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" for his onstage theatrics by MP Teddy Taylor.
Despite being the band's highest-charting album in the US, it was negatively received by reviewers, sharply divided the band's fanbase, and did not live up to the platinum-selling success of Psalm 69. 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 their 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. Jourgensen rejected any songs that sounded like their previous work.
The 2002 live album Sphinctour was generally well received by critics.
Track listing
Personnel
Ministry
- Al Jourgensen – vocals, keyboards, mandolin, harmonica, pedal steel, piano, production
- Paul Barker – bass, vocals (5), programming, production
Additional personnel
- Rey Washam, William Rieflin – drums
- Louis Svitek, Mike Scaccia – guitars
- Esther Nevarez, Stella Katsoudas – backing vocals (5)
- Duane Buford – programming (uncredited)
- Michael Balch – programming (8, uncredited)
Technicial personnel
- 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
;Album
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Chart (1996)
!scope="col'|Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"|9
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|align="center"|47
|-
!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
|align="center"|17
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|align="center"|28
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
|align="center"|16
|-
!scope="row"|Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)
|align="center"|38
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan0
|align="center"|7
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|align="center"|50
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|align="center"|43
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|align="center"|19
|}
;Singles
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Year
!scope="col"|Song
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|US<br>Dance<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|SWE<br>