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[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL
"First Impression of Ministry pt.1" |
10.12.11 |
BY MIKEY MIGO
I’m a fan of “industrial”. I’m not an expert or anything and I’m not going to claim to be so. It’s just not a genre that I’ve spent too much time researching and backtracking into. I know my share about the Woodstock era, the late 70’s New York rock scene, Grunge, and pretty much a good portion of the musical footnotes that have come since. I’ve just not gotten into “industrial” THAT much. I’m still a fan though. I’ve enjoyed the industrial metal and rock bands like Nine Inch Nails, White and Rob Zombie, Tool, and the others I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. To rectify this lack of knowledge I’ve taken this month to educate myself and rock out.
Last week I listened to the first five albums by the industrial metal band Ministry. I enjoyed what I heard and was shocked that I missed out on their awesomeness for so long. The first album was flat out new wave, the second was a little more industrial, and then from there it’s been hard pulse pounding industrial metal. Needless to say, I really enjoyed myself.
The thing is that Ministry has been around for a long time. They have too many albums for me to be able to listen to all of their studio albums for one week’s column. With that, I had to split up their eleven albums into a “two part first impression”. A “two part first impression”? Oxymoron it may be, let’s take a listen to the remaining six albums of Ministry…
Filth Pig
(1996 – 55 minutes) - The sixth album opens with "Reload". A countdown takes us into a really abrasive melody. The vocals remind me of cross between Manson and Wayne Static, but I assume the comparison would be in reverse. Either way, I dig. The title track of the album, "Filth Pig" starts off droning in a spiraled distance and then breaks into a really pimp groove. I was worried it was going to keep repeating itself for the full six minutes, but about half way through is a really awesome bluesy bridge. "Lava" has a hard edge industrial beat, but it has a darkly seductive vibe going for it. It’s not the typical “raaah! raaah!” cock-rockness of normal metal and I for one really dig it. It’s music that’ll let your mind wander while taking in the monstrous and addictive thump. "Crumbs" is what I worried about with the other songs. It sounds cool, but it just doesn’t change up really or go anywhere to make the four minutes worth it. It’s not horrible, but it feels like filler. I dunno if it was the bad taste left from the last one, but I had trouble really getting excited about "Useless". The vocals towards the end were interesting though. I’ll give them that. I automatically dig the riffs on "Dead Guy". The vocals don’t do much, but the guitar layers in this are the shit. The opening of "Game Show" makes me want to go start a war with my toaster and any small appliance I can get my hands on. Awesome drum work. It’s over seven minutes long, but by the time you realize it you’re already at the next track. "The Fall" was pretty intense. The tone of the drums and the layers remind me of a NIN track, but the vocals are nothing in that world. It’s one of the more solid tunes on here so far. One thing I never expected was a Bob Dylan cover on this, but they manage with "Lay, Lady, Lay". It has a really electrified gloom going for it and eventually builds up to something noisier. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the original, but I can guarantee I like THIS one better. The tempo and composition is different than the other stuff, but it’s still a really interesting tune. I like when a band can take a cover and warp it into something the original artist would never have dreamed of in the million years. Ministry’s highest charting album ends with "Brick Windows". Its high pitched tones and then a groove… then some thud drums and muddy guitars. So far so good. It turns out to be a really good track. I’m a little surprised they didn’t try to get this one out there as a single of sorts. I don’t think this was the band’s best album or the worst. You could hear the mid-90’s industrial “sound” in these songs. One thing I’m curious about now is what’s up with the industrial music connection with the pig. Why the pig? Someone answer me why Ministry, NIN, and others always bring up pigs! As I was going though the credits on this, I noticed that Jamie Duffy of Acumen Nation fame is an assistant engineer. Cool. I’ve met him a few times and have shared space in “Special Thanks” credits in not one but two Fashion Bomb albums. You’re probably like “that’s cool and all, but so?”. I just thought it was a cool fun fact and weird. I’m sitting here being a lover of Chicago music AND industrial and I’ve totally missed the boat on Ministry. I feel like I owe someone money. Not you though.
Dark Side of the Spoon
(1999 – 64 minutes) - Ministry’s last album of the last millennium starts off with "Supermanic Soul". It has a simple thud-thud beat and the vocals sound gargled, but it’s still sorta cool. "Whip and Chain" drones at start, but flows into a good track. The vocals on it are clear, which is a weird change up. Dude has a decent voice, but the song puts some rage in me. In a good way. The single, "Bad Blood" is the shit. I have heard this song before and it was nominated for a Grammy. It’s more in the traditional realm of the Ministry sound, but it does stand out. The breakdown is fantastic. It builds up and rocks out and then this breakdown just comes in that doesn’t so much calm you, but builds tension. It’s gotta be one of the band’s best. The groove on "Eureka Pile" is bad ass. You can feel the beat the bass pull you along through the song. There are some interesting layers and I like the way the vox are distorted on this one. The opening drums of "Step" throw me off. It has a break beat type of rockabilly type of thing going on. I’m not sure if I should head bang or snap my fingers. This confusion only makes me like the song more. Fun stuff. I expected "Nursing Home" to be weird, but the bass groove is awesome. In the background are some attentive layers and noises. It sounds mostly experimental at start, but it somehow finds its own conventions in making it a very listenable 7 minute track. I also can’t help but enjoy "Kaif". It’s a slow burner, but it still rocks. It sounds like what I’d imagine Rob Zombie and Trent Reznor collaborating would sound like. Compliment, obviously. The distorted guitars at the start of "Vex & Siolence" give me pretty high hopes for a monstrous song. This is the type of song that hits almost on all marks on what it takes for me to love a rock song. It’s bad ass, the lyrics are strong, and it just feels really bad ass and epic. The droning synth rocks. The album ends with "10 / 10"s, a slow rocker that builds up and comes back down. It does its job well in letting you calm down just enough from the bad assness just heard. Then there’s some saxophone! Nice! From there is two more tracks. “Happy Dust”, a Japanese bonus and “Linda Summertime” is a two minute hidden track that comes in at 69. Get it? 69! HA! Any who, I really dug this album. I noticed that critics were either in the middle of the road with this one or they just didn’t like it. I appreciated the risks they took. They added more synth, more jazz-fusion, and just spread themselves out a bit. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it really worked. All in all, I’d say this probably one of my favorite Ministry albums from top to bottom.
Animositisomina
(2003 – 54 minutes) - "Animosity" starts us off. It has a strong drum beat and a lot of distorted guitar, but other than the gargled vocals it doesn’t sound all that awesome. "Unsung" is more like the good old stuff, but different. It has a screamy punk thing going on. It doesn’t really do it for me. I’m pretty sure the only single on the album is "Piss". Literally, that’s the song title. The track itself has a good trash drum to it and is one of the better tracks. The vocals are way too weird and bouncy for the track behind it. It feels like the same can be said for "Lockbox". Solid drumming, distorted guitar, and gargled metal vocals. I don’t know what happened. So far, not so good. "Broken" goes for that ironic “Primus“ metal rodeo sound. The music is catchy, but the vocals annoy me really badly for some reason. The break down and chorus is cool, but I can’t get past the lame verse work. There is also a bad ass guitar solo hidden in there. Apparently, "The Light Pours Out of Me" is a cover originally by the band called “Magazine”. It starts off with the constant drumming and is accompanied by a simple droney guitar and then deep vocals. It sounds good and I like it. The wailing drone of the guitars at the beginning of "Shove" is awesome. The bass line is pimp and the drums are solid. The vocals were the one thing I was worried about, but they’re fairly clear if not a tad echoy. It sounds pretty cool. Unless one of the last change it for me, I’d say this was my favorite track on this album. "Impossible" jumps from ear to ear as a noise is sent back and forth. By 30 seconds or so in of this weird droning I want to turn it off. I keep it on because it’s a weird experience in the headphones and I wanted to know where it was going. It then just breaks into a song. Weird opening for sure, but the song ends up being close to eight minutes of pure “W.T.F”. Great stuff. If I had to compare it to anyone I’d say it reminds me of Marz Volta’s “Francis the Mute” album. Of course, again, the comparison should probably be reverse. It just has that electric story vibe going for it. It almost seems a little too improv’d to be an album track, but it’s awesome nonetheless. "Stolen" is next. Musically it’s really involved and demands your attention. The vocals on the other hand are crap. It’s that talky-rant-early-90’s-rock thing… just distorted. It really doesn’t do the music justice at all. The album closes out with the over nine minute long "Leper". The opening bass-line is great and the weird drones and loops in the background are interesting. It progressively gets more and more intense. Horns enter the picture about three or so minutes in. Then around four minutes in heavy distorted guitars join the pending melody. It keeps doing this. By the end of the song it’s pretty bad ass. A good close to a somewhat disappointing album. Outside of the first album, this is probably my least favorite. It’s not horrible, but it just wasn’t on par with the genius work I’ve been hearing. I’m still optimistic…
Houses of the Mole
(2004 – 52 minutes) - This album starts off with the pretty cool anti-Bush song, "No W". It’s a bad ass upbeat metal song. It’s more thrashy and sort of sounds like Ultimate Warrior’s old WWF theme song save the chorus. The first track was “No W” and now the rest of the album except for one starts with a “W”. "Waiting" has some kick ass drumming and then some sampling. I like it for the head banging aspect, but there doesn’t feel like any substance to really latch onto. It could be because W is out of office though or it could just be it’s not that impressive. "Worthless" is a bad name for this track. If you’re looking for a good head banging track this is it. It’s more than a prototype metal song too. Off the bat I dig the bass groove of "Wrong". It warps itself into a thrashy metal song. It’s almost like “industrial punk” or something. It’s interesting, but I’m not necessarily sold on it. "Warp City" is more metal per sae, but still has a thrash punk thing going on with the vocals. It sounds like Lemmy gargling the blood of a cyborg. More of what I’ll keep calling “industrial metal” in "WTV". It has the sampling, the distortion, and all that but then the vocals and fast-as-you-can playing is really punk. Not even good punk. I will say I think I heard the Law and Order “cling-cling” sampled in there. That’s always a welcomed sound. A track that’s more to my liking is "World". It still feels like it’s fighting itself over being industrial and being something else, but the gist of it is here. The melody is addictive and the vocals are good background to the music at hand. I think the best track on the entire album is "WKYJ". The riffs are sick and I love how it keeps changing back to the weird contrast over and over. It’s weird, like I said, but it works here. 9:11 long, "Worm" starts off slow with some synthy stuff and a solid and slow drum tempo. It’s a bad ass tune and a good slow burner. There’s audio of someone unsuccessfully calling what sounded like a suicide/help line. It was a little out of place, but the song still rocked my socks off. "Psalm 23" starts off with old scratchy music from the old says and then breaks into a hardnosed metal track. Sadly, more “industrial punk” vocals. It’s the same song as “No W”. Just about literally. Double dipping on the same album? Ballsy. The album ends with "Walrus". It sounds all pleasant like and almost reminiscent of a circus. It’s creepy enough to close the album out right. I really wasn’t feeling this album all that much either. I’m not a trash or punk fan so this album isn’t my cup of tea. The last few tracks were the best of the bunch though. I’m not hating or anything. It just wasn’t my thing.
Rio Grande Blood
(2006 – 52 minutes) - This album starts off with the title track, "Rio Grande Blood". Some well but Bush quotes make him sound smarter than he is. It then breaks into a harder metal track. "Señor Peligro" is another harder metal track, but vocally another “industrial punk” type of thing. Eh. The samples are lame, but I like the guitar progression and melody of "Gangreen" (ft. Sgt. Major). I like "Fear (Is Big Business)". It’s not all thrash-punky or anything. It’s a melodic burner full of distortion and industrial precision. Then it gets obnoxiously fast. The way the albums have been sounding, I’d swear that "LiesLiesLies" was a 90’s Ministry song. I’m not going to lie, I think I’m burnt out on the speed-metal thing at this point. As soon as I hear it on "The Great Satan (Remix)", I lose interest. Why should I try to have any when it’s clear there’s none coming from the band. Bland protest stuff is not what I was getting all excited about a few albums ago. "Yellow Cake" gets a slow start with samples and what not. Then it morphs into the same sounding industrial-punk thing again. Not good. "Palestina" teeters in both directions. It has a really bad ass industrial vibe going and it’s still got some of that fast-scream-talk “punk” vocals. A near seven minute long song called "Ass Clown" (ft. Jello Biafra) HAS to be good right? It takes a while, but it gets on with an intense head banger. The weird higher pitched vocals are crazy. It’s still a track that reminds me of Ministry of old though. "Khyber Pass" (ft. Liz Constantine) is cool. The guitars and build up in it is a good trip and the droney and chanty female vocals in the background and interesting, if not intriguing. Then two tracks of silence. It closes with the hidden remix/carry on of “Sgt. Major”. Nothing too special. There were like two or three songs on this album that made it worth the time, but in all their direction on this album and last isn’t not where I’d imagine. One more to go…
The Last Sucker
(2007 – 56 minutes) - Fittingly, the last album released is called “The Last Sucker”. It was supposed to be the last album, but I read Al wants to do more and has another coming out next year. But for now, this IS “The Last Sucker”. Album eleven starts off with "Let's Go". We hear some preacher samples at the start and then it breaks into an explosive industrial metal track. That’s what I’m talking about. "Watch Yourself" starts off weird, but it’s all intro to a really groovy industrial tune. You can’t help but head bang to this song. "Life Is Good" has some awesome layers. It’s a bad ass metal song for sure. I enjoy when bad ass metal songs STILL have a tongue-in-cheek lyrical approach. This album is pretty blunt in its sarcasm. At least I hope. I feel as heterosexual male, I automatically don’t like "The Dick Song". It turns out I don’t feel bad about it. It has too much screamy/growl metal vocals for me to really want to listen to it. Sucks because the music seems cool. The self titled track, "The Last Sucker" has fun guitar opening and it builds right into a head banger. I’m surprised "No Glory" wasn’t a single. The intro to it is very cool, but then bam! Speed metal. I’m sure there are tons of people who like it, but I don’t see the point. Music isn’t a speed or pissing contest. It’s a free form art that should be based on some sort of melody other than Thud! Thud! Thud! "Death & Destruction" isn’t just a witty title for a song, it’s how the song comes off. It’s only like three and a half minutes, but has A LOT crammed into it. Next up is a cover of The Door’s "Roadhouse Blues". Sadly, it’s a speed metal cover as opposed to a more industrial take on it. I am let down. "Die in a Crash" is another let down. It’s “speed punk”. Not even “industrial punk”, but just “punk” on its own. Lame. The albums ends with a two parter. First up is "End of Days (Part 1)". It’s a rough ass metal song with some really strong riffs in it. And yeah! It’s “industrial” (and I like it). The album closes with a 10:25 long "End of Days (Part 2)". It blends from part 1, but ends up having a long clip of an old Eisenhower speech. Solid ending though. This album is a set up from the one before it, but the whole speed, thrash, and punk thing is not what I was looking for in this experience.
THE VERDICT
(1983 – ) - In the past two weeks, I’ve listened to OVER NINE HOURS of Ministry. I can hear tons of bands I love in this music. Rob Zombie, Trent Reznor, and some of the Chicago industrial metal/rock bands really took from older Ministry. As time passed, Ministry started going in a direction that wasn’t that awesome. Al Jourgensen is a genius, but even he couldn’t make me like punk or speed metal. I prefer the more melodic industrial synth stuff, but that’s just my tastes. I again appreciate the experimental side of Ministry. They’re obviously a “industrial” band, but at times they’re fusing in jazz, some thrash, some punk, some gloom, some classical, and some of a lot of everything. A band that’s not scared to try new things is a band I will always respect. That said, I more than respect Ministry. Their music is right up my alley. Some albums and tracks don’t quite make me want to jump up and down, but in all, their music as a whole is amazing. I do feel like I’ve missed out on some really big here. It’s safe to say that from now one I’m going to always have some Ministry in my collection. I have a lot of catching up to do. If you’ve never given Ministry a chance and like industrial metal then you’re making huge mistake. I know “OVER NINE HOURS OF MINISTRY” sounds a bit intimidating, but I seriously have no regrets. Al Jourgensen for President.
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