''Perversion'' is a 1998 album by industrial rock band

Gravity Kills Gravity Kills is an American industrial rock band from St. Louis, Missouri, formed in 1994. After releasing three albums, they disbanded in 2003, followed by reunions from 2005 to 2012, and another in 2023. After a brief period on the regiona ...

. It was released on June 9, 1998, through TVT Records.

Background

During an online chat session on April 17, 2000, the band disclosed that the title of the album was originally going to be 'Whore', and after their record label pushed back, the title was changed to 'Perversion' two days before the CDs went into production. They also stated that the actual title of the tenth track, 'Belief', is simply the word itself, and the '(To Rust)' was the result of a misprint during the cover art's production process. The album art features a scan of an instructions sheet on safe handling of meat and poultry. The inner sleeve features a double-spread image of the band in a room occupied by pigs; vocalist Jeff Scheel is tied to a chair while rapidly shaking his head, while the other band members are stood next to a table with headphones on. A red neon sign is affixed to the wall behind them, displaying seemingly nonsensical white Japanese text.

Promotion

A promotional CD was released under the same name in early 1998, containing all of the album's tracks. "Drown" was retitled as "Drowned" or "Drowning" depending on the pressing. After being approached by TVT Records, American cosmetics brand

Urban Decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

released a nail polish as a promotional tie-in product for the album. The polish, titled 'Perversion', was a glossy black color and was given away for free with each copy of the album bought from various outlets. Vocalist Jeff Scheel said of the collaboration, "I think it fits in with most rock bands because there's this marriage between rock music and fashion anyway. And guys wear ail polish Anyway, ''I'' will be wearing it." The color became a staple until Urban Decay discontinued their nail range.

Reception

Perversion was met with mixed reviews and ratings.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album 2.5/5, eMusic gave it a 4/5 and MOG gave it 3/5. It reached #107 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Reviewing the album for Spin, Joshua Westlund commented that the band was recreating

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

's song " Head Like a Hole" and stated, "Gravity Kills songs have no subjects because pronouns don't matter to singer Jeff Scheel; the charges against "you" in the first verse always come back as revelations about "me" in the second. Lust, disgust, and ennui sound like the same numb sensation in GK's music. Which might explain why "darkness" has seldom sounded so gray."

Chart positions

Album

Singles

Compilation-promo appearances

Some of the songs appeared in some compilation volumes and promos:

Media appearances

"Drown" and "Alive" were featured in '' Test Drive: Off-Road 2''. " Falling" was featured in '' Test Drive 5''. "If" was featured in ''MTV Sports: Pure Ride''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Gravity Kills * Jeff Scheel -

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Matt Dudenhoeffer -

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Doug Firley - Keyboard and

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Kurt Kerns -

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and

;Production * Produced by Roli Mosimann and Gravity Kills * Engineered by Doug Firley and Federico Panero * Mixed by Gary Townsley and East Side Sound * Written by Gravity Kills * Photos by Joseph Cultice * Package Design by David Lau

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perversion (Album) TVT Records albums Gravity Kills albums 1998 albums