Skinny Puppy – The Process

It is a mixed bag and in no way a masterpiece. There are flashes of brilliance amidst failed experiments. It seems more like an album of outtakes than a proper album.

So now that enough time has passed everybody now realizes this one's a masterpiece, right?

I guess this would be the ideal RSD vinyl re-release

How is it possible that this album was never released on vinyl?

Probably their Magnum Opus, "The Process" is easily one of Puppy's more debated albums among fans. The problem with this album is it's a pop sensible rock album from an anti-pop and in a sense anti-rock band. Tracks like "Candle" and "Cult" ride the line on being rock songs, while tracks like "Death", "Hardset Head", and "Curcible" ride the line on being straight up metal songs. This is easily the most mainstream accessible album they made in their original incarnation (several tracks were even used throughout the nineties on movies soundtracks, not artsy or counter-culture movies either, mainstream movies; ie. see Suburbia). At this point Puppy had pretty much left behind their new wavy synth lines and drum machine tracks years ago for a more metal influenced noisy and heavy sound. The issue people have is that this album took a swift turn at Last rights, and went sharply left towards rock/pop. From a music lover's perspective in general this album is a masterpiece, flowing seamlessly from beginning to end (If you play it on repeat, the first and last track actually loop into each other). There is little to no filler, from a band that though i love, has a substantial track record of making overly indulgent abstract noise tracks for the album's sake more than listening pleasure (listen to "fritter, Stella's home" from VIVsectVI to get a perfect example of this). The Process is good, maybe too good? At least too slick in a sense anyways for Puppy fans to handle. The reality is though, that SP were a constantly evolving band in their original incarnation, they never kept one sound for longer than an album or two, and after "Last Rights", this was a pretty rational direction for them to take; they had delved about as far into the Last Rights and Too Dark Park sound as they could without being redundant, or standing still, and going more nosy would have probably just led them back to the VIVIsectVI sound. Looking at all the album's together this album is a natural progression, though many fans would likely ague that. From the band's perspective this album was practically cursed; it more or less broke up the band, and shortly after it's inception one of the members died. and supposedly the sessions were plagued with issues among band members, and issues with drugs as well. There was never even a tour or anything to promote "The Process", and the studio sessions were so problematic and costly that Def-American actually dropped their other planned 2 next albums with SP because of it. So from everything listed it's easy to understand why this album gets so much abuse. In the end, "The Process" is a really good, little to no filler, well produced album (that DESPERATELY needs a vinyl reissue), and if nothing else, it makes an excellent gateway into the SP catalog.

"The Process is trying to link people into accepting the total sum of the parts that have, throughout time, polarized people. Through the acceptance of no one particular dogma, one begins to see the parts of all beliefs from which he/her can construct their own path or reality."
– Nivek Ogre

from this interview: http://www.waste.org/~skumm/Q&A.htm Question 4.

good album from a great band. but lets not forget the title track.
the process:
"process: alternative - mass control.diversification and guilt. jealousy. prejudice the courage to be themselves...often hated.aims to make individual freedom. spiritual bounds. mental shackles. to heal the wound of separation.
to question the unquestioning of the mind
offers an alternative to mass control

the center of the information war

progressed
we have progressed

physically as far as we can go... next stage mental.the process is you. justification decentralized by conditioned guilt.fear responses
realize..for individuals who wish to acquire. the process

sigil to the will
give the mind before which is a function of the self to react
the act of focusing releases a tremendous energy
WHICH NEED NOT PROCESS
as the concourse lowers positive flow of energy
process..process

so be it
the process
so be it

body..like mindedness..ageless souls..striving for individual matters...toward collective goals. a guiltless state of self awareness. the process is you.
THE PROCESS IS YOURS"

thats what this album is all about
the process is YOURS

I dislike the most reviews...after several months of listening this, this gave me an insatisfaction and depressing sensation. Maybe is not musicaly crushing and impacting like others albums, but it's simple, sounds good and this have an real intention from the members. I like every Skinny Puppy album because every album has it originally sound (not like NIN) and one day this crushed my heart. Don't listen it once...search deeper ;).

Like dj_medusa, I hated this album back when it came out and while my tastes have grown tremendously since then, it still makes me cringe whenever I hear it. I can find tracks that I like, but even those only make the grade in light of how awful the rest of it is. Whatever factors played into the creation of this album, a new approach is not synonymous with quality, nor is it an excuse for putting out garbage.

It's not one of my favorites and I hated it when it originally was released. Part of that probably stemming from being young and thinking that my favorite band had sold out to what was then a major label. I've recently started to give the album a second chance, so I'm still digesting it today. Now with a more mature ear and outlook on music, I can find tracks that I like. It's still not a good solid Puppy album in my book, though. It sounds like too much rock was starting to bleed into their sound at that stage of their career. Signs of what was to come with the reunion of Key and Ogilvie in 2004? But then again, I'm the rare fan that's not too thrilled with <i> The Greater Wrong of the Right</i> either. Call me picky.