I only like few songs here and there on the older stuff, but "The Process" i like from begining to end :)

"Ain´t it dead yet" was my first Skinny Puppy CD and it is still my favourite. Great live record. "Bites" and "Remission" are great too, they are sounding really old and analogue. "Last rights" was not easy for me.

Hadean:

I do agree "The Process" has some variety throughout the many songs. Whenever metal guitars where played i found them over-protagonic and dominant though (unlike previous guitar parts included in SP´s songs, i.e. "one time one place" of Mind the Perpetual Intercourse where it sounded absolutely great and balanced).

You pointed out an element that can be signficant though: it was the first Skinny Puppy album you heard -that matters- :)

Some Puppy followers who are older than me told me they were used to see SP releasing their works exclusively on Nettwerk. So the upside sown flag logo of American records and the cover artwork marked a significantly new element to them. I recall one of them telling me he had a "bad feeling" about the album just by seeing the artwork and record company.

I remember reading some interview of Cevin Key, where if i recall correctly, he stated the inclusion of metal guitars caused severe arguments between the three bandmates (especially Dwayne Goettel who apparently had a remarkable dislike for metal guitars).

My first experience with Skinny Puppy was in a dark/industrial party, when the DJ played Last Rights´ "inquisition", it hooked me from the very first second of it.

VIVIsectV was their best work!

BUY IT!

JUST BUY 'EM ALL! Whatever ones you don't like, give/sell 'em to someone who will like it! Now we're all happy!

Cheers for the heads up on Skiny Puppy - caught them tuesday night in Nottingham - and had a great time - don't know if they played a range of stuff off the bcak catalogue but i had a great time in a great venue Ta!!

I always recommend buying Singles Collect first and the go from there with SP. You can't go wrong buying the Singles cd.

too dark Park may be the best industrial album ever! It was give to me by Mick Harris from Napalm death and turned my ears away from death metal for ever...

Great - I'm pretty friendly with Barney and can't believe how eclectic his tastes are when you listen to some of the dirge thatbthey record!

Nice to see 'em hanging out woth Jello on the most recent LP

Most musicians have varid taste dude. I toured with Scorn in 1992 and they had Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Doubtong Thomas, Delirium as well as Beastie Boys records on in the tour bus all the time. It made my taste in metal seem to narrowed to be real. I thank them for opening up...

It seems lately that I have been thinking that albums like Last rights, rabies, TDK still knock the shit out of the majority of scene albums coming out today. I do admit that those SP albums sound quite dated and "80s-ish, early 90s-ish" (imagine that...) but i still think as far as passion and even sound manipulation those records still beat out most stuff today. Does anyone feel that same? GWOTR was frikin awesome.

BTW, a system completely intoxicated with THC is the best way to listen to SP.

Bites is a gem.
Remission is a gem.
Too Dark Park is a gem.
ViviSectVI is a gem.
Singles Collect is a gem.
GWOTR is a gem. (I, also enjoyed it more than Process; which was enjoyed by me, yet my least favorite)
Mind: TPI is a gem.
Last Rights is a gem.
Rabies is a gem.
Ain't it Dead Yet? is a gem.


CFM and The Process were my two least favorites. Doomsday was my least favorite live album.

My favorites are Too Dark Park, Greather Wrong Of The Right, and Remission.

I think The Process feels so disjointed because it wasn't finished.

Also, I really don't think it's fair to say Greater Wrong Of The Right sounds the same as ohGr. GWOTR is far more complex and in general the songs are in minor key whereas ohGr was more often in major.

Ogre experiments a bit more with vocals on GWOTR, and there are a bit more vocal effects. Mark Walk worked with the band before back before Dwayne died so it's not as if he's a complete neophyte either.

And beyond that, I like to view GWOTR in the same context as Remission. The band has even said that GWOTR was intended to be an anti-pop album much in the same style as Remission and that the plan is to use that as a starting point to spiral outward from there.

I can understand not liking it, but I don't think it's fair to discount it or to say that they shouldn't have called it Skinny Puppy. It's their band and they can do whatever the hell they want with it.

Personally I don't think GWOTR is a much bigger jump from previous material as the incrimental steps of the past were. Rabies sounds nothing like Remission and Bites sounds nothing like The Process.

Ummm... everything. Then again I am a Puppy whore so bleh.

My favs are Vivisect VI, Rabies, Last Rights and The Process.

Can't go wrong with songs like Harsh Stone White, Punk in park zoo's, Choralone or Worlock.

Also ANYTHING by cEY is awesome. Download, Tear garden, Doubting Thomas.

And if you can get a hand on aDUCK from Goettel... so nice.

But Vivisect VI is truly amazing.

I fucking love Chainsaw...

You know...I love Puppy. They are one of my fave bands, but I am surprised that no one warned Bleedingjeff that as he works his way backwards he is also going to be seeing a huge drop in sound quality from disc to disc. I love all the albums SP has done (Even "A Chud Convention") but be forewarned as you go backwards... SP did the best that they could with the equiptment that they had available to them (As did F242, FLA, etc...) but the sound quality on alot of those 80's releases is not super great.

ron1n:

The sound quality of the early Skinny Puppy releases is a lot better than the sound quality on almost any music being released today. The early Skinny Puppy releases were mixed and mastered by professionals. I don't think you post makes much sense.

Compare something like Remission to The Process or TGWOTR or even Rabies if we are going to stick to one band. The sound quality of the releases only gets better. I only mention this because I have noticed that you have to turn the volume way up on a lot of early Puppy albums to hear them at times. But the was only the recording quality of the time. I am not talking the mix or even musical quality or mastering. It is just what they had available to them at the time. Try listening to Assimilate or some of the early releases without turning them up next to newer stuff. I'll wait.

So if it is just a matter of how things used to be, then what does it have to do with Skinny Puppy?

Sigh.... not much. But it is a warning. Some people trying to get into Industrial might think that since we are an electronics based scene that all of the recordings are going to be this wonderful sounding quality. I do not know the person who started this thread. Has he been into industrial long? Prolly not as he is just now discovering SP one of the bands that are what I would call required listening when you are getting into this scene. (Very listenable and easy to get...compare to something like NTT's "NTT Fucks The Shit Out Of Unter Null" which is a limited edition CDR power noise release that has what 100 copies worldwide?) If he or someone os just now getting into industrial by following certain bands they need to know what they are in for. That is all I'm saying. I am not trying to start a flame war or anything, I know what I am trying to say as a warning. Maybe we just don't see these things the same way. I would just rather have more people get into the scene that I love, but at least know what they can expect when they start exploring the scene. C'mon I mean a lot of older non-mainstream indust. material is very hard to listen to now isn't it?

So your point is that you are old and knows better than the people who are not so old. Good for you.

I love the newest skinny puppy album

@ Apskaft

I wrote and deleted 2 reponses to that last wise crack before submitting this final thought. I really don't care what you think of me. Maybe we disagree on some things maybe we agree on certain others. Does not matter to me because arguing an album that is 22 years old at this point and recorded on a budget of 600$ just isn;t really all that damn important in the grand scheme of things? Maybe that is the benefit of being a little older, the wisdom that these sort of things are UNIMPORTANT. I'm not going to sit here andf have a 4673896437826 post flame war over something really not that important. I have better things to do with my time.

Dylan / DJ Ron1n

Ron1n:

You put a lot of effort into proving you have nothing to say. I am not here to start a war with you. I love SP and so do you so I guess we could even be friends. But the fact remains: Noise level are lower on modern recordings, but the sound quality was usually better back then (when Skinny Puppy recoded their albums) because the job was done by professionals.

You refer to the headroom being greater in the old recordings, resulting in a lower base level of sound.

No one talks shit about da puppies.They are CanEHdian eh?I agree with DJ Ron1n though.

Thanks Electro...

@ Apskaft
Sedusa is right...I shouldn;t be posting when drinking and partying on a holiday weekend. No, you are right. More than likely in an actual conversation we could figure out what each other was talking about. We could probably even be friends. I wouldn't mind. Really. Names Dylan, my favorite SP album is (amazingly enough after all of this talk of it) Remission? Which is yours?

Dylan

Electro:

Skinny Puppy is god and your god is not.

ron1n:

I can't make up my mind really. Either it is Too dark park or Mind TPI or viviSECTvi or Last rights. But one thing is certain. Skinny Puppy is the best band in the world.