Skold. i've had this cd for years...and i still listen to it on average of every few days. why? it's just that good. there is no "strongest" song on this cd, everyone of them stands out in it's own way...from the adrenaline-pumping opener "Chaos", to the somber "Remember", to the kinky "Anything", and ending with the apathetic "Shut Up", this is one cd i can not recommend enough. it's out of print, but i still recommend you tracking one down. (e-bay constantly has one up for sale...)

to be honest...i don't actually own this cd. i first heard about And One a few years ago, thanks to my friend who went to Germany, and Austria. i have to say, i'm glad he did. this is an excellent cd, with my personal favorites being "Wet Spot" and "Panzer Mensch". There are a few grammar problems, i'm assuming because they are German, but for the most part the Engilsh is done well. this cd might not be for everyone, but if you see it cheap on the racks...buy it, you will be glad you did...

it's hard to give an honest review of Skinny Puppy. on one hand, they were one of the most influential industrial bands today, (along with Throbbing Gristle,KMFDM, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Ministry), spawning countless imitators...on the other, it's my job to point out all imperfections in the music, meaning i have to put aside all my personal love for the music and try to rip into it. well...on Rabies, Skinny Puppy had aid from Al J. from Ministry on guitars and production (i believe...). let me tell you...it is by far the best release in the entire discography that is Skinny Puppy. The first few songs start getting you into the mood, and the BAM. Rabies hit's you with the BEST Skinny Puppy song EVER, "Worlock". then "Rain" comes in, which is less a song, and more a filler track. I never really care for it, though. "Tin Omen" picks things up again with the most intersting intro to a song ever. All in all, an excellent cd that should be in every rivets library.

you know...i saw Bella Morte at my local "goth club". they were excellent live, and filled with a lot of energy. heh...Andy kept making this funny faces...anyway...

that night i bought "Where Shadows Lie"...(and got to bs with Andy about Peter Jackson films...but i digress). a few days later, when i popped this in the cd player, i started to remember how fun the show was...and wondered where some of the energy went. don't get me wrong, it's a great cd...but the live energy is missing here. The first few tracks are excellent, namely "The Rain Within Her Hands" and "Relics". then i usually skip ahead to "Where Shadows Lie", the coolest song on the cd. The BM version of "Metro" is awesome as well. The rest of the cd is true goth. slow, and dramatic. depending on the kind of mood you are in, it could be a good thing, or bad. Andy has an unbeleivable voice, and Gopal and Bn are great at their respective intruments, but a few more upbeat songs would have made this a must listen. as it is, it will probably appeal mostly to the depressed, or the open-minded music lover.

First off, this album is better than their last release. I've been dreading doing this review because I don't know how I can be nice about some of what I have to say. However, there is something about The Chaos Engine that I have a hard time getting past. It's as if they are trying to be both pop and underground at the same time and thus becoming part of the very media garbage they seem to be against. With statements like "the only thing for sure is that each and every song will have more pop hooks than Britney Spears entire recorded output and yet still pack enough finely honed rage to give your parents nightmares for months" are such contradictions that one can only look at them as being as pretentious as Sigue Sigue Sputnik. With that being said "Me & My Army" really does sound like a pop song with a bit more aggressive electronics and guitars than would be the norm. They combine elements of Industrial, Techno, and Rock with pop-like hooks to create their main song structure. A bizarre combination indeed but one that I don't believe would ever entice true underground music fans. Maybe pop culture fans of bands like Korn, Stained, etc.. but not the industrial crowd. Sadly(?), they won't get the pop crowd either because of the heavy use of electronics. Basically they are a group that tries to be both Punk and Pop at the same time - like P.I.L.
Now, I said this album is better than the last and it is true that it is much easier to listen to but is not the sort of thing that would sit on my preferred listening shelf. However, anything that does not have an industrial-techno cover of the fucking "Barbie Girl" song has to be better than the last album! The bands singer has a voice which reminds me of Howard Jones, of whom I do like, mixed with elements of industrial and other electronic music plus sampled guitar hooks and songs like "Nerve Opera" are very listenable and not bad at all. It's the overall product of the band that grates my nerves. If some of the songs on this album were taken and put somewhere else not associated with the pretentiousness of The Chaos Engine and given another name then it would be a good product to sell and a decent album to listen to and people might actually get into it. Instead the combination and media statement made for promotional purposes on behalf of the project come off as nothing short of cheesy, pretentious, crap!
Maybe it's just me but the band simply needs a new image or they need to boost up the level of cheese and pretentiousness to make it very catty instead. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were at least interesting and they didn't play half as well as The Chaos Engine. This band comes off too much as hypocritical in my book but maybe I'm just not getting the joke somewhere. In order to pull off something like that you better sound damn great! I've tried to find the witty or humourous side to this band and I just can't find it. Maybe it's just a type of humour I don't get or maybe they really are seriously pretentious hypocritical twits!