Line #2 Trivia/Ministry


1	* BlackSheepHit: The song "Everyday is Halloween" is probably the only evidence to younger fans that they ever played SynthPop, and one of few songs of that period that Al Jourgensen still keeps in print.
2	* BuryYourArt:
3	** ''With Sympathy'' is a {{Synthpop}} record that is very of its time and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness quite different]] from what the band became after Jourgensen discovered industrial music. The album has a solid fanbase (some of which ''only'' like this era of Ministry) and modest critical acclaim. Jourgensen, however, absolutely despised the record for the longest time and claimed to have destroyed any copies of it he had come across. In 2023, he said he destroyed the two-inch master tapes for the album years before by barbecuing them on a grill.
4	** Averted with several singles from this period such as "Everyday is Halloween" and "Cold Life"; the compilation on which they appeared, ''Twelve Inch Singles (1981–1984)'' received an officially endorsed UpdatedRerelease in the form of ''Early Trax''.
5	* CreatorBacklash:
6	** Jourgensen's outright hatred of ''With Sympathy'' has cooled over the years, although he still doesn't personally like the album and doesn't really acknowledge it as a Ministry album. In 2017, he [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ministrys-al-jourgensen-on-new-trump-era-lp-how-pot-changed-his-life-196102/ told]] ''Rolling Stone'' "Some people like it, and good on them. It took me years to like stop loathing that album or distancing myself from it. It is what it is." [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ministrys-al-jourgensen-to-rerecord-disavowed-with-sympathy-songs-183544523.html By 2020]], he had finally came around on the album somewhat after he discovered there was a Ministry tribute band that ''only'' played songs from ''With Sympathy'', attended one of their concerts, and saw the reaction those songs received. That experience resulting him planning out a re-recording of the album with a different sound. Al meant it, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HzgL2fyObs in August of 2023, Ministry played ''Revenge'' live for the first time since 1994.]]
7	** In a 2016 [[https://thequietus.com/articles/20135-al-jourgensen-favourite-ministry-albums-interview?page=14/ interview]] where Al ranked all Ministry albums released at that point, he revealed ''Animositisomina'' to be his least favorite album due to him constantly being sick from kicking his heroin habit at the time and his falling out with Paul Barker. In the same interview he claimed he left the sessions two days earlier than planned in frustration, which is why the final track, "Leper", was left as an instrumental.
8	* FatalMethodActing: Mike Scaccia, longtime guitarist for band (he was a part of both the classic lineup and the reunited 2012 configuration) died of a heart attack while performing at a club in Texas in December 2012 with the band Rigor Mortis.
9	* MoneyDearBoy: Al did some advertising/jingle work in the 1980s, including this widely circulated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGULNeTQPYY Shasta]] ad.
10	* TheOtherMarty: [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]] was to sing on 1000 Homo [=DJs=]' "Supernaut", but his label, TVT Records, wouldn't allow it to be released, so Al Jourgensen re-recorded the vocals himself [[note]]rumor has it that they merely distorted Reznor's vocal track beyond recognition and released it that way, but Jourgensen's always denied this[[/note]]. The "Trent Reznor Vocal Version" of "Supernaut" eventually saw official release on the box set ''Black Box – Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years''... which was, ironically enough, released by TVT - the label had bought out the whole back catalog of Wax Trax! Records at that point, which included 1000 Homo [=DJs=].
11	** Chris Connelly first worked with Al Jourgensen when Al asked him to add his own vocals and lyrics to an instrumental he was working on. Connelly went on to join Revolting Cocks and make appearances on recordings by Ministry and various other side projects, but the instrumental track eventually became "I Will Refuse" by Pailhead, featuring new lyrics written and performed by Ian [=MacKaye=]. Connelly's version of the song appears on his rarities/ "Personal Favorites" compilation ''Initials C.C.'', where it's titled "Stick" and credited to Revolting Cocks.
12	* ReferencedBy: The second verse of Music/AesopRock's "Blood Sandwich" retells a time in his youth when his older brother, Chris, heard that Ministry was playing in concert nearby, which was to be the highlight of his adolescent life. However, this was shut down when his mother forbade him from going, [[SatanicPanic out of misplaced fear that they were Satanists]].
13	* ThrowItIn: There were actual lyrics to "Jesus Built My Hotrod" at first, but when Gibby Haynes started doing some psychotic scatting over the instrumental track, Al liked that better and used that in the final product.
14	** The lyrics to "Jesus Built My Hotrod" are similar to the ones in Music/ButtholeSurfers song "Some Dispute Over T-Shirt Sales" off the album "Independent Worm Saloon", although the song is question was performed live as early as 1990.
15	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ministry were set to headline the second stage at Ozzfest in 2000. Reportedly, they ended up getting replaced with Soulfly soon after... while barely telling Ministry beforehand. Al is still furious about it and has turned down every Ozzfest offer since.
16	** According to some sources, early on, Al had the idea of Ministry being two sister groups: Ministry of Funk would release dance club oriented material and Ministry of Fear would release darker, more experimental works.
17	** Al initially didn't even want to be a singer, preferring to focus on production and songwriting - after an early bout of auditioning various singers who "sucked", he decided to just do it himself.

Context Trivia / Ministry