It was interesting.
Especially what he had to say about Paul and Ian McKaye.
I mean, really… straight edge idiot partner? He’s honestly trying to convince us that someone who kept the trains running on time in MinistryLand and wasn’t fucked out of their mind on H while allegedly attempting to raise a child was the idiot?
good shit. i didn’t know barker was straight edge. i always wondered why they “broke up”.
i think that’s yet another example of al’s penchant for hyperbole.
paul had quite a taste for coke back in the day, if i recall hearing correctly.
good shit. i didn’t know barker was straight edge. i always wondered why they “broke up”.
Barker’s not straight edge It just seems that way based on Al’s ridiculous consumption. If I remember right Connelly’s book had Barker sniffing coke once or twice and drinking. I’m pretty sure he still drinks, I remember him drinking at the knitting factory for the USSA tour but he’s probably closer to straight edge now than back when though.
Late,
grmpysmrf
I’d honestly like him to say something nice about Paul just once. Whatever - same as the last couple things i read w/ Al.
If you have the power to fire people - and you hate them - fire them. And why in the fuck is Paul on every side project if you’re doing them to dodge him in Ministry?
yawn
i like how in every al interview they make it sound like the bush trilogy and cover up are super-awesome new reborn ministry.
while it was already going kinda bad for the band at the times of animositisomina, but when barker left, it just got progressively worse and worse year after year.
how many “last releases” were there already? last sucker, oh, allright. oh, “cover up” then. wait, it’s ministry & collaborators, ok. oh, live album with basically nothing but tracks from last bush albums… okey… then remix albums, and now, mixes of the mole.
oh lets not forget the lawsuit, woot!
i wonder why barker even bothered to work on “fix” movie at all.
Pope Jourgensen the Coward.
I dislike music “journalism” and haven’t bought a music mag for over 5 years. It’s for reasons like this interview.
Pope Jourgensen the Coward.
I dislike music “journalism” and haven’t bought a music mag for over 5 years. It’s for reasons like this interview.
Ditto.
Though, I do like ‘Wire’ and ‘The Word’ from time to time.
Nothing new in it. Is it a recent or old article? I noticed her refered to Paul as a “partner”.
Whether it’s new or not, it seems old and hackneyed. I’ve read the banal quote about “squatting in a place where the snow is falling in through a hole in the living room” before and recall responding to it on this forum.
I’ll also add that Al is one of the most repetitive interviewees I’ve noticed over the years. In this article he repeats several stories and anecdotes he mentions frequently in others. And he says he can’t remember shit because he was always so wasted. Reminds me of people who say they can never remember anything when they’re drunk yet through conversation later on they seem to know more than they had initially let on.
Edit: I see I’ve just corroborated what Wempathy said.
This is from 3 years ago.
This came out around TLS, if you read some of the interviews around early 2004 Al has plenty of nice things to say about paul, all the bad blood stuff did not start till’ the lawsuit. It seems though now Al and Paul might be getting along if you look at the FIX credits it’s producers are Al,Angie and Paul so…and why would Paul bother to work on FIX? same reason Al bothered to work on fix same reason i’m about to go to work for…MONEY!
Paul straight edge?! I think Al shjould take a look thru the Ministry interview archives and dig up one that Paul did during the Dark Side era. And for your reading pleasure here it is:
The thing is, I consider WithSym to be one of the best synthpop albums EVER. I’ve heard a lot of synthpop and it seldom truly works over a full album. You’ve got a lot of stuff from both sides of the Atlantic over a number of years and I can probably count on one hand the ones that work as proper full-length albums. Lots of memorable singles from the 80s and beyond, but not a lot of truly great album in that genre.
The first two Depeche Mode albums, definitely (before they got gloomier & sample crazy). Numan’s Pleasure Principle & Replicas, certainly. The first Pet Shop Boys album, Please. Maybe one or two Human League albums (though I always consider them a singles group, just like AFoS). Maybe NSEC by Soft Cell and possibly the Eurythmics’ first two albums. But I’d definitely put WithSym right up there in the top 5 or 6 or so all-time. I don’t give a shit what Al or any of the metal headz say. Taken on its own merits, '81-'84 era Ministry made some superb pop music.
And when you take into account the covers, b-sides, & non-album live material from that era that Bob and the guys worked on, you’d basically have enough content to make another very strong synthpop album.
Even sanitized & watered down by Arista, there’s still a bit of an undercurrent of proto-goth menace and definite funk & even early hiphop influence in WS than 99% of the comparable albums of the day lacked. That gives it the edge in my book. Stevo’s drumming & the Taylor/Ely production helps quite a bit too.
I definitely attribute the funkiness of early Ministry to being an American release as opposed to something from the UK and of course whatever influences the band at that time were drawing from (funk etc). A shame we’re likely to never see a properly remastered & expanded reissue.
But I’d definitely put WithSym right up there in the top 5 or 6 or so all-time. I don’t give a shit what Al or any of the metal headz say. Taken on its own merits, '81-'84 era Ministry made some superb pop music.
I’m with ya bro.
The thing is, I consider WithSym to be one of the best synthpop albums EVER.
As does M. Sayyid from Anti-Pop Consortium…infact he name drops it as one of his all-time favourite albums…which is kind of strange considering he’s a full on avant garde New York Hip Hop artist.
I read that interview quite a few years back… Adrian Sherwood rules.
It’s Always Christmas Time had really great potential, and actually didn’t have that generic sound that a lot of 13th Planet releases are recently having (think the programmed drums). If only it didn’t have the Ministry screams in the background…
As for Voices in My Head… I can’t stand that track.
But I’d definitely put WithSym right up there in the top 5 or 6 or so all-time. I don’t give a shit what Al or any of the metal headz say. Taken on its own merits, '81-'84 era Ministry made some superb pop music.
I’m with ya bro.
I’m into metal and even I think With Sympathy is a decent record. reminds me of the great Human League.
I don’t think it was ALL rehashed. He elaborated more on ‘Dark Side of the Spoon’ than I’ve ever seen in any interview, for instance. And also the story behind the “Lay Lady Lay” cover.
As for the negative comments about Paul, yeah they were as always completely ridiculous. But as someone else said this interview is old so maybe they’ve buried the hatchet or at least agreed to disagree.
Or do you not even care at this point?
This.
It would have been my preference that the band had remained, creatively anyway, the way it was during the summer of '82. It was really lean and hungry as evidenced in the live recordings. There was a lot of commeraderie and AJ hadn’t yet become the egomaniacal person that he remains to this day. AJ’s attitude took a complete turn for the worse when Arista offered us a contract.
I’m glad to see that a lot of people still enjoy WS, although I personally think that it’s really watered down. For that, Al’s got nobody to blame but himself…which is probably why he claims that “a gun was put to my head”. Methinks he doth protest too much.