Skinny Puppy - The Greater Wrong Of The Right

I think it a little glib to review a record that one does not own. I also think it a little silly to bash any record, as i dont find that useful when i am considering a purchase, as i would rather hear why someone likes a record versus reading someone complain. So when I saw this album previously reviewed with the those two points made quite clear, I felt compelled to review it anew, but from a more positive perspective. I do own this record and have found it fantastic. Skinny Puppy have impressed me over the years because they always move and grow in interesting directions. With the greater wrong of the right, they take a bold left hand path, and fuse Ogres' clean, and well delivered vocals with a fresh batch of electronic programming from Key. the list of guests are extensive and diverse, and the nice thing is that their appearances never dominate any particular track. Thus you have people as diverse as Danny Carey (Tool) and Otto Von Shirach appearing on the record and yet, it is ostensibly skinny puppy.

To say this record was eagerly anticipated would be an understatement. It was like the industrial equivilant of Pink Floyd releasing a follow up to the Division Bell. However, given that Skinny Puppy was never going to make every crusty old fan happy, they still managed to create a record that they wanted to make, and made it fresh. Although i really enjoyed this release, what really made me smile was seeing my 16 year old cousin get completely turned onto Skinny Puppy because of this record, which was how old i was when i was first exposed to this seminal band way back when.

In the end, it is good to see that the artists that i respect and have grown up with are still creating music that is meaningful to them, sound fresh, and have taken their namesake in a bold and crucial new direction.

I don't own this and probably never will after hearing a few cuts from it before it came out. It sounds like Skinny Puppy took the worst elements from 'The Process' and made an entire album out of them. The programming is tight and highly refined sounding more like newer Front Line Assembly material with Nivek singing over it. Of course, the guitar riffs are now a bigger part of the set than in any other Skinny Puppy release. What's worse, I can't seem to shake the music video for one of the singles out of my head - it features a crew of "gothick" goons break-dancing against another group of your average "junglists" a la 'You Got Served'. Indeed, after being served 'The Greater Wrong Of The Right' it began to make me sick and I think I'll have to purge.