Line #37 YMMV/Ministry


1	* {{Anvilicious}}:
2	** Politics has been in Ministry's music since the late 80s, but even by the standards of the band that made the Bush trilogy, their post-trilogy albums don't even bother with subtlety, with some songs ("99 Percenters", "Antifa", "Just Stop Oil") openly endorsing specific groups and political movements.
3	** Within the trilogy itself, the title track from ''Rio Grande Blood'' stands out. It is written in Bush's perspective and uses manipulated samples to portray him as a CardCarryingVillain. This is especially noticeable as a later song, the title track from ''The Last Sucker'', is also written in Bush's perspective and shows Al starting to pity Bush as a person despite remaining critical of his administration.
4	* AudienceAlienatingEra: ''Filth Pig'' and ''Dark Side of the Spoon'' are generally not held in high regard, although they both (''Filth Pig'' more so) have gained their fair share of fans over the years.
5	* BrokenBase: Did they start to suck post-''Psalm 69''? Was it the Bush-era albums that did them in? Or have the changes been for the better? Considering that the band has changed so much over their history, you'll expect to see this trope in spades within their fanbase.
6	** Al's older synthpop material has been getting more and more fans as of late (including the stuff before ''With Sympathy''), much to Al's annoyance. Specially when said fans seem to have an extreme hatred for his later IndustrialMetal shift.
7	** Al himself has said that he makes better music under Republican presidents. This may have been a joke, but judging from the receptions Ministry's albums have gotten on various sites (Rate Your Music, Sputnik Music, Metal Archives, etc.), this actually seems to be what the fans think, too. ''Animositisomina'', the anti-Bush trilogy, and albums recorded before 1993 (with the exception of ''With Sympathy'') almost without fail have much better receptions than anything Al released during Democratic administrations (the big exceptions being the poorly-received [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Trump]]-era ''[=AmeriKKKant=]'' and the well-received [[UsefulNotes/JoeBiden Biden]]-era ''Moral Hygiene'').
8	* CrazyIsCool: '''''"Jesus Built My Hotrod".''''', big time.
9	* EpicRiff: Lots of them, including "Stigmata", "Burning Inside", "N.W.O.", "Just One Fix", "Jesus Built My Hotrod", and "TV II".
10	* FandomRivalry: Sometimes pops up between Ministry and Music/NineInchNails. These fans forget that Jourgensen's friends with Trent Reznor and both have occasionally worked together.
11	** Also applies to Music/BigBlack and Ministry, mostly due to Music/SteveAlbini's outspoken hatred of all things electronic and accusations of aping Big Black's style on ''The Land of Rape and Honey''.
12	* FanNickname: "Uncle Al" for Al Jourgensen.
13	* HoYay:
14	** Al's relationship with long-time collaborator, Paul Barker:
15	*** In interviews, Al frequently compared them to [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Kirk and Spock]]. And when asked about why Barker left the band in 2003, Al said:
16	---> As for Paul and me, it is the same thing as to when you are in a marriage for twenty years and come to a point when you have run out of new sexual positions. It was no fun any more.
17	*** Al and Paul particularly sound LikeAnOldMarriedCouple in Chris Connelly's [[Literature/ConcreteBulletproofInvisibleAndFried memoir]] of his time in Ministry and related projects, with Al as the BumblingDad and Paul as his CloserToEarth spouse.
18	*** ''Fix: The Ministry Movie'' features such scenes as [[RomanticSpoonfeeding Al feeding Paul grapes]] and the two of them [[DanceOfRomance waltzing on a tour bus]]. They end their waltz with Al pulling Paul into a kiss.
19	*** It's rumored that Al's second wife might have been a factor in their parting. If nothing else, the timing is certainly suspect.
20	*** Al spends most of his autobiography claiming to have always hated Paul, but his then-wife disagrees saying that, "... Al loved Paul, y’know? When Al loves someone, he really loves them. So when Al says he hates Paul, he hates Paul now. But he didn’t hate him back then. They were bandmates and Al loved him," and that "Paul stuck a knife in Al's heart." Oooh, boy.
21	** Al's relationship with [[Music/SkinnyPuppy Nivek Ogre]], during the late 80s and early 90s. Photos [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwk6ht4lV81qh9ukuo1_1280.jpg like]] [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3q7irjbp11qdlyjyo1_500.jpg these]] say it all.
22	** The "Just One Fix" music video. It's intercut with shots of what looks like some guy jerking off and ends with Al and the other members enticing two teenage boys to get into their car.
23	** "So What" from ''The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste.'' Rather inevitable when it's about [[SexIsViolence brawling and anal sex]], though.
24	--->Anal fuck-fest, thrill olympics/ Savage scourge supply and sanctify.
25	** Al has admitted to performing oral sex on his bandmates; discussed [[http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ministrys-al-jourgensen-if-you-havent-sucked-dk-before-youre-really-missing/ here]], though detailed in his book.
26	* LessDisturbingInContext: The title of ''The Land of Rape and Honey'', explained under ShoutOut on the main page.
27	* OlderThanTheyThink: Politics in Ministry's music did not begin with ''Houses of the Molé'', but has been present as early as 1986's ''Twitch'', albeit in smaller doses and usually not as topical [[note]](e.g. "All Day" is about exploited workers, "Isle Of Man" has a GreenAesop)[[/note]]. Their most topical pre-2000s song was "N.W.O", which features samples of UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, though the lyrics by themselves don't make it obvious.
28	* SignatureSong: "Jesus Built My Hotrod" and/or "N.W.O.". "Everyday is Halloween" for their SynthPop era.
29	* SoOkayItsAverage: The consensus for ''Relapse'' and ''From Beer to Eternity'' seems to be that they're either this or another AudienceAlienatingEra, though despite that, there are certainly quite a few fans who like them both fine, too.
30	* SpiritualSuccessor:
31	** Chris Connelly's new band Cocksure to the Revolting Cocks.
32	** Lard could be seen as this to Pailhead -- industrial-punk groups consisting of the then-current lineup of Ministry plus a well-known HardcorePunk singer ([[Music/MinorThreat Ian McKaye]] for Pailhead, [[Music/DeadKennedys Jello Biafra]] for Lard).
33	*** Lard themselves haven't officially had a release since 2000's ''70's Rock Must Die'' - but since then, Jello has made guest appearances on albums by Ministry and various other Al projects, so those particular tracks might be considered unofficial Lard songs. Revolting Cocks' "Viagra Culture" in particular sounds about as much like Lard as it does Revco.
34	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
35	** ''Filth Pig'' is considered to be the start of the band's AudienceAlienatingEra due to the initial negative response to the slower and heavier sound from people wanting more of what the band with ''Psalm 69''.
36	** Hardcore industrial fans tend to react this way toward [[TheBandMinusTheFace the post-Paul Barker albums]] being more metal than industrial. It doesn't help that the change in musical direction coincided with Ministry's lyrics starting to focus on more topical political commentary under Al's creative control.
37	* ToughActToFollow: The band's Creator/SireRecords albums (''Twitch'' through ''Psalm 69'') are regarded as their classic period, with ''Psalm 69'' being their only platinum album. Despite ''Filth Pig'' being their highest charting album in the United States and most other countries, all of their post-''Psalm 69'' albums are more contested to varying degrees, and none of them have been anywhere near as commercially successful.
38	* VindicatedByHistory:
39	** ''Filth Pig'' was a heavily polarizing record upon its release. Nowadays, it is considered to be one of Ministry's finest albums with fans and critics praising the sludge metal elements and its focus on overall heaviness. Probably one of the rare cases of a good Ministry album that was recorded under a Democratic administration[[note]]in this case, UsefulNotes/BillClinton[[/note]].
40	** ''With Sympathy'' is perhaps the most extreme example of this. Al's hatred for the album borders on legendary, and due the market being flooded with similar projects during the 80s, it was ignored by a ton of people upon its release. Yet due to the synthpop revival movement in the 2010s (and the proliferation of Al's early synth pop demos before his IndustrialMetal shift) the album is nowadays considered a hidden gem of retro synthpop with critis praising Al's lyrical work. It has also gained a considerable and very loyal fanbase, and even cover bands that sing ''nothing'' but songs from said album.
41	* WinBackTheCrowd: Ministry's 2021 album ''Moral Hygiene'' received a markedly better response from critics and fans than its predecessor ''Amerikkkant'', and was generally characterized as a return to their 90's era industrial metal sound as opposed to the thrash metal leanings of much of their other output in the 2000's.

Context YMMV / Ministry