Too Dark Park

Last updated

Al is a fucking great guy, a real cool person. There are things that I admire about him... a lot. But there were a few things that happened between me and him that really made me question our whole friendship and his reason for having me down there. So I decided to bow out of the Revolting Cocks tour. If I hadn't, I would have come back totally addicted to heroin. There were rumors that I was fired, that I was a junkie - I wasn't quite at that point yet, but I was on that sort of final destination. [6]

With Ogre no longer committed to the Revolting Cocks tour and all side projects taken on by Key and Goettel completed, Skinny Puppy reassembled in studio to begin production on a new album. Goettel stated that the intention in making Too Dark Park was, in a way, an effort to reassess "everything" about Skinny Puppy. [7] Key indicated that by fixing the mistakes that had been made on the previous record, there would then be the opportunity to return to the band's original aspirations. [10] The group aimed for their first album of the 1990s to have a new sound and achieved this by taking what had worked well for them in the previous decade and incorporated it with fresh ideas. This also meant hiring a new art director, Jim Cummins, as Goettel had explained that the band's album artwork had been "stagnating". [7]

Nivek Ogre performing on the Too Dark Park tour Nivek Ogre Too Dark Park live 1990.jpg
Nivek Ogre performing on the Too Dark Park tour

On the origins of the album's title, Key has stated that it was meant to be a rhyme on words. He mentions that during the writing process, the band took notice to the fact that the material they were coming up with was becoming "really dark" and thus crafted the title Too Dark Park. [10] The album explores a number of concepts, especially those pertaining to environmental degradation and the self-destruction of humanity. Ogre described the basis for the album's underlying message as the following: "that feeling of going down a road with the knowledge that you're breaking down. Yet you continue to travel down that road." [6] The album also explores more personal territory, particularly Ogre's dealings with heroin. Ogre revealed to Alternative Press how he had nearly been arrested for possession while working in Chicago and how that incident had nearly brought his career to an end. [6]

As is typical for the band, the music contains an array of samples from horror films, television shows, and documentaries. The song "Convulsion" contains samples from the 1967 documentary LSD-25 as well as from the Japanese erotic horror anime Legend of the Overfiend (the sound effects heard at the beginning of the song). "Tormentor" contains a line from the Bob Clark's 1987 film From the Hip . "Natures Revenge" samples the 1989 film Communion while "Shore Lined Poison" samples the 1967 film The Trip . The song "Morpheus Laughing" contains a sample of actor Bruce Willis saying the line "they appeared to me as if in a dream" from a Wayne's World skit on Saturday Night Live . [11] The song "T.F.W.O." features the line "you have to fuck life" from the 1973 horror film Flesh for Frankenstein and "Reclamation" contains samples from the 1988 horror film Hellbound: Hellraiser II and the 1978 animated adaptation of Watership Down . [11] [12]

The album was produced by cEvin Key and Dave Ogilvie, and recorded at Mushroom Studios with the additional aid of Ken Marshall. The album was mixed at Little Mountain Sound Studios by Ken Marshall, Dave Ogilvie, and Greg Reely. [1]

Release

Too Dark Park was released worldwide on October 30, 1990. For its initial release, the CD featured a full color fold out booklet on which the liner notes were printed. Later pressings featured a stapled booklet with only the front cover being colored in. The 1998 and 2004 reissue once again contain the full color fold out booklet, with somewhat reworked artwork and disc design. The initial pressing released in the UK had the same catalogue number as pressings released in the US; "printed in the U.S.A." was digitally edited to read "printed in the U.K.". In the US, Capitol Records promoted the album's release by distributing cardboard masks based on the monsters featured in Jim Cummins' cover artwork. [13]

The song "Tormentor" was released as a single and featured an alternative version of the song "Nature's Revenge" as well as the B-side "Bark". [14] "Spasmolytic" was released as a single in 1991; a music video was produced for commercial airplay. A VHS version of the video was distributed for use in dance clubs and video shows. [13]

Critical reception

Too Dark Park
SkinnyPuppy-TooDarkPark.jpg
Studio album by
Skinny Puppy
ReleasedOctober 30, 1990
Recorded1990
Studio
  • Mushroom Studios
    (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
  • Little Mountain Sound Studios
    (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Genre
Length38:32
Label Nettwerk
Producer Dave Ogilvie, cEvin Key [1]
Skinny Puppy chronology
Rabies
(1989)		Too Dark Park
(1990)		 Last Rights
(1992)
Singles from Too Dark Park
  1. "Tormentor"
    Released: 1990
  2. "Spasmolytic"
    Released: 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [15]
Calgary Herald E [16]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Tampa Bay Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [19]
The Tampa Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [20]

Too Dark Park was well received upon its release in 1990, [21] with critics like Spin magazine's Staci Bonner declaring the record to be the band's "return to the bloodbath". Bonner gave the most praise to the album's sampling, calling the technique's use "artful", and concluded that "you can be a 'spun web deluded of life' or a 'crushed velvet corpse' because with Skinny Puppy, everyday is Halloween." [22] Jean Carey of the Tampa Bay Times praised the album, describing it as the band's "watershed moment", and calling attention to the "vaguely central theme" of environmental destruction. [19] Steven Perez of the Tampa Tribune also took note of the album's "environmental kick", saying Too Dark Park's "impressiveness lies beyond the mirage of its droning industrial instrumentation". [20] Sandra A. Garcia of B-Side magazine also spoke highly of the record, calling it "superb" and a "step regained" following Rabies. Garcia described the album as "dark and dense", and declared that the band was once again in full control of their music. [23]

Alex Henderson of AllMusic gave the album four and a half stars, describing it a "forceful and consistently abrasive", but at the same time danceable. Henderson approved of the album's "twisted" sampling, distorted synth work, and use of guitar, and concluded that while the album was a must have for fans of industrial music, newcomers may be put off by its chaotic sound and would find it best to start off with the genre's more accessible offerings. [15] Daniel Lukes of Kerrang! described the album as "controlled chaos at its most unsettling" and that it reflected Skinny Puppy at the height of their creativity. [24] Trouser Press magazine described Too Dark Park as "environmentally minded" and likened the gloomy musical style employed on the songs "Nature's Revenge" and "Morpheus Laughing" to those of new wave acts such as Joy Division and Gary Numan. [25] Martin Aston in Q Magazine noted that the album "quakes with the usual quotient of fury and frustration (...) matched only by the relentlessly crushing beats of their electronic hardcore throb". [18]

In a mixed review for The Morning Call , Diana Valois said the album was "harsher in parts" than the band's previous releases, and approved of the songs "Nature's Revenge" and "Rash Reflection" for "rising above the muddled, angry morass". [26] Billboard also gave the album a mixed review, stating that while fans of alternative music would enjoy it, there was not much to offer that couldn't be found in other, more accessible groups such as Ministry. [27]

Not all critics were as receptive to Too Dark Park. In a negative review for the Calgary Herald , Mark Tremblay likened the band to an "environmental punk version of Hawkwind". Mitchell May of the Chicago Tribune awarded the album two out of four stars, saying that "not only do they apparently care very little about actually selling records, but they openly defy the listener to like them." [17] Gigen Mammoser of Vice noted that Too Dark Park was "the rejection of a genre headed increasingly towards mainstream acceptance." Mammoser described the album as "frightening" and likened it to a mental disorder. Though he had mixed feelings towards the album, Mammoser admitted to "dusting it off" for a listen on certain occasions. [28]

In 2013, Francois Marchand of the Vancouver Sun named Too Dark Park one of the best albums to come out of Mushroom Studios, describing it as a "nightmarish vortex of hard-hitting electronic rock". [29] Metal Hammer placed Too Dark Park on their list of the best 10 industrial metal albums [30] as well as the 10 best industrial music albums, describing its "dance-floor beats" and "raw screaming noise" as the antithesis of the techno scene. [31]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ogre/Key/Goettel.

No.TitleSample(s) [11] [12] Length
1."Convulsion"
Contains samples of:
3:20
2."Tormentor"
Contains samples of:
4:33
3."Spasmolytic" 3:53
4."Rash Reflection" 3:28
5."Nature's Revenge"
Contains samples of:
3:57
6."Shore Lined Poison"
Contains samples of:
4:49
7."Grave Wisdom" 3:45
8."T.F.W.O."
Contains samples of:
3:47
9."Morpheus Laughing"
Contains samples of:
4:00
10."Reclamation"
Contains samples of:
3:00
Total length:38:32

Personnel

All information from Too Dark Park's liner notes. [1]

Musicians

Additional personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Too Dark Park (CD booklet). Skinny Puppy. Vancouver, British Columbia: Nettwerk. 1990.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ↑ Wolanski, Coreen (2002). "Skinny Puppy: Every Dog Has Its Day". Exclaim! . Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  3. ↑ Kern, Jay (2010). Skinny Puppy: The Illustrated Discography (Second ed.). Mythos Press. p. 38.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Dwayne Goettel, 1990". Litany: Interview Archive. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Woods, Karen (1990). "Hilt Intermission". Alternative Press. No. 33. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "24 Hours in Vancouver". Alternative Press. No. 35. February 1992. pp. 40–46. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Day, Peter. "Dwayne Goettel Interview: WMXM 88.9 Milwaukee, October 1990". Litany: Interview Archive. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  8. 1 2 Gilmore, Steven (1989). "The Peril's of Puppy". Ipso Facto Magazine. No. 7.
  9. ↑ "Ministry - Revolting Cocks Tour 1988". Prongs.org. 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  10. 1 2 Kaos, Simon. "YouTube Title: Skinny Puppy Interview with cEvin Key on Post TV [Bay Area Cable TV]". YouTube. Post TV (December 18, 1990). Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Cigéhn, Peter. "The Top Sampling Groups List: Skinny Puppy". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004. Retrieved 15 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. 1 2 "Skinny Puppy Samples". Skinny Puppy: Video Samples from Movies and official Bootleg Database.
  13. 1 2 Kern, Jay. "Skinny Puppy: The Illustrated Discography". Prongs. Mythos Press. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Tormentor (CD booklet). Skinny Puppy. Vancouver, British Columbia: Nettwerk. 1990.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. 1 2 AllMusic review
  16. ↑ Tremblay, Mark (December 2, 1990). "Skinny Puppy: Too Dark Park". Calgary Herald : 23.
  17. 1 2 May, Mitchell (January 17, 1991). "Skinny Puppy Too Dark Park Review". Chicago Tribune. chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  18. 1 2 Aston, Martin (5 March 1991). "To Dark Park review". Q Magazine. 55: 79.
  19. 1 2 Carey, Jean (November 9, 1990). "'Park' Outing is no Picnic". Tampa Bay Times : 99.
  20. 1 2 Perez, Steven (November 23, 1990). "Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park". The Tampa Tribune : 113.
  21. ↑ DiPietro, Ben (August 22, 1992). "Band's Performance Proves Real Nightmare". The Windsor Star : 62.
  22. ↑ Bonner, Staci (February 1991). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 6, no. 11. p. 75. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Garcia, Sandra A. (February 1991). "Skinny Puppy: Wild at Art". B Side. Vol. 4, no. 6. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  24. ↑ Lukes, Daniel (March 3, 2007). "Where to Start with Skinny Puppy". Kerrang!. No. 1148. p. 53. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  25. ↑ Sheridan, David; Rompers, Terry. "Skinny Puppy". Trouser Press. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Valois, Diana (March 9, 1991). "Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park". The Morning Call : 66.
  27. ↑ "Album Reviews: Pop" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. December 15, 1990. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  28. ↑ Mammoser, Gigen (December 21, 2015). "How Skinny Puppy's 'Too Dark Park' Made Me Confront Sickness and Discomfort in Electronic Music". Vice. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  29. ↑ Marchand, Francois (March 23, 2013). "Five Landmark Recordings From Mushroom/Hipposonic". Vancouver Sun : 58.
  30. ↑ "The 10 Best Industrial Metal Albums". 18 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "The 10 Best Industrial Albums That You Need In Your Collection (7 June 2018)". Metal Hammer . Future Publishings. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
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