I can understand all of the arguments being made here. It's easy to see how some people really get off on this album with its powerful, hard-charging music. Yet it's also easy to feel the betrayal of older fans who never wanted straightforward rock from their beloved icons. Let's face it - The main knock here is that this music is very, very obvious. This is what Linkin Park would sound like if they were actually any good. This is a more creative White Zombie or KMFDM. However that also implies that it's a far less creative Skinny Puppy.

Dwayne R. Goettel never made such clean dance beats. ceVin Key didn't write basic metal in the old days. And I don't seem to recall the introduction of rap into the fold either. These are all reasonable criticisms. However the biggest gripe for me is that the lyrics too are far to mainstream too. You hate Bush. Greaaaatt. OK, send in the next left-wing band please. This is not new... it's also not interesting. Remember when Puppy songs were deep, multi-layered and let your mind wander to whatever abstract meaning you could attach? It was a backdrop for extreme thinking... this is not. This is a Ministry album (check out another icon gone obvious).

On the positive side, it's far better than most alt-rock out there. The songs are powerful sounding anyway (even if the meanings are 1-dimensional) and get your head bobbing. The guys also craft some remarkable effects... I love the vocals on "Goneja" that sound like a possessed Speak 'n Spell. Most of the songs sound like a continuation of what was started on "The Process". The exception is the future pop influenced "Past Perfect"; this song is the most likely to appeal to fans of VNV Nation or the like.

Disclosure: I have been a huge SP fan since the mid-80s. I own every Puppy album. I consider myself an expert of sorts... I've interviewed the band twice... I was an original writer for Outburn Magazine and wrote for Industrial Nation for years. Given that here's my personal opinion. The album sounds very nice. It's been in regular rotation in the car CD player since it came out. It will never influence my life or my thoughts the way the 'VivisectVI' did. Sorry, but I need more depth than this to call something truly great. 4 stars for how it sounds.

This album is awesome! Great songs and a refreshing alternative to the crap that has been party of Industrial music for years. All of the complaints about this are ridiculous and just show how people want all of their music to stick within the confines of a certain genre or cater to their little club of mascara wearing goth dorks who listen to boring cookie cutter imitations of old Skinny Puppy songs. I'm glad that the members of the group can poke fun at all of you goth losers and release a video with breakdancing. Face it, if Skinny Puppy tried to go retro and create something that sounded like Too Dark Park it would sound completely fake and be a waste of time since everyone in Industrial sounds like that now anyway. oGre had to change his voice because pathetic losers like VAC try to imitate old Skinny Puppy to the point that they have made the entire genre stale and boring. Props to Skinny Puppy for doing something that just shows how people into the Industrial scene are a bunch of racists (You hate rap and anything that has anything to do with black culture), elitist (everything has to be a certain way and everyone has to dress a certain way in order to be part of your little club), losers who resport to shock value in order to scare your parents. I just love how they've turned the tables in order to shock the goths rather than shock everyone else. This album is an outright rebellion against the conformity of the stale Industrial music scene and I applaud Skinny Puppy for having the guts to do it.

Especially considering just about every single one of their albums in the past had some political songs and they talked about politics in their interviews. If you hate it when a band stands on their soapbox then why did you even bother listening to their older albums like Vivisectvi or Rabies which had a lot of political references? This album is awesome! It has some great songs such as Goneja, Empte, Daddyuwarbash, Ghostman, and Pro-Test. Don't listen to the naysayers. If you actually paid attention to the sideprojects that these two made after The Process you won't be caught offguard and will be right at home with the amalgamation of what they have learned over the years. But also be aware that this is a rebirth of Skinny Puppy and even Ogre has mentioned in an interview that they are going to do exactly what they did after Remission. They are going to experiment with the sound and take it into new experimental territory.

I got this cd when it came out, and it's taken me this long to feel comfortable giving it a 5 star review. Now here's my rationalization:

I feel a lot of tension over this record, in that the pain has run out. Misery's the bread and butter for artists, and the really tormented ones make awesome music, and either they die or their lives get much easier. Now, the kevins never said they were about pain. SP was more like the journey through it, the working out of problems. I point you to the song 'one day' on bites. I digress.

My point is, these guys have gotten over their big problems, and suddenly, they're in utterly new territory. If the record sounds boring, it's only that they are not in agony. They tried to leave some angst in to appease the fanbase, but this is a thin veneer. This is a very uncomfortable place to be, and it shows through the music.

However, i have the inane feeling that these men are the friends i never met, and this is how they are doing. Their happiness and honesty matters more than the continuation of a theme and mood. In this album i hear the birth of a new paradigm, a reformation of an old monolith. Key seems unsure of what to do. He's holding out, i've heard what he can do in tear garden. Melody, despite its simplicity, has finally found its way into ogre's singing. They are poised at the edge of something new, and i long for them to complete the crossing.

This record reminds me very much of summer. The songs are all vibrant and alive, and for the first time, they are all listenable. However, the 'guitar' in Pro test is irritatingly monotonous.

I love this record like an old friend, but listening to it makes me wish that they had gone farther. If they had committed themselves to a melody, if ogre were more confident in his singing. They come very close to this in use less and goneja.

I have been waiting for this album for a long time, ever since the rumors started floating around that a reunion was in the making, and it didn't disappoint. The album starts off with a few guitar heavy tracks, picking up where "The Process" left off, but with a much more developed sound than "The Process" (admittedly, my least favorite Puppy album). The highlight of the album, for me, is Ghostman (track 5), and from this point untill the end of the record, I think Puppy is most in their element. The overall sound is a bit different, and maybe a bit less experimental (as expected, since Dwayne Goettel is no longer contributing), but it is a really well honed sound for this new incarnation of the band. The major differences from "The Greater Wrong..." & their past albums are Ogre's varied vocal treatments (which often find him :gasp: singing on this one!), and a bit of more commercial sound in the more dance oriented tracks - some of which have almost a trancey feel. As alwys, Cevin Key's production is top notch. I can't wait to see how some of this material translates live, as the bass & beats seem to be made for a large P.A. Definitely worth picking up for Puppy fans old, and new, and any fan of electronic music in general.