page_title: Skinny Puppy
section_title: Last Rights (1992)
hierarchical_section_title: Skinny Puppy / History / Last Rights (1992)
caption_attribution_description: This was someone else's photo shoot, but somehow me &amp; Rachel ended up here in Palo Alto, CA, to see them. They all hung upside down on a scaffold. Chris [Connelly], [Nivek] Ogre (w/Pukey), Martin Atkins
context_page_description: Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1982. The group is widely considered to be one of the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side project by cEvin Key while he was in the new wave band Images in Vogue, Skinny Puppy evolved into a full-time project with the addition of vocalist Nivek Ogre.
  Over the course of a dozen studio albums and many live tours, Key and Ogre have been the only constant members. Other members have included Dwayne Goettel, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, Mark Walk, and a number of guests, including Bill Leeb, Al Jourgensen, Danny Carey, and many others.
  After the self-release of their first cassette in 1984, Skinny Puppy soon signed to Vancouver label Nettwerk, anchoring its early roster. From their Nettwerk debut EP Remission in 1984 to their 1992 album Last Rights, Skinny Puppy developed into an influential band with a dedicated cult following, fusing elements of industrial, funk,
  noise, new wave, electro, and rock music and making innovative use of sampling.
context_section_description: Following Too Dark Park, Skinny Puppy was commissioned by the dance group La La La Human Steps to compose several songs for their 1991 production Infante C'est Destroy, a duty shared alongside the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten. It was also during this time that Ogre made a concerted effort to rid his drug addictions. In an interview with CITR-FM, Ogre discussed his ordeals with hepatitis A and subsequent hospilization; he also thanked Pigface for looking after him during his "hour of need".
  Skinny Puppy released their seventh studio album, Last Rights, in 1992. It was the last album the band released under Nettwerk/Capitol. Relationships between the band members during the album's production were "tense and unhealthy", with Ogre, under the supervision of Rave, coming into the studio at night to perform vocals for the music Key and Goettel composed earlier in the day. Ogre said that the production of Last Rights acted as a form of therapy which he used to help him come to terms with his addictions. "It's painful for me to be reminded of certain things, but for me to say it never happened is wrong. I'll be glad to put it behind me, but I had to do this".
  Described by Entertainment Weekly as a "nonstop stretch of horrific soundscapes", Last Rights became the first Skinny Puppy record to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 193. The album remained on Billboard's Heatseekers album chart for several weeks, peaking at No. 10. The track "Inquisition" was released as a single and included several alternative cuts of the song, as well as the b-side "LaHuman8" (one of the tracks produced for La La La Human Steps). A second single, "Love in Vein", was never released, although an unfinished remix intended for it later appeared on Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996. A music video for the song "Killing Game", which featured a student dance troupe performing in "high-contrast black and white".
  A track titled "Left Handshake" was excluded from Last Rights, leaving a blank track 10 on some copies of the album. Clearance for a lengthy vocal sample from Timothy Leary's Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out, was approved by Leary, but denied by the copyright holder, Henry G. Saperstein. Commenting on the ordeal, Key said, "We tried to convince him, but he [Saperstein] said, 'it doesn't matter what Leary said, he doesn't own his own work'". The song, in which Ogre provides commentary to Leary's instructions for avoiding a "bad trip", was eventually released on the initial European edition of Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996, and on a limited edition single called "Track 10" sold at the Skinny Puppy reunion concert in 2000 at Dresden.
  The stage show for the Last Rights tour in North America, much like the album itself, was built around a detailed narrative inspired by Ogre's past ordeals with drug abuse. The show involved Ogre interacting with a backing film by way of a virtual reality machine, a tree made of human heads and fetuses, and numerous other props and costumes. For this tour, Key once more focused exclusively on live drumming, leaving Goettel on keyboard duty. One incident that occurred at a show in Boston involved several concert goers climbing on stage and grabbing at Ogre's various masks and props, several of which were stolen. The band's manager, Tim Gore, pursued the thieves but was punched by a security guard. Following the punch, Gore began having issues breathing and was taken to a hospital; the guard was fired as a result of the incident.
caption: Pigface: Nivek Ogre (center) with Chris Connelly (left) and Martin Atkins
exif: {"Image Rating": "0", "Image ExifOffset": "98", "Image XPTitle": "[0, 0]", "Image XPComment": "[0, 0]", "Image XPAuthor": "[0, 0]", "Image XPKeywords": "[0, 0]", "Image XPSubject": "[0, 0]", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": ""}