Ministry - The Nature Of Love

How’s this later evening posting working out for ya all in Russia, Europe and the UK?? I hope you’re managing to figure out a time that suits to visit (whenever works for me). You will have noticed a slightly darker theme in the posts and a higher emphasis on less well known / established bands with great music that fell between the cracks on the popularity charts. Of course there will always be a time and a place for better known bands that have an extensive back catalogue that I can dip in and out of, or simply flood your pants with or drip feed over a few weeks or months depending on how I feel. Like “The Nature of Love”, which came out in June 1985, becoming Ministry’s final single on Wax Trax!; in July 1985, the band signed to Sire Records. The final single, the last hurrah, between the light synth pop of With Sympathy and the heavier EBM/Industrial bleeping’s of Twitch. The dark subject matter is similar to what would be found on With Sympathy, but the music is somewhat more ominous. With enough breaks and samples contained within, it becomes very Art of Noise-esque; a bit weird, but still great.

Ministry - Over The Shoulder

After With Sympathy, Alain Jourgensen released a couple of singles that sort of bridged the gap between the first two records. The most popular of these is "Everyday (Is Halloween)," which was later recycled multiple times to great effect. That said, "Nature of Love" and itself are not quite indicative of the innovation that was to come down the pike shortly thereafter. Twitch broke the mold, The Land of Rape and Honey tried to rearrange the pieces, and The Mind is a Terrible Thing To Taste just scrapped the entire concept and did its own thing, which eventually brings us to Ministry as they exist today. "Over the Shoulder" is obviously one of the standouts on Twitch concerning its societal-inclined narrative and hypnotizing intonation. The obligatory music video, featuring machinery at work in rhythm with our disposable lifestyle, speaks volumes and holds value even more so today. The variant on this single is the extended version which was used on the video, but not Twitch itself. It tacks on roughly a minute of captivating electronic percussion before the track begins in earnest. While I don't think this version would fit as well as the regular permutation on the album itself, it is nice to have the extended version separated to give this single more value. Then we get "Twitch (Version II)," which is usually condensed as part of the final medley on the album. It is easy to forget that this is a movement all unique to itself, and including it here as a third track works just okay. That said, nothing is necessarily lost by bifurcating it from the medley it regularly calls home, as it has its own vibe and runs through rattling, powerful beats in just around two minutes of running time. "Isle of Man (Version II)" is a foreboding, decidedly more vocal-driven affair that was included as bonus on some of the reissues of Twitch. At the time of this single's release, both this and the included version of "Over the Shoulder" were unique to this vinyl, so over the years this has been relegated to something for Ministry completionists only. But that doesn't discount the evolutionarily legitimate and socially aware goings on within Over the Shoulder, which served as the first evidence that Jourgensen was moving forward with his vision separate from the mainstream crowd of the period. In earlier interviews, he states that he was forced to put a band together against his better judgement when the first couple of singles took off, and would preferably work alone if possible. Well, Twitch is one of the more convincing examples in this regard, and while he eventually acquiesced due to the huge upsurge in popularity the band garnered a few years after this point, that doesn't take away from the quality of these songs. 

Ministry - All Day / Everyday (Is Halloween)

By 1985, Ministry were showing clear signs of a band moving beyond the synthpop of 1983's With Sympathy with a string of landmark singles (and while certainly songs like "Effigy" and "Revenge" off the debut surged with dark, sexy coolness) the revamped group, now signed to Wax Trax!, had emerged as a forerunner to the new futuristic EBM sound. Both "All Day" & "Everyday (Is Halloween)" are two of the best tracks from Ministry’s Synthpop period, laden with the influences of early EBM (just listen to those rhythms & mechanical drums, and they're all a hint of things to come on Twitch) & Darkwave (the gothic atmosphere and synths are on point, here), with both genres being utilized in a highly tasteful way. "All Day" is a gorgeous, haunting little number singing about the woes of the daily grind, sounding like the slightly angrier older brother of something off Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward with its industrial pop sound. Sure, Al Jourgensen's vocals here are goofy as hell, but they're also in good usage and they have a lack of polish that makes them stand out from many of the more commercial Synthpop bands around when this single was released. But Jesus, who could have expected that B-side "Everyday is Halloween" (undoubtedly one of THEE great B-sides of all-time) would come along and completely obliterate expectations as a goth club anthem complete with fucking wicked ass record scratching and that legendary opening line, "Well I live with snakes and lizards and other things that go bump in the night." Both songs are catchy and memorable in a way that isn't annoying, and "Everyday (Is Halloween)" is the ultimate Goth anthem as well, thankfully not being annoyingly cheesy, which satisfies my gothic tendencies greatly. It's basically a very early alternative song about wanting to be left alone to live one's life and dress however they like, no matter how unusual or unconventional it may seem to outsiders.

Lard - The Last Temptation Of Reid

On paper, the collaboration between Jello Biafra and Ministry seems like a match made in industrial punk heaven, and thankfully the first release from Lard lives up to these expectations. Both parties seemed to have taught the other side a thing or two: Jello Biafra is more focused than usual, while Alain Jourgensen and Paul Barker from Ministry sound a lot more punky and loose. The percussion, courtesy of Bill Rieflin and the late Jeff Ward, is firmly in an industrial style, though -- all mechanized metallic thrashing, but it works just fine with the material. The standout track is "Forkboy," the album's opener, a frantic guitar workout with Biafra's righteous anger coming through loud and clear. The rest of the album isn't quite as strong, but it's still better than anything Biafra and Ministry have done in later years.

Lard - Power Of Lard 12''

Like most of Jello Biafra's work, Lard's songs are angrily political but often have a tinge of humour. Lard, however, stood out a bit for a Jello project. Featuring Ministry's Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker with Jeff Ward on drums, Lard felt more like a real band than a long distance tape swapping affair. 

That said, Lard’s initial EP, The Power of Lard, emphasizes both the good and the bad about Lard. The first two tracks, "The Power of Lard" and "Hellfudge", are both rather good, particularly the groovy "Hellfudge". It demonstrated a style that was more rock than Ministry's general style and a good base for Jello's unique vocal style. But the thirty-one minute "Time To Melt" is a rather misguided song. Featuring very little variation in the riff and plodding tempo, this song truly goes on and on and on. Aside from the members of the band who recorded this track and three diehard Biafra fans, I don't think anyone has ever sat through the entire duration of the song. Actually, I just did while setting up this review and I feel like the last half hour was just robbed from me. You can play almost any one or two minute excerpt from this song and hear all there is to know about it. It foreshadows Ministry's eventual drudgery they released in the mid to late 90s, so be warned.

Fortunately, the first two songs are enjoyable and helped pave the way for the band's monster full length, Last Temptation of Reid, which is still my choice for Jello's best post-Dead Kennedys release. The Power of Lard is worth getting for the first two songs, chances are you'll never sit through the entire "Time to Melt" and your life will be better off for it.

Ministry - The Land Of Rape And Honey

The Land Of Rape And Honey is an album that firmly established Ministry as a band with an identity and purpose. No longer were they forced to produce British faux cheesy new wave music anymore. Al Jorgensen was finally free to do his own thing musically, and to me the results are some of the most interesting compositions I've heard in the industrial genre. First of all, in 1987, industrial metal wasn't really a thing per say. This album along with the self-titled Godflesh EP helped the genre become what it is today. In fact many bands such as: Fear Factory, Nine Inch Nails, and Slipknot cite this album as an album that greatly influenced them. The Land Of Rape And Honey has a very distinct sound to it that helps differentiate it from the rest of Ministry's discography. For one, quite a few of these tracks such as "Flashback" have a lot of simple drum beats that have a very danceable feel to them. It's somewhat similar to what Nine Inch Nails attempted to do with their debut album Pretty Hate Machine, but in my opinion it's executed much better on this album. The riffs overall are fairly simple, but they're so catchy that it makes up for it. Sometimes less is more. Usually electronics in music for me is a bit of a sore spot, but they actually do help bring something to the overall music. Often times there are weird sound effects placed throughout the album, and they are used very well and can help add to the overall atmosphere of the songs. Take for example "Abortive" where the unique samples and loops used help give a creepy vibe to what would otherwise be a very basic 80's dance floor song, and helps make it the perfect soundtrack for some dark club party. However, tracks 4 and 6 are what make this album for me. They aren't really dancier like the rest of the album is. These tracks have more of a groovy atmosphere to them while placing more of an emphasis on atmosphere.
"Golden Dawn" has a very drug induced vibe to it, with the simplistic beat being the only thing that doesn't feel like it's gonna fall apart at any given minute. Creepy, jarring guitar lines help the song have a creepy slasher horror movie vibe to it, while the samples serve as the "vocals" of this song and give the listener the possibility that we are entering hell. "Hizbollah" is probably my favourite song off the album. William Rieflin's performance on this track is unique, playing tribal like drum patterns that are simple yet effective. The bass on this song helps give an urban hip hop atmosphere, while the many samples give off a desert like feel to the track. Noise to some? Yeah sure, but to me this track is a unique collage of sounds that are very unique and help make it a stand out song in Ministry's catalogue.
The metal edge that Ministry would later become known for is here, but not on full display. The only songs that really have a metal edge to them are the first 3 tracks. I don't really care for "Stigmata" all that much because it just sounds very boring to me. It would be somewhat hypocritical of me to call the song repetitive since that's kinda the point of Industrial since it's more focused on the atmosphere being the driving force rather than the instrumentals, but the music here just sounds dull. Considering frontman Al Jorgensen once said that this track was written last minute so the album could be complete, it shows. "The Missing" however has more of a punk energy to it, and "Deity" has a pseudo thrash edge to it. These songs are representative of the sound that would later dominate most of Ministry's career.
While some people might view this album as an incoherent experiment due to the fact that this album doesn't really place an emphasis on guitars like later Ministry albums did and instead focuses more on electronics, atmosphere, and samples, I would argue this. All the experimental elements of this album are really well placed and fit with the instrumentals, so it doesn't make it sound jarring and instead compliments the song. This is my personal favourite Ministry album because it's the most varied albums out of the "classic era" of Ministry and the song's them-selves are really good. I'd say give it a listen if you wanna hear Industrial that's a lot more unorthodox then what you'd normally hear.

Ministry - Twitch

The name Ministry brings to mind images of big, dumb guitars and arena rock sensibility. But before they created their influential third album, The Land of Rape and Honey, there was Twitch. And this album probably owes more to Front 242 than anything. The only thing remotely resembling their later music is the use of psychotic sampling that Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker will always be known for. A good example is "Like You," the first track on the album. Other differences include Patty Jourgensen singing on the song "The Angel" and Al Jourgensen actually trying to sound unaggravated at times. It's interesting though repetitive at times ("Crash and Burn"), and if you care to listen to Jourgensen's rants, he really does have something to say. "Isle of Man" tells the story of the arrival of Columbus and how the persecution of the Indians will be revisited on the offenders in time. Make no mistake: this sounds nothing like any of Ministry's other albums; listeners may hear how they became what they did.

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.

You Have To Work For Love

A lifetime ago, Al Jourgensen was a New Wave Synthpop musician. Long before he had morphed into the Unkle Al of Ministry as we know him today, Al was clean cut and straight laced. These lovingly rebooted 12” singles released over 35 years ago capture an age of innocence and electro-synthpop sensibilities. If you’re a connoisseur of early New Wave Synthpop this is a must have collection of singles, if you’re a collector of all thing Ministry this is a must have, if you what to have Al’s children (WTF is wrong with you?) this is a must have, but if you’re only searching for current Ministry, stay away. You have been warned.