Posts by Walter Adams60

Just trying to keep this thread alive so we stay on the first page of the "Music" section of the forum

hehehe

I really don't feel like getting into the whole Ckey debate; those topics have been chewed over a million times by anyone who actually knows their stuff. Personally, I don't think I've missed out on anything by ignoring FLA and that whole scene. My musical horizons aren't exactly narrow just because I skip them—honestly, I doubt Ckey can expand my world any more than someone like Stapleton from Nurse With Wound could.
:-)

Anyway, it's hard to pin down who exactly birthed industrial or how it all started. I feel like people put way too much pressure on Skinny Puppy with those claims that they "didn't play industrial, they invented it!" Because, man, come on.

Hold on a second, guys—I’ve got the tapes right here. I have proof that Throbbing Gristle was playing live as far back as '76. I can't be 100% sure about Einstürzende Neubauten, but I'm pretty sure they were already doing their thing before SP arrived. Of course, there's a massive list of bands you could claim "invented" industrial, but... why even bother?
The point is, Ckey himself said in an interview that while they tried to lean into more of an industrial-dance vibe with SP, rather than "pure" industrial (man, what a label that would be), he's fully aware there are bands out there making the real deal. He knows SP is doing something slightly different, which is obvious to anyone listening.

So, if you want to give Skinny Puppy credit, it's that they actually made industrial something you could play in clubs and get "the masses" interested in... hehe... unlike those obscure live sets performed in quarries, abandoned factories, or during miners' strikes (think Throbbing Gristle, Test Department, SPK, or Einstürzende Neubauten).
Basically, they brought industrial closer to us by wrapping it in a format that's actually listenable. Honestly, if I had to listen *only* to Peter Orridge's escapades, I'd probably hit terminal velocity faster than the soundscapes produced by zykloneBzombie.

Since this thread is specifically about SP, I won't go down a rabbit hole of deep analysis... but let's be real: a lot of stuff being hyped up today as "NEW and REVOLUTIONARY" has actually been around for over twenty years. And honestly, who cares if Nine Inch Nails and Reznor ripped off a little Ministry, a bit of fetal sounds, and a touch of Ckey to become the biggest "industrial" band of the modern era? It's nonsense; I wouldn't waste my energy on it.
Lynch is a special case. Manson acted in "Lost Highway," Reznor produced the soundtrack which even featured Coil—I think some of those "drones" in the movie were actually Coil, but I can't be certain.
All I know is that Reznor's Nothing label became the US distributor for Coil, which isn't a bad deal at all, especially for a band of Coil's caliber.

blah blah blah

Skinny Puppy is a unique band. Bryan Martin31, if we managed to pique the interest of even one single person through these debates, then we've done our job.

If you love it, great. If you don't, kiss it and leave it.

More for me, anyway.

hehehe

🙂

Peace out!

Look, I wasn't trying to trash Leeb's contribution or anyone else in the EBM-Darkwave-industrial Dance scene. I was just venting about how unoriginal the whole thing feels lately. I mean, obviously, when some wannabe gothic DJ drops Suicide Commando or 👋Wumpscut at 2 AM in some club that’s overdoing the "uber-goth" and fur aesthetic, their impact on the subculture is pretty obvious. But honestly, it loses its charm once you actually look at the lyrics from Suicide Commando—not that I want to quote them, but it's all just stuff like, "Oh my god, what have we done, this is bad," you know? It's a caricature. Or take 👋: if you try to scratch beneath the surface of what they're doing, there's nothing there except some failed house-tech-drum-whatever DJs who think they're being "revolutionary" when they're really just recycling old clichés to satisfy the crowd in a slightly different way...

I avoid FLA/Leeb like a drunk avoids a pothole (honestly, better to hit a curb than end up with hypothermia in a ditch). Mostly because there's this universal rule that any REAL Skinny Puppy fan can't stand Leeb or FLA. Look, I'm a total sucker for them, I admit it, but let's be real: FLA just can't compete with Skinny Puppy in any way. Their stuff is too tied to conventional structures, whereas Skinny Puppy actually tries to tear those walls down. I've listened to maybe two FLA albums in total and decided there's no point forcing that music on my crashing serotonin levels when I've got much better stuff to connect with—not even say "identify with," because that sounds like some teen obsession. It's hard to explain the logic, but if there ever was a point, it's Skinny Puppy YES, Frontline Assembly NO... :-)

I get the whole money vs. music struggle. It makes sense. Buying a $50 CD is expensive as hell, but hey, some of us have a Chase checking account to offset that. Regardless, any true SP fan knows that tracks like "Eyes of Stany Pain" or "Furnace" will kick your adrenaline higher than any typical EMB-ELEKTRO-FLA nonsense ever could.

Anyway, I'll admit most of my cash goes toward mindless spending instead of investing in good music like I should.
Actually, the last decent album I bought was that Whitehouse - Thank Your Lucky Stars vinyl reissue.

It was worth it.
But there's ttoliko good music out there that you practically feel morally obligated to download it, or just pirate it because being broke is a reality. It's just human nature, American style...

I could probably write a thesis on Skinny Puppy and the rest, but since this is a serious forum, I'll keep my answer simple.

If I had the original VHS Skinny Puppy videos from '85-'92... man, that stuff is genius. As for meeting up, I'm always down for a deal.
per

email:

Walter Adams60@gmail.com

:-)

Every single Skinny Puppy album is top-tier, honestly. If I had to pick, I’d say 2 dark park and Last Rights are probably their most tight, cohesive works (though I think one might be missing track 10?). Rabies feels more like a collection of jam sessions with Al Jourgensen—lots of looped guitars in there, which isn't their usual vibe, but still a killer record, especially 2timegrime... Mind the Perpetual Intercourse hits that perfect sweet spot between standard EBM slogs (like FLA) and that "newer" industrial Dance style. Also, those old VHS music video collections are seriously haunting, especially the clip for "Killing gama"

Oh, and... the Doomsday live CD totally captures the raw energy of a Skinny Puppy show. It's beautiful...

There just isn't anyone else like them. Most other acts sound like cheap Eurotrash techno trying way too hard with vocal distortion. And don't even get me started on the lyrics. Honestly, the absolute worst of the bunch has to be Suicide Commando, oh god...
Hocico and Gridlock are the only ones I can take somewhat seriously; everything else is just... unspeakable

Of course, Ckey and Ogre kept busy with a ton of different "projects." The strongest by far is the Ckey/Phil Western/Edward Kaapela collab—Download—where all their albums feel like a direct evolution of the Skinny Puppy sound, especially the early stuff like "Furnace," "Eyes of Stanley Pain," and "Charlie's Family"

Ckey also puts out stuff under his own name. "Ghost of Each Room" is fantastic, though it doesn't really have much to do with the Skinny Puppy vibe anymore

Meanwhile, Ogre pivoted toward a slightly more "accessible" sound. He changed his name to ohgr (wow), probably cut his hair, and maybe chilled out on the heavy stuff a bit, because his albums "Welt" and SunnyPsyOp remind me so much of Nine Inch Nails during the Pretty Hate Machine era. It's almost funny—kind of progressive pop, kind of a joke, kind of both

Anyway, that's about it

There's also Tear Garden, Hilt, Plateau, and RX, but I don't really feel like typing all that out. You can find much better, deeper, and more detailed breakdowns over at the legendary

www.litany.net

🙂