Skinny Puppy - Bootlegged, Broke and in Solvent Seas

Skinny Puppy's show at Arvikafestivalen 2004 with their 'The Greater Wrong of The Right' tour is one of my favourite shows of all time. I also had the pleasure to see them perform last year during their latest tour. 'Bootlegged, Broke and in Solvent Seas' is taken from their latest tour and is a 10 track album recorded from their shows in Warsaw, Bratislava, Hildesheim and Budapest. There's not much of new material on this CD, it mostly focus on their 80's collection.

Generally I often dislike live albums. I know a few favourites that are truly great, 16 Horsepower's 'Hoarse' from 2000, Marilyn Manson's 'Last Tour On Earth' from 1999 are two of them. Usually the sound is too crappy, noisy and generally displeasing. However, for Skinny Puppy, this is no drawback. Here's the raw and grainy sound works in perfect harmony with Skinny Puppy's industrial sound.

What is a drawback though is that Skinny Puppy is such a visual act. When you are not there to get pulled into the atmosphere, you lose something. Further more, when you are unable to see the amazing body language and expressions, you lose something more. So if you are unable to witness it live, I would probably recommend you buying one of the live DVD's, like the now classic 'Ain't It Dead Yet?' (on VHS if you can't get your hands on the DVD re-release, if you are still a kid and don't know what a VHS is, Google it!) and my favourite 'The Greater Wrong of The Right (Live)'.

Nevertheless, 'Bootlegged, Broke and in Solvent Seas' somewhat manages to capture what Skinny Puppy is all about live. You can feel the intensity, but from a distance. And yes, before you spam the comment box, "Assimilate" is on this album, but so is also "Rodent", "Dead Lines", "Addiction" and "Worlock".

A must for all Skinny Puppy fans and worth checking out for all of you that haven't seen these semi Gods live yet. Sep 14 2012