Loving Relapse

loving the new relapse. you may not if…
you are some stupid kid.
because clearly, relapse is aimed toward adults.

Right. So how’s life been treating you, Angie? Al looks “well”.

lol not sure if srs

I can’t bag…if Ministry’s Facebook wall is any indication, it’s got more fans than one would think.

…of course, even though the human imagination is limitless, I still cannot fathom that there’s even a handful of fans of this stuff. What do I know.

I can’t bag…if Ministry’s Facebook wall is any indication, it’s got more fans than one would think.

…of course, even though the human imagination is limitless, I still cannot fathom that there’s even a handful of fans of this stuff. What do I know.

The same can be said of the Killing Joke fans on Facebook. They like the MINISTRY fans love the new Release/Relapse

There new album along with MINISTRY’s is again well below par.

But, what do I know
But, I have to say I’m Old School in both counts.

Those are ministry fanboys on the Facebook page. It was like piss army all over again. And on Amazon, for the most part, is also getting mostly good reviews. Some people just like the fast and aggressive stuff…

I have to say, I’m quite liking relapse. It’s nothing groundbreaking but very solid. It’s nice to have songs that aren’t all political, and al finally got the memo about the piercing high end. This is the first listenable ministry release in years.

Something about him writing about drugs just strikes me as iffy. He gave up the hard stuff years ago and has seemed fine since. So with him writing about relapsing and other things, makes me wonder if he’s doing it to strike up a conversation, or maybe call out the people who say he wrote better music when he was high. I dunno… Just strikes me as a cheap grab for attention. Especially when relapsing isn’t something to really write home to mother about. Musically, aside from the three OK songs, some songs actually have some cool stuff going on in certain parts, like he actually did try to mix things up a little bit. Problem is, he didn’t change up much.

Not political? Isn’t “Double Tap” a reference to the killing of bin Laden, and the “vote yr ass off” or whatever it’s called…?? Isn’t even “Weekend Warrior” some veiled reference to politics or something?

Not that it’s a big deal or anything. it’s not ALL political but I figured there’s still politics there.

I second I heard about 99%, I figured there would definitely be a few political ones. Shouldn’t really come of as a shock. But yeah, not every song is political, for once.

Nothing wrong with Al writing political songs. He’s been doing it since “America” back in the early '80s.
They just need to be GOOD is the thing.

Isn’t even “Weekend Warrior” some veiled reference to politics or something?

Say what? How stupid are you? Is that you Gerda [crazy]

“Weekend warrior” is a term for someone that is lame/normal during the week, then has a wild social life on weekends. It doesn’t have anything to do with politics. I don’t know about the actual song though, as I haven’t heard anything other than 30 seconds clips of the album.

It’s about exactly that, SocietalEclipse. Nothing to do with politics at all.
Also, Sammy D’ambruoso can’t sing for shit.

Is Sammy D’ambruoso really good at anything? Isn’t he the one who.brought along the cheap sounding drum machine?

i was excited to see that not all the tracks were politico tracks but when i heard lyrics like “12345678”, " i’m old and horny but you just bore me" and “i love life to death but i also love crystal meth” i just got sad.

i kinda dig the chorus on one song, bloodlust i think?

i dunno, i deleted the torrent and it’s accompanying offending tracks. No money from me for this crap.

Also, Sammy D’ambruoso can’t sing for shit.

Maybe not, but I think his voice works in the context of that particular song.

I like Freefall, except for the vocal samples.
I’ve only listened to it twice. Maybe it’ll grow on me a bit more.

I’m still going to pick up the actual CD when I can find it. I don’t even remember what tracks I was trying on YouTube but I was mildly amused by them.

I don’t care if he’s political. Heck, Al is a political guy. I just don’t want to hear about Bush. It was annoying enough when the guy was a lame duck president. Now he’s not only not president, he’s been completely invisible for four years. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ex-president disappear more effectively and completely than Bush.

Here’s some notes I threw together yesterday.


I just picked up the CD. It’s really weird. I need to listen to it again and make some notes to be able to process my thoughts completely. The whole thing is surprising in many ways in that I like some of the things I thought I would hate and vice versa. It’s certainly not one of the best releases Ministry has put out, but I don’t hate it completely. So much of it, though, is leaving me scratching my head . . . unsure of what I listened to and what the point of any of it was. A lot of it is just a hot mess, but sometimes that makes it kind of fun.

Continued . . . . .

The lyrics are HORRIBLE. The only time it works is when the song is a dumb metal song which isn’t trying to be anything more. The lyrics don’t bother me at all on “Relapse” or “Weekend Warrior”, but on songs like “99 Percenters” or “Kleptocracy” where he’s supposedly trying to “say something” it just comes off so bad. I can write better rhymes while taking a dump and playing Brickbreaker.

I actually like when Sammy sings (“Weekend Warrior”) better than when Al sings. He’s not forcing this quasi-biker-badass screaming voice that Al fails at, he just sounds more natural. Sammy’s not a good vocalist by any stretch, but it sounds much more natural and works with the rock and roll vibe.

The self-made samples are just cringe-worthy. I really liked the track “Ghouldiggers” except for the dumb lead in babble and phoney phone calles. Holy crap that sucks! If I had a studio I’d find a way to remove it from the song and I think it would be a real kick ass track. I really like the chorusy part with the chanting “Ghhoooooouuullldddiiiiggggeeerrrrsss!!!”

Yes, it’s buttrock. But I’m quite pleased with most of the MUSIC on the disc. I hate a few of his overplayed parlour tricks, though. Like that stupid Erie Load staccato ehhh ehhh ehhh stop and go stuff. They overdo that crap. I don’t know what it’s called and I hope you guys know what I’m talking about. Yeah, I HATE that crap.

I was surprised that I almost liked “Get Up, Get Out, and Vote” except the lyrics just absolutely ruined any ability for me to just enjoy it. I like the music but HOLY CRAP THESE ARE THE STUPIDEST LYRICS I’VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!

Mikey shreds the crap out of his parts, but I’m sad that when he has some really cool solos it’s usually buried under a pile of busy body mish mash so it doesn’t really shine the way it should. Ironically, I don’t really miss the real drummer or think about it when I listen to the CD.

I hate that Gangrene-style heavy chugging guitar that they decided to bring back and use to wreck some of the tracks like “Kleptocracy”. Al said in one interview that the album was a “stoner metal” album. Yeah, whatever. You’d have to smoke all the pots out of every apple on earth to like the lyrics, but there are some salvageable songs.

Songs I actually dig: “Ghouldiggers”, “Weekend Warrior”, “Relapse”
Songs I sorta like: “Double Tap”, “United Forces”, “Freefall” (there’s some kickass Mikey soloing in this one)
Songs that give me AIDS in my ear: “Kleptocracy” (this also has a killer Mikey solo, but it doesn’t save the butthole of a song), “Get Up, Get Out 'n Vote”, “99 Percenters”

I really wish that I didn’t know English. I am sure that I would like this album a LOT more if I didn’t recognise the sheer stupidity of much of it.

It’s certainly not one of the best, but I agree with Fish that it’s better than Last Sucker.