…with sand fless
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I’m happy to be touring with them for this record. I hope they play the whole thing live like Al said. I think that might alienate a bunch of ppl, but he seems to not give a damn.
Did he say this for the new album? I’d LOVE for him to do that (saying this even though I’ve not heard it). I’m all for something different and the more change to the tired setlists of the past, the better.
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I think he said it an interview somewhere…
I don’t think Ministry is that stale set-list wise, all things considered…
Many legacy acts would only play the classic “hits”.
At least with Al he still favors the current material a lot, it’s just that many don’t seem to like it.
I think if he did a really broad mix of new and old like they did in 2003 tour they’d make everyone happy…
2003 tour is still my favorite tour and set list of all the Ministry gigs I’ve seen and that includes the early years…
2003 tour is still my favorite tour and set list of all the Ministry gigs I’ve seen and that includes the early years…
Of course.
This would make perfect sense . . . . since it was literally the ONLY tour I missed in the last 26 years, hahahhahaaha.
Finally got my “AmeriKKKant”. I honestly can see why it’s divisive (but, really, what Ministry albums weren’t?). I’m not a huge fan of it so far, actually . . . but my opinions of Ministry albums tend to evolve over time and repeated attempts.
I was hoping to listen to it in my car today (so far just played it on my home player at a semi-reasonable volume) but forgot my disc at home. So this is a pretty spotty review as I don’t super clearly remember what songs were what and I don’t have the book in front of me, but …
Standouts for me . . .
Victims of a Clown
Twilight Zone
AmeriKKKant
The horn samples are really tasty on “AmeriKKKant”.
And the cello parts in various songs work really nicely. I think the DJ scratching for the most part is pretty cool and gives it a fresh sound.
I don’t get the “FILTH PIG” comparisons. I think several of the tracks are more like the atmospheric doomy stuff from “Rio Grande Blood” . . . especially seeing some of these songs like a “Khyber Pass II” type of feel.
There’s quite a bit of shit I wish I could just cut out completely so I wouldn’t have to FFWD/ SKIP . . . . like TV5, the “I Know Words” intro, and some of the bullshit in “Game Over” (I’m gonna have to revisit this one later as I’m really not getting why people are so geeked out over it).
For the rockers/metalheads . . . yeah, this is not the album for ya. It’s certainly more of a challenge and there’s not much straight forward headbanging/mosh stuff.
The newsclips/political voice samples are mostly tired. I don’t give a shit that they’re skewed one direction or another. I just wish they’d taken some more time to at least grab some quick iconic blasts that were memorable (“Grab 'em by the pussy” or something would have been funny). But yeah, it’s just generic babble for the most part.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to hearing how these cuts (whatever they use) play in a live setting.
I don’t hate it at all, but at least on my initial spins, I’m putting it in my less-loved pile of Ministry albums. I honestly prefer BOTH “Relapse” and “FBTE” over it.
I’d probably put this one with “Animostisomina” . . . . which I pull out maybe once a year to play a couple tracks from. I find it impossible to just play this new one from front to back uninterrupted.
But . . . . I’m glad to see Al trying new shit and doing what he wants without a whole lot of fucks given to me or the rest of us.
The only place I think Filth Pig comparisons are warranted is on Twilight Zone…
I downloaded it today and gave it several listens on repeat.
Sounds like someone binge-watched James Bond movies and recycled parts of their back catalog because they were fresh out of new ideas.
With that said, I’ve been busy printing merch.
[laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh]
Got my copy yesterday, wheee!
After a few listens, I don’t get the comparisons between this one and Filth Pig / Dark Side Of The Spoon either. To me, it sounds more like a slower, better produced Last Sucker, with slightly more memorable material - that said, not many tracks stood out after the first playthrough. “Antifa” and “Wargasm” are both good, and I’m starting to pick up on “Victims Of A Clown”, “We’re Tired Of It” and “Amerikkka”.
Smart move giving the vocal duties on the death metal track to Mr. Fear Factory, and I like his spoken word piece during “Wargasm” as well.
The cello, turntables and occasional harmonica works well in this production too - actually, if those additions were stripped away, it would be blatantly obvious that there aren’t more than a handful of riffs scattered across this record, and many of them are very similar to latterday Ministry songs, such as Rio Grande Blood’s “Khyber Pass” which Gunnar has mentioned already.
Now, Ministry has made very good songs without overemphasizing the guitar’s role in the music before - but then, they’ve usually countered that by having really solid bass grooves and intricate rhythms. The rhythm section on this record is pretty far away from matching the Barker/Rieflin combo, and this doesn’t do the lacking guitars any favours.
A side note regarding the production - It’s great to hear something resembling actual drums again on a Ministry record. I think most fans can agree that a small break from Sammy D’s, at best unorthodox, stance towards drum lines and fills was welcome (Not that I’ve got anything against the man’s work in general, though - but don’t get me started on the “drum” sound on Last Sucker and the cover albums)
Furthermore, why must almost every sample be an excerpt from some stupid republican’s speech? On stuff like Land Of Rape And Honey or Beers, Steers and Queers samples were used in such a way that they blended in and became vital parts of the music and almost an instrument of their own - a Bush or a Trump slowed down or scratched up all over the tracks does not achieve this effect. On the contrary, they become increasingly annoying after repeated listening.
All these complaints aside, I have a feeling I’ll like it more over time, but so far this is a letdown after the rather excellent From Beer To Eternity which showed more nerve and willingness to experiment in my opinion. Amerikkkant also lacks stand-out tracks like “Thanx But No Thanx” or “Change Of Luck” that the aforementioned album has. (Hell, I even thought the Surgical Meth Machine album was really good, so what do I know… [laugh])
I’ll give it 3,5 out of 6 as of now, but I’ll probably end up on a 4… or a 4,5 since I’m a total Ministry nerd and refuse to acknowledge that they have a few (ahem) albums of questionable quality.
Ive never seen an album rated on a scale of 1 to 6.
^ Heh, the 1-6 scale is pretty common i Norway, at least. Both our leading rock magazines which I used to read in my younger days used it, so I guess it stuck.