Rabies (album)

Rabies is a 1989 album by Canadian industrial group Skinny Puppy.

The album is significant in the band's history for a number of reasons; not as much for the music, but for the events in and out of the studio involving the band members. Most of their previous albums had been mixed and produced by the group's "Fourth Member" Dave Ogilvie, also known as "The Rave". For Rabies, lead singer/songwriter Nivek Ogre brought in friend and Ministry frontman, Al "Alien" Jourgenson. Jourgenson and Ogre had toured together with industrial supergroup Pigface, as well as with Ministry (Ogre can be seen and heard on the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up video and CD). The other two members of Skinny Puppy, drummer/programmer cEvin Key and keyboardist/programmer Dwayne Goettel did not approve of Jourgenson's takeover, creating friction between the bandmembers.

Track listing

• Rodent
• Hexonxonx
• Two Time Grime
• Fascist Jock Itch
• Worlock
• Rain
• Tin Omen
• Rivers
• Chloralone
• Amputate
• Sphan Dirge (Live) (extra track on CD only)

The songs on Rabies are less than spectacular, especially when compared to their earlier works, such as VIVIsectVI (1988),Cleanse, Fold and Manipulate (1987), and Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (1986). Although the songs remain as topical as the previous albums (Animal Rights, environmental concerns, drugs, sex, and chemical warfare have always been alluded to in Skinny Puppy material), the music was mediocre at best. Many fans regard Rabies as the band's worst album, with the exceptions of three songs: Worlock, Tin Omen, and Chloralone, which had singles released for the first two.

The original release was poorly mastered, due to problems with their label Nettwerk. In 1993, cEvin Key went back and remastered the album, but placed a track separator at the wrong place between Chloralone and Amputate. He also added the extra track Sphan Dirge, a live in-studio jam between the band members and Jourgenson.

Only one promotional video was produced for Rabies. The "Worlock" video was made up of clips of horror movies, especially clips that had been cut out for being too graphic, as well as clips and outtakes from the band's earlier video, Stairs And Flowers. The video was rated X, and was banned from airplay, as well as not being allowed through customs in many countries.

External links

• Rabies lyrics and information
• Information on the Worlock video