It is quite possibly the worst album I heard in '07.
And that includes the James Blunt cd that my girlfriend bough t’other week.
An embarrassment to the once imposing and genre defying Ministry moniker.
Thanks Al! Now even my 13 year old Slipknot fan next door neighbour thinks yr music is ‘kinda juvenile’.
I dunno…TLS is pretty weak, but it might be tied or even beaten by the last pumpkins album (zeitgeist). Those two are my least favorites of 07.
Oh, it’s not even close. With Sympathy walks all over TLS!
Oh, I’d agree with that.
Still cannot fathom the true awfulness of The Last Sucker. My distaste for that steaming pile has not changed one iota since the first time I was unfortunate enough to hear it . ‘Songs’ like Death And Destruction, The Dick Song, Life Is Good, The Last Sucker and the truly nauseating, bottom of the barrel scraping, lets-get-the-Fear-Factory-dude-to-perform-a-slo-mo-rap End Of Days Pt I & II make even the worst tracks from the Al & Paul days seem like the work of artistic genius.
What a way to end a band.
Oh wait…we still have a covers album to come yet!!!
Oh, it’s not even close. With Sympathy walks all over TLS!
Makes me wonder if he is going to make excuses in 20 years from now, just like he does with With Sympathy.
Something like , ‘my wife at the time was a huge Slayer fan and forced me to make 3 albums of anti-Bush Slayer-esque material’.
…and the truly nauseating, bottom of the barrel scraping, lets-get-the-Fear-Factory-dude-to-perform-a-slo-mo-rap End Of Days Pt I & II…
I’m wondering, have you even listened to those songs? Because in my opinion these are among the bests on the album. And you can’t even recognize Burton’s voice on them.
Overall I think the album is slightly better than RGB and not as bad as what people think on this board. OK, the reptile cover is crap, as well as the Doors cover and most of the lyrics, but music-wise there are a bunch enjoyable tunes.
Flame me now…
All that cover album will be is nothing more than a rehash while Al rides on the coattails of the collaborators. Nothing more. You have the static x guy(s) and whomever else, but Al just tags along and takes credit for “masterminding the entire thing”, like I normally does. I’ve already vowed that Al won’t be seeing a single cent from me ever again, and I mean that. Only profit his label will likely ever see from me is me buying a copy of Ascention…out of curiousity. That’s if I feel generous, of course.
I bought it - but I wish I hadn’t…
Although there are 2 or 3 quite good tracks, it is basically all the same: speed metal songs with a scrubbing guitar solo near the end (except the last track).
Absolutely boring in a whole perspective…
Just listened to the entire album in one sitting - first time I’ve ever managed to do that!
And YEP, it STILL reeks.
Goddamn this thing is nauseating!! Not only is it not worth buying - the damn thing isn’t even worth downloading!!!
OK…Have just deleted it: Adios forever, criminially repugnant piece of numetal hackjob thrash garbage!!
Aaaaah that felt good!
see this is funny…
the way i look at it, at the time ANI came out, things were changing in Al’s world. paul is pulling out at that point, a lot od the warner years guys are gone, going, or stoned off their assed to the point they cant work. so animos kinda shows the anger, and animostiy in Al’s being. i loved it.
and then paul leaves. things change, and Al is now DONE withthe droning the clunking and the feel of the older Ministry stuff. he is clean from H and he has a new outlook, and set up. it’s no suprise the music is different. i LOVED houses. GREAT fuckign album. it serves as a transition album.
and then you get to Rio Grande Blood. here Al has gelled. he has a new band, a bunch of new guys, and he has a new idea. he changed his attack. and im damn fucking glad he did. if he did another album like Mind, or LORAH i’d be pissed. it was clear by the last 2 that he was done with that sound, and he wanted to play around and try new things. so he works with just about the best riff master of the last 20 years, TOMMY THE FUCK VICTOR. i love RGB, its heavy, its direct, and it makes sure everyone knows it is playing. haha. it’s tough stuff. and Al knows how to command a thrash/industrial band.
see, al keeps moving foward, and for some reason a lot of people want him to keep pressing out a type of music, that he very clearly has moved away from.
and then, the last sucker comes out.
this album is the one that i think Al really wanted to write n place of RGB. it is FAR FAR removed from the old Wax Trax days, and it is 100% new ground. it is somethign he had to fight for again. i can hear the hunger in every aspect of the album. and i think the prog drums are perfect. they only ad to this brass monster of an album. tommy writes slaying solos and riffs, while Sin pumpes out the best guitar work of his career. and (rip) Raven rumbles the fuck out of the speakers. sure, it isnt the best ministry album, but it still a solid 7 out of 10 from me.
i think Al is a very creative guy. he is always lookign to make somethign that out does his last work. not in that it is better, or a better version, but that it is bigger, it is stronger and most of all new.
the best Al albums are the ones that are different fromt he one before it.
now i know a lot of peopel dissagree. but i think that is cus you got into the band when they sounded one way, and now they sound another.
it isnt a sell-out thign ont heir side, it is a growing thing. if you dotn like it, fine. it isnt stopping him. he likes what he is doing. so more power to him!
now i know a lot of peopel dissagree. but i think that is cus you got into the band when they sounded one way, and now they sound another.
it isnt a sell-out thign ont heir side, it is a growing thing. if you dotn like it, fine. it isnt stopping him. he likes what he is doing. so more power to him!
i think it’s not the case with nu-ministry, sorry. it looks more like the songs and the music became a half-assed hack-job just to churn out a few more albums. new ideas? what new ideas? animositisomina was a good album, granted. but since then, it was only three albums all devoted to bush and all that stuff. the riffs are all kinda the same drop-d crap, they even use that annoying crowd sample everywhere, come on. it’s fuckin’ rotten…
and have you heard cover up? oh man!!! and i thought revco was bad.
now i know a lot of peopel dissagree. but i think that is cus you got into the band when they sounded one way, and now they sound another…see, al keeps moving foward, and for some reason a lot of people want him to keep pressing out a type of music, that he very clearly has moved away from.
C’mon, those statements are a bit broad, don’t you think? Ministry has always changed course, that’s nothing new. There’s quite a few of us here who watched Ministry change from new wave synthpop to guitar-driven industrial rock within a 4-year timespan. Speaking for myself, I never wanted Al to write another LORAH or Twitch, I just wanted him to experiment with electronics more, and not get so guitar-heavy. That’s just me. I like Houses and half of Animositisomina, so I’m certainly capable of liking the newer stuff.
TLS is “100% new ground”? For Al, maybe. I can turn on SIRIUS Hard Attack and hear a dozen other lesser known bands doing the same thing, but better. The new style is just not up my alley. I don’t listen to Ministry because I want to hear a fucking butt-rock Golden Earring cover, that’s for certain. I don’t like the overall sound, I don’t like Al’s bizarre new image, I don’t like his bandmates, I don’t give a shit about the bands they came from, and I’m glad Ministry is done. Al’s got nothing left that I really want to hear. I don’t even want new Pailhead at this point (the new RevCo killed that fantasy).
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Dude, that wasn’t RevCo, and you know it. It was more like Pigface and ZZ Top mashed into one.
I, for one, would absolutely LOVE new Pailhead. Regardless of the suckitude.
If ‘houses’ had been the last, i would of missing out on exactly one song that I think is great. Khyber Pass. And that song is great only when Al STFU’s long enough to enjoy the track. I think there’s a lot of material on RGB & Sucker that could have been truly great. But it’s not. It was pushed out to fit a deadline/timeline and having lived thru the thrash years (and I loved old Prong & I love Killing Joke, so it’s not Victor & Raven’s fault) I don’t think it’s a matter of Ministry having done something new, more as done something bad.
I can’t comment on Cover-up, cuz I won’t hear it. I don’t care anymore. And for the record I LIKED the Roadhouse cover, just think it would have been a nice fun bonus track or b-side.
If ‘houses’ had been the last, i would of missing out on exactly one song that I think is great. Khyber Pass.
No doubt. I would’ve only missed “Palestina,” “Ass Clown,” and “Die In a Crash.”
…And possibly “Under My Thumb.” For the sheer infectiousness of it.
All else could very well not exist, and I’d be totally cool with that.
Speaking for myself, I never wanted Al to write another LORAH or Twitch, I just wanted him to experiment with electronics more, and not get so guitar-heavy. That’s just me. I like Houses and half of Animositisomina, so I’m certainly capable of liking the newer stuff.
Exactly. Ministry had ALWAYS been about change and progression, moving forward and keeping it fresh and exciting. And there was always an air of mystery and menace to them. But now?? Now they’re a complete joke and being name dropped by every 14 yr old in a Messugah t shirt.
TLS is “100% new ground”? For Al, maybe. I can turn on SIRIUS Hard Attack and hear a dozen other lesser known bands doing the same thing, but better. The new style is just not up my alley. I don’t listen to Ministry because I want to hear a fucking butt-rock Golden Earring cover, that’s for certain. I don’t like the overall sound, I don’t like Al’s bizarre new image, I don’t like his bandmates, I don’t give a shit about the bands they came from, and I’m glad Ministry is done.[reply]
Couldn’t have said it better myself. In the space of three years Al has churned out one hackjob anti Bush thrash metal album after another. The music is virtually no different from the million and one other numetal upstarts who come and go like the seasons. Drop d tuning, woefully inept anti Bush lyrics (gee, no one else is doing that nowadays) and bland, samey sounding riffs that go absolutely NOWHERE.
And what’s with the new image (‘tough guy’ bandmates snarling into the camera and giving the finger - keep in mind these guys are well into their forties) and especially the new type face logo?!?!? If this isn’t Ministry rewritten for the Korn/Slipknot generation then I’m Donald Duck.
Whoever said Al is ‘moving forward’ ought to be fucking horsewhipped. It seems the only thing left for him to do to stop himself from going under is to try and reinvent himself for a new batch of fans - and he has done so by appealing to the lowest common denominator. Dumbing it down for the numetal masses. Heaven forbid he should conjure up something sonically interesting to win back the seasoned Ministry fans who lost interest around 10 fucking years ago. He knows that’s beyond him now - he knows he does not have the smarts (a la Paul) to ‘move forward’.
[reply]Al’s got nothing left that I really want to hear. I don’t even want new Pailhead at this point (the new RevCo killed that fantasy).
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I’m too frightened to listen to the latest Revco.
And as for a new Pailhead - I doubt Ian MacKaye has that very high on his list of priorities these days.
It’d be more like:
IM: Ummm…excuse me, do I know you??
AJ: Yeah duuuuude…gnarly, like I’m Al duuuude…remember Pailhead??? YEAH!!
Bush sucks, fuck motherfucker, fuckin coruption, fuckin globalisation, fuckin corporate whores fuckin, fuckin pig motherfuckin’ Republican, fuckin war in Iraq, fuckin’…
IM: Oooookay…I’m just going to stand over here now.
And what’s with the new image (‘tough guy’ bandmates snarling into the camera and giving the finger - keep in mind these guys are well into their forties) and especially the new type face logo?!?!? If this isn’t Ministry rewritten for the Korn/Slipknot generation then I’m Donald Duck.
It’s like someone here once said - AL has become the ‘embarrassing uncle’ at the annual family get together. Y’know the one with the tie dyed t-shirt who gets up on the table after one too many vodka slammers and does karaoke to John Cougar Mellancamp, all the while thinking ‘Man, the kids must think I’m sooo down with it!! Groovy YEAH!’.
The little kids laugh 'cos he’s ‘funny’. The adults laugh along whilst nervously glancing around at each other not knowing what the hell to do, or how much worse it could possibly get.
I’m guessing you’re much younger than I, and this stuff is new to you however, I’ve already heard it 2 decades ago. My neighbors kids are getting into the Doors, Bad Co., Cream, etc. They think it’s new and exciting because they haven’t already experienced it. I’m guessing you are in the same boat.
i know this isnt entierly NEW ground in general, but this much more aggro thrash twist is new for Al, and i for one think he does a great job at it. he even put great musicians around him to make sure he gets it right.
i am a younger fan than you are, granted, but its not like i just discovered sppedmetal or thrash with ministry. i’ve always been into fast, hard, and heavy metal, hell im even a Doom metal nut (for the other side of the speed spectrum), and i still think this is great stuff.
i loved the old stuff. i really really do, and i love the new stuff. i think that Al has yet to put out an album i havent liked a good part of. other than cocked and loaded… ididnt like as much of that as i had past revco stuff.
but still, i liek this stuff, and it’s new to Al, and i think he does a great job playing, writing, and doing it.
and again, i feel the need to point out, AL uses bush as a face, but the majority of his complaints are less with the man and more withthe style. it’s the Reagan-esque world domination that is what irks him. Bush is just an embodyment of that.
Can you really consider the newer stuff “aggro”?
he is clean from H and he has a new outlook, and set up. it’s no suprise the music is different. i LOVED houses. GREAT fuckign album. it serves as a transition album.
Good thing that Al is clean of drugs now.
But a very bad thing is, that he is now way too much into alcohol, which just kills all creativity.
You know, drugs are very dangerous, but sometimes they fire up creativity. Alcohol is less risky, but it has the power to make you feeble-minded.
To me, Houses is the last album, where Ministry put out something that can be considered as “new”.
see, al keeps moving foward, and for some reason a lot of people want him to keep pressing out a type of music, that he very clearly has moved away from.
Al stopped moving forward after Houses IMHO.
tommy writes slaying solos and riffs, while Sin pumpes out the best guitar work of his career. and (rip) Raven rumbles the fuck out of the speakers. sure, it isnt the best ministry album, but it still a solid 7 out of 10 from me.
What really pisses me off in TLS are the same nerving guitar solos near the end of the track in almost EVERY song on this record. This is not creative, it’s boring.
Missing or Deity blow away this stuff easily, if you are searching for a real good combination of trash and industrial.
i think Al is a very creative guy. he is always lookign to make somethign that out does his last work. not in that it is better, or a better version, but that it is bigger, it is stronger and most of all new.
Yeah, thats why the last 3 records sound so different while the older ones were all the same?
the best Al albums are the ones that are different fromt he one before it.
True words, man.
now i know a lot of peopel dissagree. but i think that is cus you got into the band when they sounded one way, and now they sound another.
I got into with Psalm 69 and was very excited. So I bought LORAH and TMIATTTT. And I was surprised how diffrent they are, but it was great music to me. Then Filthpig came out and a lot of people were confused and disappointed that it didn’t sound like Psalm, but to me it was a very ambitious record. Then I heard Twitch for the first time and I can’t say anything real bad about it. DSOTS was very strange and I had to give it some time to grow on me, but it did in the end. Finally Animosity was the best record from Ministry so far, again with a complete different sound.
You see, some people are expecting that Ministry’s sound is changing from record to record and they want to be confronted with creative work. And thats why they so not like the latter work of Al.
But hey, taste is different among all of us, so whatever… [cool]
I still like “Die in a Car Crash” a whole lot. I don’t listen to the rest of the album any more.
Ive waited a while to post regarding TLS. After numerous listens, I consider it the best album in the “trilogy.”
Houses had its moments, but struggles to maintain my attention.
Rio sucks outright with the exception of Khyber Pass which is one of the best songs Al has ever penned.
TLS certainly isn’t anything new, but the songwriting is the best of the trilogy. Die in a car crash is a solid tune, as is No Glory, End of Days Part II.
It certainly isn’t Al’s crowning acheivement, but I don’t find it nearly as offensive as the rest of you.
I actually look forward to Al’s new projects. I think they will be infinitely more interesting due to him freeing himself from the constraints of Ministry.