Customer Reviews

Remix Dys Temper

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

So I put this CD* on and started looking at the s.p. reviews for different albums and got to this one, which has people screaming blasphemy left and right (remixes bring that out though)

I liked this CD and bought it when it came out; I knew a couple of the artists who remixed tracks but mainly bought it because I own all the puppy albums + sideprojects and such and thought it might be interesting. The neotropic remix of 'love in vein' is probably my favorite. Autechre is 100% all-them until the end when you hear some samples from the killing game in longer than 0.25s loops.

All of that said, this is not a skinny puppy album, it's a derivative 'greatest hits remixed by artists you like/may like - please buy this, sincerely, Nettwork)

*it's not a cd, it's been borg'd to mp3s from the cd along with all other cds 12 months ago)

This Is a 4 star album really, but the 5 was for offset of some of the extremist opinions.

About the album itself: Taken as a standalone work, it's a good album. It's got a good beat and a hard, yet somewhat jazzy style.

This being said, this is not a puppy album. It's closer to being a puppy album than, say, a tribute album is, but as some reviewers have pointed out, it's not "the real thing".

Taking a fair stance, it's not a boppy album that the Britney fans will love . . . True Puppy fans seem insulted by this but they shouldn't be; it's not "Block Rock'N Beats" that just had the tempo brought up or down . . . it's a remix album. They're songs that have been blended, swapped around, and yes, even sometimes looped in spots. It's a good "get your feet wet" for someone who wants to get into harder music . . . and it's a good change for those of us who sometimes take our more extreme music too seriously.

Listen to it before you buy it - if you like it, you won't be disappointed; if you don't like it, you won't waste your money.

I've had this disc for over a year now and it gets BETTER every time I listen to it. It's one of my favorite SP cd's, and I got em all! No lie... it's definately different than the rest of the collection, but in a good way! I highly reccomend it to newbie's and old fans. It is one of those cd's that you hear something new every time you hear it.

I just read the other reviews and I have to say most are knee jerk reactions. First i need to say that i'm 30 years old. The first time I ever heard SP was around '86. The 12 inch single "DIG IT" came out, and I bought it. My first reaction was that it was some sort of rap song. I know that sounds strange now, but I had not heard anything like it before. I had no way of categorizing it, it didn't really fit with anything i'd heard before. And that is the point. This remix CD is not pure SP, but sort of impressions from different artists as to what SP was. The "CENSOR" track being done as a "rap" song is great, it reminded me of my first Sp impressions. Autechre's "KILLING GAME" is really clever too, in that it was a recording of manipulated record. SP songs on record (not CD) were always fun to speed up or slow down back in the day. (TRY "DIG IT" on 45rpm). Of course that is sort of "mentioned" on this CD. Those of you who have some sort of pretense about what SP was/are need to remember that SP was a category breaker. I've known many Puppy heads, and everyone has there own take on what SP are. I mean, are they Hippies trying to fight for animal rights and enviromental concers, are they Punk rockers, are they Horror movie characters, are they ground-breaking musicians? I like the spirit of the CD and beyond that I thank the Music god's that there is another Skinny Puppy CD to listen to. There are not that many coming out anymore. Of course cross your fingers that the Dresden Doomsday Festival will be recorded correctly (audio and film), as we may have another blessing this time next year to listen to.

I don't know who half of these bands are, nor do I care after listening to their "remixes". This sounds like a MuchDance 95 CD. Skinny Puppy is just NOT a dance band, sorry. The only person who seemed to put any effort into their remix was Rhys. Ironically, he was the LAST person I expected to put any originality into a remix!! Skinny Puppy deserved better than this garbage!

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best and 1 being worst: Worlock - Rhys Fulber: 6 -- This remix is good, but lacks the high tragedy of the original mainly due to Fulber's inexplicable removal of the string tracks (the strings are what made the original so good). Tin Omen - Adrian Sherwood: 3 -- Not unlistenable, but pretty near. Samples of Ogre shouting "Ohio" make this remix sound like some Ohio University football song. Smothered Hope - Ogre/Mark Walk: 6 -- Bizzare, surreal, completely unexpected re-working of this Puppy classic (apparently the original master tapes were lost so they had to reconstruct the song). Killing Game - Autechre: 8 -- Not the kind of song you want to listen too over and over, but it's pretty darn near amazing. Completely unrecognizable from the original. Chainsaw - Josh Wink: 9 -- Funky techno/break type beats with Ogre's vocals and that's about it, but the minimalism works well. A strong track. Testure - God Lives Underwater: 8 -- Okay, so it doesn't break any ground, that's not the point. It's a good solid track and very listenable. Addiction - Gunter Schulz: 7 -- Nice, listenable, not much else to say on this one. Assimilate - Chris Vrenna: 8 -- Good. Sounds like he sampled a beat from "Dig It" to apply to this one. Not anywhere near as aggressive as the original, but pretty good. Spasmolytic - Deftones: 6 -- Yah, okay. Love In Vein - Neotropic: 7 -- pretty good. Rodent - Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall: 10 -- contrary to what others have said, I think this is the most stand out track on the album. The other songs, even at best, sound pale in comparison to the originals, but Hiwatt's version sounds STRONGER than the original song which was a live-in-studio improvisation piece. Hiwatt takes the somewhat disjointed song and makes it into a superbly solid track. Censor - Guru: 1 -- I'd give it a zero but I'm feeling generous. This is unlistenable. The background loop doesn't match the vocal tempo and after a few seconds you feel like throwing up (that was mean, but I couldn't help it).

Since the recent release of hanDover, I decided to dust this one off and give it a listen because I never really listened to it when it was first released in '98. It's like having a second new Puppy album to listen to.

I see there are a lot of negative reviews for this album. Not sure I agree it's as bad as all that. There are definitely some clunkers on this thing, but there are also some very good updates on this tribute-type album. Here are some of the positives that I see:

-Ken Marshall's DDT Mix of 'Rodent' is a fantastic remix. I'd argue it's better than the original.
-Gunter Schulz' Opium Mix of 'Addiction' is solid. I was surprised by the lack of KMFDM power chords in his version. However, good update of a great song.
-Adrian Sherwood's Main Mix of 'Tin Omen' is another good one. No complaints.
-The God Lives Underwater version of 'Testure' is decent. Interesting take on the song.
-Lastly, Josh Wink's 9.6-minute version of 'Chainsaw' is excellent, far exceeding the original, in my opinion. Yes, it is a dancey tune, which may not appeal to all SP fans, but Wink is a house DJ/Producer. Regardless, I am very impressed with his version.

Some other thoughts. I liked the music on the Gutter Mix of 'Censor', unfortunately the music does not go at all with Ogre's vocals. They should've tweaked the effect on Ogre's voice to better match the music or added a bit more of an edge to the music to match the vocal. Missed an opportunity here.

The rest of the tracks really don't have much going for them. I am surprised that I don't like Rhys' version of 'Worlock'. Rhys Fulber + Worlock = Mediocre, at best? I guess I expected a lot more with that level of material and talent. Similar comment for the Deftones' interpretation of 'Spasmolytic': disappointing...did not meet expectations or potential. And the rest? Eh.

Awarding 4 stars seems fair for the 5 quality tracks highlighted above.

I can't beleive these bands participated in this horrible tribute to skinny puppy. They took some of their greatest songs and mangled them terribly. You will be disappointed and saddened.

Here are some notes before I begin unmercifully bashing this album: 1. Chris Vrenna (NIN) made the best remix of Assimilate I've ever heard (blows R23 out of the water completely). In fact I think this is the best remix of a SP song ever done by a non-Puppy member. Outstanding track. 2. The remix of Rodent gets an honorable mention here, mainly because it doesn't have too much impact on the flow of the song, simply accentuating some parts here and there and adding a few new sounds. 3. I like Rhys Fulber's remixes (especially with Fear Factory), and the Worlock mix doesn't disappoint me. It could have been done much better, but it's a fairly sufficient remix.

That above justifies the one star I give this album. The rest is absolutely worthless. Most of the songs are completely slaughtered. It may be that I have a very different take on remixes than most: I *HATE* mixes where people take one part of a song, loop it over and over again, and *poof* there's the remix. Most of this album does exactly that. For christ sake, leave the changes and lyrics intact! Otherwise you choke the song.

Smothered Hope was horrible, it seems to lack even a rhythm. I wonder what Ogre was thinking. Spasmolytic was completely slaughtered: "Kicking the habit" for like 4 solid minutes is just nerve wracking and the remix was talentless enough to begin with. Testure wasn't all that bad but it could have been done much better, and some parts could have been messed with a little less. And Love In Vein... this should have been named "5 minutes of repetitive noisy crap that sounds nothing like anything Skinny Puppy would have ever written"... How can you take the lyrics and the movements out of one of Skinny Puppy's most powerful and compelling songs?? I can recognize absolutely nothing even close to the original... And Love In Vein my favorite song ever written - I've listened to it at least 500 times off Last Rights. This "remix" is a gross, disgusting insult.

As one of the previous reviewers said, Yes this is a remix album and things shouldn't sound the same as they did. However, the word "remix" does not provide license to slaughter the songs of a legendary band. If you want real remixes go get 12" Anthology. Listen to the 12" mix of Testure. Or the Choke Re-Grip. Or, if you're into metal, get Remanufacture by Fear Factory. Notice how the mixes keep all the important parts of the songs intact and build on the existing musical (and sometimes also the lyrical) foundation.

This CD, for the most part, doesn't really build anything... except maybe a tiny, hardly noticable bit of wear on my remote control buttons as I skip nearly every song. There are tracks I haven't mentioned above - mostly because after about the first minute they had bored me into a desperate situation, where the only recourse was to fall asleep or skip the track.

All I can really say to true Puppy fans is this: Prepare to be very disappointed.

Okay, if you buy this album, expecting all your favourite Skinny Puppy tracks in unscathen form, then you need to stop and think. The word REMIX is in the title! This implies that these precious tracks are not going to sound the same as they did before! So don't get frustrated when your favourite song sounds completely different! This album is very good in my opinion, it takes a totally different spin on some classic tracks. Contrary to belief of some, i feel that Censor is a humorous track, just listen to the lyrics! And other tracks, such as Rodent and Addiction, bring out a pumping electronic sound which never hurt anyone... Basically, i feel the album is cool, i mean what is the crime in letting masters of the industrial trade tinker with respected tracks? However if you came, looking for a singles collection, then get the single collection and don't whine about this album being different...