Filth Pig
Filth Pig is the sixth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on January 30, 1996 by Warner Bros. Records. The title was allegedly derived from a statement made in the British Houses of Parliament, in which the band's leader Al Jourgensen was described as a "filthy pig" by MP Teddy Taylor for his onstage theatrics.[11]
Filth Pig | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 30, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1994–95 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 54:24 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | ||||
Ministry chronology | ||||
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Singles from Filth Pig | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
NME | 7/10[4] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | C[5] |
Rolling Stone | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin | 6/10[8] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Cash Box | favourable[10] |
Despite being the band's highest-charting album in the US, it was negatively received by reviewers,[12][13] sharply divided the band's fanbase, and did not live up to the platinum-selling success of Psalm 69.[14] Despite poor sales, the album entered several charts, peaking at the highest positions Ministry has ever achieved. This would be the last Ministry album with Mike Scaccia on guitar until 2004's Houses of the Molé.
Background
Filth Pig marked a major shift artistically for the band from the previous album. Jourgensen said everyone around him wanted him to continue making music similar to Psalm 69. However, he wanted to move away from using samples and focus on a slower, heavier sound.[15] Jourgensen rejected any songs that sounded like their previous work.[16]
"Everyone hated [Filth Pig]. They all wanted Psalm 70, and I gave them an electronic-free record full of gun-in-mouth dirges of nothing but pain. Aside from the cover art, the humour was gone. All that was left was misery. And I still had to tour the fucking thing - which went down in history as the interminable, intolerable, absolutely depraved Sphinctour."
— Al Jourgensen (2013)[17]
The 2001 live album Sphinctour was generally well received by critics.[18][19]
Packaging
The album cover depicts a young man holding an American flag with raw meat dripping on his head and a badge on his chest that reads, "Don't blame me."
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Reload" | Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker | 2:26 |
2. | "Filth Pig" | Jourgensen, Barker | 6:20 |
3. | "Lava" | Jourgensen, Barker | 6:30 |
4. | "Crumbs" | Jourgensen, Barker, Mike Scaccia, Louis Svitek, Rey Washam | 4:15 |
5. | "Useless" | Jourgensen, Barker, William Rieflin, Scaccia | 5:55 |
6. | "Dead Guy" | Jourgensen, Barker, Washam | 5:15 |
7. | "Game Show" | Jourgensen, Barker, Scaccia, Svitek, Washam | 7:46 |
8. | "The Fall" | Jourgensen, Michael Balch | 4:55 |
9. | "Lay Lady Lay" (Bob Dylan cover) | Bob Dylan | 5:44 |
10. | "Brick Windows" | Jourgensen, Barker | 5:23 |
Total length: | 54:24 |
Personnel
Ministry
- Al Jourgensen – vocals, keyboards, mandolin, harmonica, pedal steel, piano, production
- Paul Barker – bass, vocals (5), programming, production
Additional personnel
- Rey Washam – drums
- Louis Svitek – guitars
- Mike Scaccia – guitars
- William Rieflin – drums
- Esther Nevarez – backing vocals (5)
- Stella Katsoudas – backing vocals (5)
- Duane Buford – programming (uncredited)
- Michael Balch – programming (8, uncredited)
- Zlatko Hukic – engineer
- Brad Kopplin – engineer
- Bill Garcelon – assistant engineer
- Jamie Duffy – assistant engineer
- Matt Gibson – assistant engineer
- Ed Tinley – assistant engineer
- Whitney O'Keefe – assistant engineer
- Paul Elledge – art & design
Chart positions
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References
- Ruggieri, Melissa (February 7, 1996). "Rants, Rage And Regrets: Ministry - Filth Pig". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- Henderson, Alex (June 12, 2013). "Sphinctour - Ministry". Allmusic.
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Filth Pig - Ministry". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- NME (1/27/96, p.43)
- Christgau, Robert. "CG: Ministry". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
- Wiederhorn, Jon (February 2, 1998). "Ministry: Filth Pig : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. No. 728 (published February 22, 1996). Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Ministry". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 544-5. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Norris, Chris (February 1996). "Ministry, Filth Pig, Sire/Warner Bros". Spins. Spin. Vol. 11 no. 11. pp. 84–85. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via Google Books.
- Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). "Ministry". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 5 (3rd ed.). Muse UK Ltd. pp. 3692–3693. ISBN 1561592374 – via Internet Archive.
- Baltin, Steve (February 10, 1996). "Ministry: Filth Pig (Warner Bros. 45838-2)". Pop Reviews. Cash Box. Vol. LIX no. 22. p. 10. ISSN 0008-7289. Retrieved April 10, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
- Jenkins, Mark (May 22, 1996). "The Bloody Pulpit". SF Weekly. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- Andrew. "Justify Your Shitty Taste: Ministry's 'Filth Pig'". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- O'Hagar, Sammy. "Album of the Day: Ministry's Filth Pig". MetalSucks. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- "The Piss Army :: View topic - I come bearing a gift: Ministry's official soundscan numbers". 2007-09-28. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
- Jourgensen, Al; Wiederhorn, Jon (2013). Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen. Da Capo Press. p. 164–165. ISBN 978-0-30682-218-6.
- "The Bloody Pulpit". SF Weekly. May 22, 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- Jourgensen, Al; Wiederhorn, Jon (2013). Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen. Da Capo Press. p. 173.
- Kaluza, David. "Ministry - Sphinctour (CD)". Metal Temple. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- Reed, Mark. "Ministry - Sphinctour". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- "Filth Pig - Ministry". Billboard.
- "Australian chart positions". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Austrian chart positions" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Finnish chart positions". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "German chart positions" (in German). musicline.de.
- "New Zealand chart positions". charts.nz. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Norwegian chart positions". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Swedish chart positions". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Swiss chart positions". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- "Chart Log UK: M - My Vitriol". Zobbel.
- "Ministry - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". Allmusic.