This book we’re making up is probably gonna be a lot better than the actual book. Although that does assume it’ll ever actually come out.
Yes, infinitely. And no, it will never actually come out or even be written for that matter.
In all seriousness, what did she claim the book was supposed to be about?
I don’t recall if she ever came out with any definitive statement of “The book is about . . .” but there were a lot of allusions to the great book whenever she would almost tell a story . . . . instead of actually going anywhere and having any point or end she often ended the topics with “It’s in my book.”
Pretty much anything that was ever discussed seemed to be in the book. The book, if it were to ever materialize in physical form, would likely be 76,000 pages long and leave you even less informed than when you started it.
Misogynistic pigs hating on bitches.
It’s true. I do hate them bitches.
She never said Paul was writing a book. She said SHE was writing a book. A very comprehensive book about like pretty much everything you ever needed to know about like pretty much everything and stuff.
Why would anybody bother to read a book written by the wife of some bass player dude whom perhaps only 0.001% of the American alternative music community or fanbase could even name?
Who would care?
“OMG! Did you hear? Apparently, contrary to popular belief, Paul Barker was actually egotiscal and shallow and treated his friends really badly! And once he even assaulted some roadie”
“Sorry? Paul who? Is he an actor?”
She’s writing a book about us.
[reply]
She never said Paul was writing a book. She said SHE was writing a book. A very comprehensive book about like pretty much everything you ever needed to know about like pretty much everything and stuff.
Why would anybody bother to read a book written by the wife of some bass player dude whom perhaps only 0.001% of the American alternative music community or fanbase could even name?
Who would care?
“OMG! Did you hear? Apparently, contrary to popular belief, Paul Barker was actually egotiscal and shallow and treated his friends really badly! And once he even assaulted some roadie”
“Sorry? Paul who? Is he an actor?”[/reply]
I agree that hardly anyone would pick it up if she wrote it. I think if Paul wrote a book with “help” like Al did a relatively large amount of people would pick it up. Pretty much everyone who picked up Al’s book would likely buy it. Less popular people have written autobiographies.
As far as Paul being an “egotistical and shallow asshole” who “treated his friends really badly”, if you’re not joking around whose claims are you basing this off of? Not saying I agree or disagree (how the fuck would I even know?), just wondering.
[reply][reply]
She never said Paul was writing a book. She said SHE was writing a book. A very comprehensive book about like pretty much everything you ever needed to know about like pretty much everything and stuff.
Why would anybody bother to read a book written by the wife of some bass player dude whom perhaps only 0.001% of the American alternative music community or fanbase could even name?
Who would care?
“OMG! Did you hear? Apparently, contrary to popular belief, Paul Barker was actually egotiscal and shallow and treated his friends really badly! And once he even assaulted some roadie”
“Sorry? Paul who? Is he an actor?”[/reply]
I agree that hardly anyone would pick it up if she wrote it. I think if Paul wrote a book with “help” like Al did a relatively large amount of people would pick it up. Pretty much everyone who picked up Al’s book would likely buy it. Less popular people have written autobiographies.
As far as Paul being an “egotistical and shallow asshole” who “treated his friends really badly”, if you’re not joking around whose claims are you basing this off of? Not saying I agree or disagree (how the fuck would I even know?), just wondering.[/reply]
More people would be inclined to read about Wax Trax the store/label than a book that contained just Paul’s story. However, if anybody could write a book that melded the two ideas together, it would be the Barkers.
[reply][reply][reply]
She never said Paul was writing a book. She said SHE was writing a book. A very comprehensive book about like pretty much everything you ever needed to know about like pretty much everything and stuff.
Why would anybody bother to read a book written by the wife of some bass player dude whom perhaps only 0.001% of the American alternative music community or fanbase could even name?
Who would care?
“OMG! Did you hear? Apparently, contrary to popular belief, Paul Barker was actually egotiscal and shallow and treated his friends really badly! And once he even assaulted some roadie”
“Sorry? Paul who? Is he an actor?”[/reply]
I agree that hardly anyone would pick it up if she wrote it. I think if Paul wrote a book with “help” like Al did a relatively large amount of people would pick it up. Pretty much everyone who picked up Al’s book would likely buy it. Less popular people have written autobiographies.
As far as Paul being an “egotistical and shallow asshole” who “treated his friends really badly”, if you’re not joking around whose claims are you basing this off of? Not saying I agree or disagree (how the fuck would I even know?), just wondering.[/reply]
More people would be inclined to read about Wax Trax the store/label than a book that contained just Paul’s story. However, if anybody could write a book that melded the two ideas together, it would be the Barkers.[/reply]
Nah, I think plenty of people would be more inclined to read Paul’s side because he’s not the one constantly talking shit and rambling off at the mouth about past bullshit.
I couldn’t give a fuck less about Wax Trax and it’s story, to be honest. A lot of it is talked about in between Al and Chris’ books (and I’m sure others).
Ministry fans not knowing who Paul Barker is is a depressing thought. How the fuck…???
I couldn’t give a fuck less about Wax Trax and it’s story, to be honest. A lot of it is talked about in between Al and Chris’ books (and I’m sure others).
Perhaps you don’t care about Wax Trax. But there was a three day celebration that filled Metro to capacity every night not too long ago that says people are still interested.
I haven’t read Connelly’s book but, with regards to Wax Trax being covered in “Lost Gospels”…
I hate to sound dismissive but it’s a total fabrication. 90% of the book is nothing but the ramblings of a drunk. It counts for nothing.
Perhaps you don’t care about Wax Trax. But there was a three day celebration that filled Metro to capacity every night not too long ago that says people are still interested.
I haven’t read Connelly’s book but, with regards to Wax Trax being covered in “Lost Gospels”…
I hate to sound dismissive but it’s a total fabrication. 90% of the book is nothing but the ramblings of a drunk. It counts for nothing.
The Connelly book’s a great read, well worth picking up. I really enjoyed it.
I picked the book up and made it through the chapters covering the 1980s, which is the era of Ministry that I’m the most enthusiastic about.
Here are my thoughts-
The history appears to be accurate, however Al over exaggerates details and events for the purposes of drama and comedy. For example-the 1983 band did all squeeze in the back of the van and probably did nap there, but they did not live there. They may have eaten popcorn, but they didn’t dumpster dive for it. There seems to be a “let’s make this as entertaining and larger than life as we possible can.”
The interviews are really cool. One interesting tidbit is Jello Biafra’s first time hearing Ministry. Wax Trax! played him a never released 7" containing an early version of “I’m Falling” and “Overkill”. These later appeared on Early Trax, so it was cool to learn that they were planned for release and not unearthed from a demo tape.
I’m also glad that Al finally said something accurate about the Arista period. Al didn’t make any ridiculous claims against the label or the genre of music. He didn’t deny writing the material and even thought they did well on the tour. He kept that chapter short and to the point. He didn’t fill it with pages of BS claiming that the songs were ghost written and whatever else he’s falsely said over the years.
Another amusing part was when Al was talking about the “Over The Shoulder” video and named Storm Thorgerson as the director, when it was actually Peter Christopherson. Both were part of the team Hipgnosis, which designed several Pink Floyd album covers, so I could see where he got confused. However, this shows he didn’t immerse himself in the “industrial” scene. The director of that video was in Throbbing Gristle and Coil and therefore a founder and forerunner of industrial music. Peter Christopherson was brilliant in everything he did, so a nod to him would have been cool.
It was also interesting to learn that there were no guitars in “Stigmata”. I was pleased with the behind the scenes info on that album.
So all in all, I have learned some new pieces of history, but certainly not as much as I have by digging through the Prongs archive. It’s entertaining so far, even though the author annoyingly overuses the word “debauchery” and could have corrected some areas with a few minutes of research.
One of the first contradictions I noticed between the book and recent interviews is the influence of marijuana on Relapse. In the chapter listing the drugs used on each album, Al says that Relapse was only done on alcohol only (p. 61), and he does not mention smoking pot during the Relapse sessions anywhere else in the book, either, even though there was at least one interview where Al was proudly promoting Relapse as his “stoner album.” Did his lawyer advise him to not include any current illegal drug use?
p. 55-56: “At that point Patty and I had somewhat of an open relationship, and I had a date that night… Not long after that Patty told me she was pregnant. It came as a big surprise, because whenever we’d have sex I’d just pull it out then stick it in her mouth.” Does anyone else find it really weird at this point that Al never questions Adrienne being his kid? I’m not saying that she isn’t, but the book could have been clearer about this.
Al clearly isn’t concerned with the details of chronology of the other bands he mentions, which is fine, Jon Wiederhorn should be able to catch these:
- p. 49: “Joy Division was one of the coolest, most depressing bands, but when their singer, Ian Curtis, hanged himself in his kitchen in 1978, they bounced back as this British synth-pop thing called New Order.” Should be 1980.
- p. 117: “And that’s how Trent Reznor became a Revolting Cocks roadie before he started Nine Inch Nails.” No, this chapter is about the BS&Q tour of 1990, and Reznor started NIN in 1988.
p. 263: “I also decided to finish a pop album I started working on in 2009. So in 2010 I released Alien Christmas, an EP of three songs in that vein, which no one ever talked about, so I figured it was time to do more. I don’t need to make money on this stuff; I just wanted to create and process as a producer and artist.”
What the hell, Al? A three-song EP doesn’t count as finishing an album. We still have no idea why that album never came out. And nobody ever talks about that EP because it was only sold as part of an overpriced bundle on the 13th Planet website. If there was any attempt at distributing it like a normal EP, maybe it would have been successful. I am actually surprised by how incomplete Al’s story of the 13th Planet era is. There’s zero mention of what happened to “Revco” post-2006. There’s zero mention of the 2010 Greatest Tricks/Undercover album, keeping in the tradition of these never being mentioned in Ministry interviews either. We do learn from the book that Al actually hates the songs “(Every Day Is) Halloween)” and “Stigmata,” so I guess he was re-recording them purely for the money? The thing is though, making an album purely for the money really only works if you’re willing to tell people about it…
All in all though, it’s an enjoyable book.
Yeah, the Trent Reznor stuff is the first bit where I noticed something that was demonstrably factually incorrect. Somehow he forgot that Trent was on that tour because he was performing “Supernaut” with the Cocks? Or did Trent tour with Al years prior and he’s confusing his facts? I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff like that in there.
As for the Cleopatra material, I’m not surprised he didn’t mention that. Those records blew (except the metal version of Halloween - I like that one), but I can’t blame the guy for making 'em. Hospital trips aren’t cheap, and the dude needed the cash.
Don’t know why he wouldn’t mention the Stayte/Sin version of RevCo, except that he’s maybe embarrassed by what a miscalculation it was on his part?
As for the Cleopatra material, I’m not surprised he didn’t mention that. Those records blew (except the metal version of Halloween - I like that one)
I like the Ministry version of “Rehab.”
Besides the Trent thing, there were a couple of issues I noticed. . .
In regards to Dimebag’s shooting, Al says he was shot at a club “a couple blocks away” from where they were playing that same night. I lived in Columbus for a couple years, and Ministry was at the Newport, which is nowhere near the Alrosa Villa. In fact, the Alrosa is on the North West side of Columbus, a 15 minute freeway drive away from the Newport, which is on the Ohio State campus. Another instance of Al trying to insert himself into drama that doesn’t concern him.
Also, and this is kind of nitpicky, but in the section where they’re filming A.I., Al makes fun of Spielberg for putting the teddy bear in the movie, as if that ruined Kubrick’s idea. In fact, the robot bear was in the original short story, and was always going to be part of Kubrick’s movie.
The history appears to be accurate, however Al over exaggerates details and events for the purposes of drama and comedy. For example-the 1983 band did all squeeze in the back of the van and probably did nap there, but they did not live there. They may have eaten popcorn, but they didn’t dumpster dive for it. There seems to be a “let’s make this as entertaining and larger than life as we possible can.”
The '82 band travelled a lot by van…but stayed in motels, although may have found it hard to get from meal to meal but usually received per diem to cover meals.
The '83 band travelled by private coach. And stayed in nice hotels. Ate at large spreads at soundchecks. In between shows they enjoyed nice restaurants.
I’ve never heard the bit about dumpster diving for popcorn before.
Is it possible to try and make it sound larger than life but less entertaining? I guess it is.
I’m just surprised Al not only didn’t bash Trent but went on to praise Trent in the book. I was fully expecting at least a page of him calling him a miserable pussy and a “poser” or something.