Friday, June 10, 2016

Ministry - With Sympathy - 1983

When I first got into Ministry, this was the Ministry that I first loved.  Perfectly constructed music with well-crafted melodies and interesting vocals.  SO, you can only imagine my surprise when I purchased The Land Of Rape And Honey.  Shocking.

Mind you, as time went on and I learned to love Industrial Music and I watched Ministry rise to the top every time, I loved the Industrial Ministry as well, but in a different way.  Synthpop Ministry is something different and will always hold a special place in my heart.  Especially Halloween.

All of the songs are pretty good, the singles of course are spot on, but my favorites are I Wanted To Tell Her and What He Say.  They're all pretty dancy, and they'll keep you humming, quite memorable.  I never cared for the album cover, though, so I chose one of the single sleeves.  These scans of older albums are nostalgic for me, so I sometimes enjoy leaving the wrinkles and tears and discoloration at times.  There's nothing like seeing that old vinyl wear ring on a 45 picture sleeve.

I wonder if Al would ever consider re-releasing this album in an Industrial Metal style like his later work?  Would it be any good?  One will never know...

11 comments:

  1. If I had to pick I would say this is my favorite Ministry album. This has all of the groundwork laid out for the darkness to follow, yet it has a dirty synth pop feel, not unlike Some Great Reward, or the lite flourishes of A Broken Frame era Depeche Mode. And somewhere in there they have a little soul/funk going on too. Any fan of this may want to investigate the rather exhaustive Trax! box set. Also of humorous note, listen to Bonski Beat's "Hit That Perfect Beat" and listen to the chorus, beat boy, beat boy, hit that perfect beat boy, and it sounds dead on like early Ministry, it could literally be an un-credited cameo.

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  2. It's a PERFECT Synthpop album .. too bad Al Jourgensen hates it (or is embarrassed by it). There is a remastered version of it that sounds COMPLETELY different. I like your idea of him redoing it in industrial style like he did a few years ago with Halloween.

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    1. I haven't heard the remastered version. I'm going to have to find that one...

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  3. no need, here it is:

    http://www.relink.us/f/98482ca1e257282397c7376ed46f90

    2012 remaster:
    01. Effigy (I'm Not An)
    02. Revenge
    03. I Wanted To Tell Her
    04. Work For Love
    05. Here We Go
    06. What He Say
    07. Say You're Sorry
    08. Should Have Known Better
    09. She's Got A Cause

    BONUS TRACKS

    10. A Walk In The Park
    11. I Wanted To Tell Her (Extended)
    12. Revenge (Remix)


    In my opinion it lost a bit of the original synthpop feel and sounds more New Romantic, but oh well

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  4. You are quite the gem. That's TWO I owe you, now!

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    Replies
    1. lol .. I think you prepaid with about 50 so far , so we're good

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