Ministry "With Sympathy" C/D

the corridor, yes the corridor

YES THE CORRIDOR

FAR BELOW, FAR BELOW, FAR BELOW IS THE PLACE YOU'LL GO, HO!

i'm loving al jourgeson's adam ant haircut/earring.

Whatever happened to the Other Guy in Ministry circa With Sympathy?

Al was on a VH1 Classic show ("Hangin' With", I think) where he was playing videos by his band and bands that he liked, and he actually played the above video, so I guess he's at peace with his hilarious past.

You're assuming that he wasn't hilarious after that.

Yes, but he was hilarious in a different way.

[cue Butthead's impression from the "NWO" video]

this fuckin record

so great

really?! must investigate.

You've got to work for your new role as the Boston Globe business editor

CLASSIC!

Is it wrong that I actually prefer this album to everything that Jourgensen did afterwards? Taken on its own terms, I think this is a wonderful record. Not only does it slot in nicely with early '80s UK synthpop, it actually manages to hold its own in comparison to the best of the stuff that was happening in the genre at that time. Wonderful stuff.

I don't think it's a particularly surprising opinion to have; the collection of songs he put together on that package exist in a universe almost directly orthogonal to every other release he put out

(that said, #TeamTwitch all day every day; IMO that is a superlative album)

Falls after the first half

xpost:

Yeah, I like Twitch too, but With Sympathy is one of those records I always find myself returning to!

WHAT HE SAY!?

LET'S DANCE!

*totally fucking absurd synth-trumpet breakdown section*

it's alright, but I can't get with anyone hwo thinks it's superior to either twitch or A Mind... both of which seem more groundbreaking and involving.

Falls after the first half

― brimstead, Monday, October 26, 2015 8:48 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh, the first half of the album is wonderful, but I love 'Here We Go', 'Say You're Sorry' and particularly 'She's Got a Cause'

it's not groundbreaking but the songs (mostly) are just so great. twitch will always be my ultimate ministry album but "work for love" (as it will always be known to me and most euro-ministry fans) is pretty much my definition of perfect pop.

Great surprise to see Yvonne Gage in Shay Jones' role, three years after she made "Garden of Eve," one of the best boogie records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOD5pxdZiyo

The thing about Twitch is that I can still detect some UK electro influence in it, particularly Fad Gadget.

I was surprised to learn that Flood worked on With Sympathy, actually... this surely must have been one of the earliest album he worked on, although not as a producer?

hoo boy, classic

can't tell you how unsurprised i am to see djp in this thread

Doesn't Flood have a credit on the first New Order record?

Certainly Filth Pig is a bigger stain on the Ministry catalog than With Sympathy...

otm

Flood worked on a load of things before this. And yes, he did engineering on 'Movement'.

I saw Ministry in Toronto last week (first time since 1991). It was great fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYfH_vSGO1M

You did it again
You did it again
You did it again and again and again
Ho ho!

Certainly Filth Pig is a bigger stain on the Ministry catalog than With Sympathy...

I've never listened to With Sympathy, but I listened to Filth Pig (and Dark Side of the Spoon) for the first time yesterday, and FP is...kind of good. It's not an "industrial" or "industrial metal" album; it's more like a noise-rock album. The way the guitars and drums are mixed, it's closer to Unsane or a band on Amphetamine Reptile than anything else Al's ever done. I can understand why people don't like it - it's really ugly sounding and kind of monochromatic compared with their previous albums, and the songs are often longer than they need to be (six minutes when they should have been four), but more of it works, on its own terms, than I expected.

Spoon is ugly, too; it sounds like it was recorded through a boombox's condenser mic. But there are some weird and compelling tracks on it - the closing piece, "10/10," features an extended Charles Mingus sample that I didn't see coming.

I listen to Mind all the time.

"six minutes when they should have been four" describes almost every Ministry song recorded since A Mind...

xxp I also listened to Filth Pig for the first time quite recently (after avoiding it for years because everyone says it's shit) and I completely agree with you - do I like it as much as their 80s stuff, no, but it's really not bad at all, and your AmRep comparison makes sense. but I also agree about the songs being a bit long.

that said I also like With Sympathy! and I don't hate what I've listened to of post Filth Pig. I guess there isn't much Ministry I don't like... not that I've heard anything released after 2004

https://sonicmoremusic.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ministry-1983.jpg

https://sonicmoremusic.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ministry-1983.jpg

Always loved this press photo circa the With Sympathy era.

Yeah, surprised anyone would still trot out Filth Pig as a low point. Maybe ahead of their fan base with that one. Sludge/noise rock turn and they did it pretty well imo.

In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up is still the prime Ministry record for me

Al seems to have made his peace with it, or really needs the $s?

https://ministryband.bandcamp.com/album/chicago-1982

There's been the odd thing here and there that would suggest that Al sees the album in a more positive light these days, but I don't think he's ever come out and said it.

they played some of this stuff at their recent live show in conjunction with the documentary premiere, but people I talked to who went said they didn't seem happy to be playing it?

They didn't play anything off this, or even off "Twitch". The nearest they got was an acoustic "Everyday is Halloween". Also, at least at the show i was at, Al seemed to be having the time of his life to the point that I can imagine him revisting even earlier stuff.

Yeah, the recent Wax Trax documentary-pegged shows were all Land of Rape and Honey/The Mind.../Psalm 69 material (none of which was on Wax Trax). Plus "covers" of Revolting Cocks' "No Devotion" and 1000 Homo DJs' "Supernaut" (which Ministry was playing live when I saw them in 2005 or so).

LET'S DANCE!

Make MINISTRY synthpop again. pic.twitter.com/pgLkORluKu

— Juan David (@jdmartinezq) July 17, 2016

So per an FB post from my friend Lyndsey Parker, who writes for Yahoo Entertainment:

OK, you guys. Deep breaths, deep breaths. So... this just happened.
I SPOKE TO MINISTRY'S AL JOURGENSEN FOR *AN HOUR* for Yahoo Entertainment, JUST ABOUT THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF 'WITH SYMPATHY,' AND HE *EXCLUSIVELY* REVEALED PLANS TO RE-RECORD SEVERAL OF THE ALBUM'S SONGS.
No, today is not April 1st. This is real. He said this all to me on video, which you can watch, seeming in a surprisingly good mood -- while I sat there in my 'With Sympathy' T-shirt, while holding my original vinyl copy of the 'With Sympathy' album, while trying not to cry or faint, like my usual zero-chill self.
Al is literally in the studio TODAY recutting "Revenge," and he hopes to play that one live. He is also considering doing an "Early Ministry Tour" and/or releasing a newly recorded 'With Sympathy" -- (Al's Version), if you will. How is this life.
Please spread the word because I don't know if I have ever been so excited to hit "publish" on a story.

And said story:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ministrys-al-jourgensen-to-rerecord-disavowed-with-sympathy-songs-183544523.html

He's been softening his stance for a while now — there's a WS themed shirt for sale on the band's site.

https://ministryofficial.store/product/22884/with-sympathy-grid-logo-t-shirt-black

The Thompson Twins story (and the tribute band one) are two highlights in Lyndsey's piece.