Goneja by Skinny Puppy
July 02, 2004 | 
26 Comments
The Artist: Skinny Puppy
The Song: Goneja
The Album: The Greater Wrong of the Right
Released 2004
Skinny Puppy is one of my favorite bands of all time. They put on amazing and crazy shows and at one point were, in my mind, the most original, artistic art out there.
Well, as they do, times have changed.
I’ve had The Greater Wrong of the Right in my rotation for about a month. At first listen I really didn’t care for it, it seemed like a distant shadow of the old Skinny Puppy and even though it grew on me a bit, I still feel that is isn’t Skinny Puppy.
They miss Goettel — that much is obvious, and you can bet your ass there is no “Dig It” or “Chainsaw” on this album. Having said that, if you look at it as some red-headed stepchild of Skinny Puppy, it’s pretty good. Much better than most of the crap this genre puts out now a-days.
In any case, I decided to go through the disc track by track and let you know what I think. So here goes:
“I’mmortal” is pretty good, it grows on you and the beats are great, but something seems a bit weak — and by that I mean wimpy — especially by old school Skinny Puppy standards.
“Pro-test” is pretty good in parts, but I could do without the “rap” — Ogre what were you thinking with that crap?
“EmpTe” is well…blah. Not horrible, but not really Skinny Puppy either.
“Neuwerld” has its moments, but they are few and far between. It’s much like many of the other tracks on The Greater Wrong of the Right it seems a bit forced and a bit “Neuweak.”
“Ghostman” is pretty good. It reminded me a bit of some of the tracks on Vivisect Vi or The Process.
I don’t have much to say about “d0wnsizer”. It’s alright.
“Past Present” is pretty good, but again, it’s not really Skinny Puppy sounding to me. It sounds more like Front Line Assembly or something. It’s got quite a “techno” sound to it.
“Use Less” is probably the “single” of the album. It’s pretty good, I like Danny Carey’s drumming (you can hear Tool there in the chorus) and the vocals are good, but this sounds very little like Skinny Puppy to me.
“Goneja” is a good track. It’s got that mixed up, disjointed feel of much of the tracks on “Too Dark Park”. I think this is my favorite track here — thus it’s the Song of The Week!
I thought “DaddyuWarbash” was a joke the first time I heard it, with that chipmunk vocal and cheesy lyric at the beginning. After a few listens I grew to like this song quite a bit, despite the lame lyrics. It’s still not the Skinny Puppy of old but hell, it’s better than most electro stuff out there today.
That’s it. If you are new to Skinny Puppy, whether you like GWOTR or not, I suggest you pick up some of their older stuff, maybe start with their Aint It Dead Yet? and by all means, if you can (I couldn’t get tickets when they came to Seattle the last time) see them live — do it!
Recommended if you like: Ohgr, cEvin Key, Front Line Assembly, Front 242
Filed under: Song of The Week
Comments
1. chartoo said:
Interesting, Skinny Puppy is reminiscent of Depeche Mode with a little dab of Kraftwerk thrown in for good measure.
Wow, caught the Ponys song after that. The lead singer sounds like a reincarnation of David Byrnes of the Talking Heads.
Everything old is new again. ;-)
Posted on July 2, 2004 12:09 PM | #
2. Keith said:
chartoo – That’s true. Skinny Puppy has been around for quite awhile though, and while this stuff might sound like DP/Kraftwerk, I assure you most of their work isn’t like this stuff.
Posted on July 2, 2004 12:21 PM | #
3. anders said:
nice. i actually recently posted about SP on music.for-robots.com. i also have pictures that i took at their NYC show online.
Posted on July 2, 2004 12:30 PM | #
4. Matt said:
I like this song, though I agree with you that it is a step or two short of the old stuff. I can’t say that I’m a Skinny Puppy afficionado, but “Blue Serge” is one of my all time favorites.
Posted on July 2, 2004 01:21 PM | #
5. Roger said:
Skinny Puppy is one of my all-time favourite bands too, but this latest album is only so-so. Like you say, much of it doesn’t sound like Skinny Puppy.
As for recommendations of older albums, ain’t it dead yet is awesome, especially the video version. Also check out Rabies and the combined Remission + Bites CD.
I haven’t seen them live - I actually had tickets for a show about, umm, 12 years ago, but it was cancelled :(
Posted on July 2, 2004 02:05 PM | #
6. Johan Svensson said:
Hey, I was thinking about posting a Skinny song as well. Have a look at my site soonish for those who want to hear some more Skinny Puppy.
Greater Wrong is a great album by its own, despite a large step away from SPs earlier style.
Keith: have you listened to some of the side projects of Skinny Puppy? Namely, ohGr (Nivek Ogre’s solo project) and cEvin kEy?
I’ll see Skinny live this summer. Can’t wait.
Now, what song to post? WORLOCKed? Grave Wisdom?
Posted on July 2, 2004 02:58 PM | #
7. Johan Svensson said:
Here’s an image of Skinny live, just to show that they’re… not quite Depeche Mode. :-)
Posted on July 2, 2004 04:02 PM | #
8. Crano said:
I have been a HUGE SP fan for a very very long time.
I would say my favourite album is Too Dark Park, and my favourite song on the album is Natures Revenge.
Now for the new album… you are right Dwayne was a great loss, and they / we miss him dearly. The new album was a bit of a let down for me as well… But it is still good to hear something new… hopefully there will be more.
Some of my recomendations: “Doubting Thomas” (SP side project), “Noise Unit”, let’s see here… something way out there, “Einsturzende Neubauten”. and Rx (Ogre’s band before ohGr)if you can find it.
Posted on July 2, 2004 05:30 PM | #
9. Michael Watts said:
Is Danny Carey a permanent fixture or just a ring in for that song?????
Posted on July 3, 2004 01:40 AM | #
10. Irfandhy Franciscus said:
Hi,
Not so long a go I made a post about IA and how cool you are.
Well now i want to make another comment about something similiar.
It dawned on me lately, that your blog and zeldman’s are some those rare sites, that will look the same, even though it is viewed using a 10.000 years old laptop that has a faulty graphic card.
I even try different browsers on different platforms, and it’s still look the same.
Care to share some of the secret recipes, o kind sir ^________^
Posted on July 3, 2004 09:54 AM | #
11. Keith said:
Irfandhy – Thanks! Anyway, it’s a bit of topic, BUT – I think the reason why my site degrades well and looks ok when “viewed using a 10.000 years old laptop that has a faulty graphic card” is because I tried very, very hard to avoid CSS hacks and I tested it extensively to make sure it would look good in out dated browsers. No real “secrets” here – just lots of testing and tweaking and some good old fashioned elbow grease!
Posted on July 3, 2004 10:41 AM | #
12. richard said:
Speaking of bands named after dogs…
http://www.pitbullgrindcore.com/
all i have to say is wow.
Posted on July 4, 2004 02:40 AM | #
13. Robert Lofthouse said:
Skinny puppy are/were good. They were/are more a combination of gothic/industrial than anything else.
I haven’t heard the new album, but I don’t think I want to either.
I absolutely love gothic/industrial music and barely listen to any form of metal these days. I do occasionally listen to black metal though, due to the stories the bands tell in their lyrics.
Keith: I assume you used to like Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, Fields of the Nephilim and the cure as well? :P
Posted on July 4, 2004 09:02 AM | #
14. Chris said:
Cool. Like Autechre mixed with NIN or something. This is good - but I haven’t heard their earlier material! I am thinking now I’ve missed out on some classic material?
Posted on July 4, 2004 11:24 AM | #
15. Robert Lofthouse said:
Just listened to Goneja via your song of the week thing - it’s awful. They have completely changed.
*puts chainsaw on*
Posted on July 4, 2004 11:31 AM | #
16. Christina said:
Well, I hope that it’s not their last album! My favorite track is “Candle”. Friendly greets, Christina
Posted on July 5, 2004 10:55 AM | #
17. J-Sin said:
friend of mine sent me this link…must say I just recently saw Skinny Puppy for the first time, after a decade or so of utter worship and they were great live, as best as I expected from the many bootlegs I’ve gathered over the years…was glad to see that they’re as political as ever with this new release…tour highlights include the weird scarecrow-like costume that Ogre sports in that one picture as well as tons of video screens with images of Bush and his cronies as well as images of dead from Iraq…and chris you’ve been missing out, if you’re into Autechre you’ve GOT to check out the band that defined industrial music…and by the way, why is my domain, s m other.net referred as “questionable content”?? lame.
Posted on July 7, 2004 08:11 AM | #
18. Mike said:
I just have to say this about the review: Dwayne didn’t write or co-write Dig it or Chainsaw.
Little homework might help.
Posted on July 22, 2004 01:04 AM | #
19. Keith said:
Mike – I never said he did. Might have seemed that way but no. It’s more in the sound that I think they miss Dwayne.
Posted on July 25, 2004 12:36 PM | #
20. tina said:
i guess i’m the odd one, but i think the greater wrong of the right is totally awesome. it doesn’t sound much like classic skinny puppy, sure, but that’s because they’ve evolved. i think it sounds a lot like ohgr. i really like the edge. i mean it’s 2004 now, not the 80’s.. they kinda have to sound different. i also think that this album is a bit more marketable, and i’m all for skinny puppy getting a bigger fanbase and more recognition.
Posted on August 10, 2004 11:49 AM | #
21. Polyglot said:
HI guys.
Nice to read your comments.
OK, let’s not ask too much from SP,
they’ve been out long, they miss Goettel, and so much groups (try to) imitate them nowadays.
(I mean, for example: listen to Front 242’s Geography (‘92), and you’ll recognize parts of today’s pop music heard on radio)
I’d even say I’m relieved that TGWOTR doesn’t sound like the old SP sound. We’re in the year 2004!
For me, early SP-listener and owner of 33 of their albums and singles, they sound pretty Skinny-like, though unfortunately, no more.
- I can’t imagine hearing a song like Goneja played by another band.
- Even if a lot of people laughed when they heard the kid-like voice in DaddyuWarbash, when I heard it the first time, it stroke me the good way, disturbing as some Cannibal Corpse album cover pictures.(weird comparison, but YKWIM ;)
Thanks for sharing,
best regards,
Poly
Posted on August 11, 2004 09:56 AM | #
22. Bruce said:
I honestly believe that Skinny Puppy’s last REAL Album was Last Rights. The Process was a miserable disapointment, and nothing more than a terrible reminder of the tragic death of who I consider one of electronic music’s finest musicians (We still love you Dwayne.) Why they can’t just let it go and fondly remember the old days is beyond me. Aint it dead yet? Yes, Skinny Puppy is very very dead.
Posted on October 21, 2004 10:07 PM | #
23. Janey said:
I loved this album, “Greater Wrong of the right”, and my favs are “Goneja” and “Past Present”.
I had many thoughts about it. It seems to me this album is about contradiction in your inner world, than everything looks alright but you feel that something is wrong (Wow, I found an album title there:). When you feel like you want to express yourself, you want to FIGHT, you strongly WISH for something but you still can`t clear out what… emptiness, suffering from isolation, unspent energy - everything can be found here.
The music is full of different colors, emotions, dynamics… pretty much like stream of consciousness, and that is so:)
“Process” is good too, but that`s another story.
I think we don`t need to criticize SP for making a step from their original style. Too much time has passed. Many things have changed. It would be wrong to go and record something just the same as an old stuff. AND I still feel that it is SP when I listen to GWOTR. Music changed, but idea is still the same. Stream of consciousness of some person who experiences conflict…
Well, that`s enough. Later I`ll move to early SP.
Posted on October 26, 2004 09:59 AM | #
24. Vince said:
Goneja.What an awesome 5 minutes of aural heaven.I love it.Along with Worlock,Amnesia and Morpheus Laughing it is(in my humble opinion)one of Puppys finest moments.Bet theres a few disagreements with that!Brap on and regards!By the way,anyone know what Goneja means?
Posted on March 28, 2005 08:18 AM | #
25. J said:
I must be honest and say that I agree with most. This record really did disappoint me quite a bit. I’ve been a huge fan of Puppy for a very long time. In fact anything Ogre touched, I was pretty much assured to love.
I thought before I listened to “The Greater Wrong Of Right,” there was finally going to be a Puppy record at the right place at the right time. I thought, “finally, there will be a Skinny Puppy song that will get some radio and television airplay.” Something to show people that Trent Reznor wouldn’t exsist without this band. After hearing this record, I found myself longing to hear something that sounded like “The Process” insted. I think they sort of dropped the ball with this one. I dunno. Maybe I can blame it on Dwayne Goettels tragic absence and Mark Walks infectous presence. It seems just as if there are two ohGr records insted of one terrificly mind blowing Puppy record that will amaze me for decades like all the rest of them.
Posted on April 14, 2005 06:51 AM | #
26. Inachu said:
My very first ever concert to see was Skinny Puppy.
They played in the auditorium in the
college Park area and from all the tapes I had
they were so much better live!
They were a bit artistic on stage and sometimes could not make out what they were doing as it was so twisted!
I would hope that the band swing from cool groovy twisted beats to suck new users into the puppy groove. First time listening to them back in 1988. One question I do have. I know they were on the soundtrack AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON but I could have sworn they did some soundtrack on the movie “Jacobs Ladder.” I could be wrong but the trailer for it sounded like it.
I wish some bands would do a “If I was a carpenter” with SP. I think it would be cool.
I made a few of my own remixes but its just to freak out the old ladies waiting at the red lights.
Posted on June 9, 2005 07:51 PM | #
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