Remission (EP)
Remission | ||||
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EP by Skinny Puppy | ||||
Released | December 1984 | |||
Recorded |
July-Aug. 1984 (Mushroom Studios, Vancouver) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
24:09 (original) 39:33 (re-issue) | |||
Label |
Nettwerk (Canada) Scarface/Play It Again Sam (Europe) | |||
Producer | cEvin Key, Dave Ogilvie | |||
Skinny Puppy chronology | ||||
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Remission is a 1984 EP by Canadian electro-industrial band Skinny Puppy, their record label debut and first release with Nettwerk.[1] The 12-inch EP originally featured with six tracks, then, a year later in 1985, it was released on cassette with five additional songs that lengthened the release to a full album.[2] This expansion became the default version of Remission.
Release history
In December 1984, Remission was distributed through Nettwerk as Skinny Puppy's first major release. Despite being preceded by the embryonic Back & Forth EP that was limited to just 35 home-printed copies,[1] Remission is seen as the band's debut effort.[3] To complicate the matter further, most issues of the EP following its release year, 1984, were expanded with five additional tracks, retroactively turning it into a full-blown studio album.[1]
In 1993, Nettwerk released Remission on CD using the expanded track listing from the 1985 cassette release.[1] However, this wasn't the first time Remission appeared in the format; the EP's first CD release was in 1987, when it (along with the appended track "Glass Out") was combined with Skinny Puppy's 1985 album Bites to form the release Bites and Remission (a compilation distinct from the less popular Remission & Bites, which was also released in 1987 and also on Nettwerk, but that preserved the original track sequence of Remission and the European sequence of Bites).[1][4]
On May 17, 2018, cEvin Key released "Coma", an instrumental track created during the Remission era, through his YouTube channel.[5]
Background and composition
Both Remission and Skinny Puppy's follow-up album Bites were created before Dwayne Goettel joined in 1986 and helped to crystallize the band's hard, percussion-driven industrial sound.[6][7] As such, Remission features more synthpop and electro elements than Skinny Puppy would come to be known for.
In 2013, Skinny Puppy's 12th album (4th since being reunited without the presence of Goettel), Weapon, was released as a sort of spiritual successor to both Remission and Bites. Apart from containing a re-recorded version of "Solvent" from Remission, Weapon was deliberately created with antiquated instruments to achieve their early 80s electronic sound.[8][9]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic |
Contemporary reception of Remission was mostly positive. The AllMusic review wrote that the EP "remains the Puppy's finest hour. The breadth of vision and amazing instrumental prowess of vocalist Nivek Ogre and sound-designer cEvin Key will likely never be transcended."[3] Retrospectively, Remission gained more praise, being cited as an important influence to many bands.[10] In an article about Skinny Puppy's broad influence, Alec Chillingworth of Metal Hammer wrote, "Al Jourgensen’s Ministry was laughable in ’84, whereas Puppy gave us Remission: an EP bursting with potential, exuding a dance-ready racket heavier than anything their contemporaries offered."[10] Fact placed Remission at number 19 on their list of 20 best industrial and EBM albums of all time, calling it "excellent electro-pop".[11]
Track listing
Original EP release (side A, Back) | |||
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No. | Title | Sample(s)[12][13][1] | Length |
1. | "Smothered Hope" | Contains samples of:
| 5:14 |
2. | "Glass Houses" | Contains samples of:
| 3:24 |
3. | "Far Too Frail" | Contains samples of:
| 3:41 |
Original EP release (side B, Forth) | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Sample(s)[12][13][1] | Length |
1. | "Solvent" | 4:37 | |
2. | "Sleeping Beast" | Contains samples of:
| 6:01 |
3. | "Brap…" | Contains samples of:
| 1:12 |
Total length: | 24:09 |
Expanded reissue | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Sample(s)[12][13][1] | Length |
1. | "Smothered Hope" | Contains samples of:
| 5:14 |
2. | "Glass Houses" | Contains samples of:
| 3:21 |
3. | "Incision" | Contains samples of:
| 4:41 |
4. | "Far Too Frail" | Contains samples of:
| 3:43 |
5. | "Film" | Contains samples of:
| 2:51 |
6. | "Manwhole" | Contains samples of:
| 1:44 |
7. | "Ice Breaker" | Contains samples of:
| 2:46 |
8. | "Solvent" | 4:38 | |
9. | "Sleeping Beast" | Contains samples of:
| 6:01 |
10. | "Glass Out" | Contains samples of:
| 3:25 |
11. | "…Brap" | Contains samples of:
| 1:09 |
Total length: | 39:33 |
Personnel
All credits adapted from Remission liner notes.[14]
Skinny Puppy
- Nivek Ogre – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, spooky horn[15]
- cEvin Key – synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production
Additional personnel
- Dave Ogilvie – production, engineering
- Bill Leeb (credited as Wilhelm Schroeder) – bass synth on "Incision", "Manwhole", and "Ice Breaker"
- D. Plevin – fretless bass on "Glass Houses"
- Steven R. Gilmore – cover art
- Greg Sykes – typography
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kern, Jay (2010). Skinny Puppy: The Illustrated Discography (Second Edition). Mythos Press. p. 14.
- ↑ Remission (Cassette liner notes). Skinny Puppy. Nettwerk. 1985. 85561-5009-4. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
- 1 2 3 "Skinny Puppy, Remission". AllMusic. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ↑ Remission & Bites (CD liner notes). Skinny Puppy. PIAS Recordings. 1987. BIAS 48. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
- ↑ Key, cEvin. "Skinny puppy- coma 1983 ( cevin key instrumental )". YouTube. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Skinny Puppy Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ↑ DiGravina, Tim. "Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse". AllMusic. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ↑ Gourley, Bob. "Ogre of Skinny Puppy talks Guantanamo Bay and "Weapon"". Chaos Control. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ↑ Burnsilver, Glenn. "Skinny Puppy: "We Spent an Unnecessary Amount of Time on hanDover"". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- 1 2 Chillingworth, Alec. "How Skinny Puppy Changed Metal". Metal Hammer. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ↑ Clouston, Richard. "The 20 best industrial and EBM records ever made". Fact. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- 1 2 3 Cigéhn, Peter. "Skinny Puppy samples (The Top Sample Lists)". The Top Sample Lists. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- 1 2 3 "Skinny Puppy – Video Samples from Movies and Official Bootleg Database". skinnypuppy.eu. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- ↑ Remission (vinyl liner notes). Skinny Puppy. Nettwerk. 1984. 12 NTWK 12. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Ogre, Nivek; Alacrity, Jason (November 18, 2013). "Litany webchat with Ogre and Jason Alacrity" (Interview). Interviewed by Corey Goldberg. Litany.net. Retrieved May 21, 2018.