Ministry - Work For Love / With Sympathy

Ministry’s début US album With Sympathy was released as Work For Love through Arista-BMG in Europe (with different track listing and cover above). There is a video available for "Revenge," which was one of three singles pulled from the album, the others being "Work for Love" and "I Wanted to Tell Her."

Al Jourgensen has maintained that he was pressured by Arista management into producing the album in the then-popular "synthpop" style, which is in contrast to the harder industrial sounds he developed afterwards. However, there are reports of Jourgensen saying in the 1980s that when he discovered hardcore music, his musical direction changed. Additionally, video of local concerts Ministry performed in Chicago 1–2 years previous to their signing with Arista show the band dressed in "new wave" styles and playing new wave and synthpop music. Jourgensen assumes a false English accent for all of the songs, for which he also later expressed a great disliking.

Rather than the trademark bone-munching industrial drone of later years, Work For Love is panto-goth, new wave synthpop that sounds less like the band chewing your pancreas and more like the Human League's surly little brother. Great stuff, then, for those who allied themselves with Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club. "Here We Go" grinds all over some electronic horns, "Work For Love" stop-starts and shouts about like "Walk This Way" without all that scary rap, and the whole record becomes a secret weapon against the contrived snarls of the albums to follow. Surely, Al Jourgensen must be more insecure about his past than a superstar linebacker over childhood courses in ballet.

Taken from the vinyl albums Work For Love and With Sympathy to MP3

Track List “Work For Love”

                A1 Work For Love

                A2 Do The Etawa

                A3 I Wanted To Tell Her

                A4 Say You’re Sorry

                B1 Here We Go

                B2 Effigy (I’m Not An)

                B3 Revenge

                B4 She’s Got A Cause

                B5 Should Have Known Better

Track List “ With Sympathy”

                A1 Effigy

                A2 Revenge

                A3 I Wanted To Tell Her

                A4 Work For Love

                B1 Here We Go

                B2 What He Say

                B3 Say You’re Sorry

                B4 Should Have Known Better

                B5 She’s Got A Cause