Okay, we’ve heard the rants from Uncle Al over and over again for years, ad nauseum, regarding “the abortion”: he hates it, they made him do it, Arista wrote the whole album and he was just their puppet, etc. etc.
It’s about time for Al to face up to the past and reconcile with it. What Uncle Al really needs to do now is fully embrace “With Sympathy” and re-make the entire album in current Ministry style!
Yeah, I know it would likely be impossible since Arista owns it all, but… can you imagine “Revenge”, “I Wanted To Tell Her”, or “Say You’re Sorry” with heavy guitars and screaming/growling vocals? Just turn the whole thing into a mockery of its former… er… mockery.
Then maybe, FINALLY, Al can stop whining about it and make peace with the damn thing.
I don’t really mind With Sympathy, it’s not great by any means, but it’s pretty decent, and not bad. Honestly, I wish he had released an actual album on WaxTrax instead of just 12 Inch Singles.
Mind you, I’m not saying it would be GOOD or anything… I’m not a big fan of post-1990 Ministry anyway (same old schtick for over 16 years now!), but if that’s what it would take to get Al over his hang-ups with his past, I’d be all for it.
I’m with you on wishing for a post-WS WaxTrax! era album. Lots of good stuff from that period that never really saw the light of day.
Yknow, he’s got such a sense of humor that Im surprised he hasnt “covered” himself and done at least one of those old abominations in the current style. That would be wicked, to hear Al screaming “IM NOT AN EFFIGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”
Man, that’s the big goofy cover the last RevCo needed!
VH1 asked Al about this in an interview from February of '03:
VH1: It’s been 20 years since Ministry’s debut, With Sympathy. When was the last time you listened to it?
Jourgensen: The day I got out of the studio in 1983. I don’t own a copy, and I don’t want to own a copy. It’s one thing to go back listen to our second album Everyday is Halloween, because I was part of the process from top to the bottom. But when you’re excluded from the process like I was on that first record, yet your name is on it – you have to answer other people’s mail, if you will – it’s just not interesting to me.
VH1: You never thought about going back and saying, “You know what? I’m going to re-do this my way.”
Jourgensen: F*ck no! Paul and I have a saying that “Our best songs are yet to be written.” Look forward!
But when you’re excluded from the process like I was on that first record, yet your name is on it – you have to answer other people’s mail, if you will – it’s just not interesting to me.
Maybe it’s just me but…that somehow seems contradictory to the interviews he gave at the time.
It is. And I seem to recall in a web-chat that he actually did buy the album back, and burned the masters or something, so that it can never be re-released. This was just before or after Houses, so, technically, he DOES own it.
I think, if this isn’t the farewell tour, that when they DO tour one final time they should dust off an oldie and rev it up. Hell, those songs are older than most of the audience - they would just think it was new! Can you imagine some 13 year-old headbanging with a heavy “She’s Got a Cause?” That would be great.
Mind you, I’m not saying it would be GOOD or anything… I’m not a big fan of post-1990 Ministry anyway (same old schtick for over 16 years now!), but if that’s what it would take to get Al over his hang-ups with his past, I’d be all for it.
I’m with you on wishing for a post-WS WaxTrax! era album. Lots of good stuff from that period that never really saw the light of day.
–SKot
Same old schtick huh? Bullshit you need to listen to Dark Side of the Spoon, Filth Pig and Animositisomina you obviously didn’t or only listened a few times and quickly dismissed them.
You’re ideas are horrible. No one wants to hear fucking With Sympathy 2006 that album sucks for the most part and it’s unrealistic and pointless anyway.
We all know Al is exaggerating about how the album was simply tacked on to his name but who cares? This thread is pointless.
I’ve always thought that the track “Destruction” on LoRaH was all about “With Sympathy”. Can’t you hear Al scream “Denial! Denial! Denial!” all the way through it?
Sorry, voidhead, but you’re not going to change my mind by telling me you don’t like my musical tastes. I really liked “Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste” when it came out, but I hated “Psalm 69”. Yeah, I know that was the album everybody creamed themselves over… but I thought it sucked. The only things I liked from that period were “TV Song” (just for its goofiness), “Jesus Built My Hotrod” (but it really should have been made a RevCo song), and “Fucked” (which was a b-side anyway). And everything after I’ve just been bored with, for the most part.
And that’s just the way it is.
I can say I’ve heard the new album, and it’s definitely better than some of their other albums so far. But I’ve never been a big fan of the thrash guitar style Ministry, period.
Yeah, I like Psalm 69 a lot, but I think it’s a lot more simplistic than three albums preceeding it.
I think Filth Pig is definitely worth giving another chance, though.
I have Filthpig (got it free as a radio station promo, which is good since I probably wouldn’t have bought it), and repeated listening over the years hasn’t caused it to grow on me. Though I was a huge Ministry fan prior to that and Psalm 69, it just doesn’t do anything for me.
For the record, Twitch is my favorite album and period.
Same here. Twitch was, IMO, the best example of Al’s “true” style…No Stevo, no Arista, no Paul. Just Al & Adrian Sherwood making some music that perfectly bridged the gap between actual songs & noize. It was also better political (We Believe) material than the more recent stuff…it certainly didn’t become as dated as quickly!
mm, i love twitch but seeing how it used some similar stuff (some drum patterns in isle of man, twitch v2 and some other track)… and how some tracks dragged a bit… like my posession…
i don’t think it’s 100% what al wanted it to be, half of it sounds like al was experimenting with his fairlight and learning to program it. =)
i don’t think paul had THAT much input on LORAH (writing) actually, cuz i think half of it were some leftovers from al’s songs luggage - hizbollah was played as intro even in 1984, abortive ‘was meant’ to be on twitch, “i prefer” also sounds twitchy.
i consider twitch/lorah/mind the ministry in it’s overall top exmerimental/post-industrial/aggro/metal mix/transformation or something. it wasn’t boring, and each song stood out. not that psalm/filthpig/dsots are boring, but these 3 are different…
but, like, for some of the latest stuff you can sort of say “i’ve heard it before”… like leper reminds of cannibal song, filth pig AND useless remind of golden dawn (if you listen to the bass, that is), animosity sort of stomps out like just one fix but with breaks…
If Al truly hasn’t listened to the album in over 20 years, maybe he’s remembering it as being worse than it really is. Or maybe he’s just full of shit and trying to justifty to the metal crowd how such a hardcore band could have started out making cheesey synth-pop.
Personally, I love the synth stuff just as much as the industurial or metal. I can’t see them redoing the entire album, but I do think an updated version of Effigy would kick ass!
