|
Exclusive Special Limited Access VIP tickets will
be available for purchase via the pre-sale offering
advance doors, seating, meet & greets and souvenir
13th Planet gift bags.
Now I hear the voices and I know the speculation (uh)
but I am the decider (uh) and I decide what is best
(uh) what's best (uh) death and destruction (heh heh
heh) death and destruction (heh heh heh - uh) death
and destruction (heh heh heh - uh) death and destruction
(uh
President George W. Bush - 13th Planet Studios, El Paso,
TX, April, 2007
There's something about listening to that fucking guy
for over an hour at a time that makes my sperm count
lower.
Al Jourgensen - 13th Planet Studios, El Paso, TX, June
6th, 2007
Since George W Bush became President of the United
States of America in January 2001 (having controversially
taken the General Election in November 2000), America
has been engaged in a "war" against the concept
of terrorism. In that time, between 65,000-71,000 civilians
have been killed in Iraq*, approximately 3,500 US military
personnel have died in Iraq** (and remember, as you
read this the figures are getting higher by the hour)
and Guantanamo Bay still holds approximately 400 detainees
*, none of whom have been found guilty of any crime
against the USA. There?s more, so much more, but you
get the picture?and still, the main perpetrator of these
consistent infractions of justice and human liberty
sits in his throne, a naturalized citizen of Tex-ass,
seemingly untouchable, apparently unimpeachable.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of El Paso, Texas, a garage
has been on warp-speed for the past year, cranked out
of its mind, clocks closing in and forcing the inhabitant
grease monkeys to complete the work, strap on the final
hardware and fire up the throttle on the most monstrous
of motherfuckers. Its creator has always been dedicated
to standing up against Shitsville, Washington DC ( 2004's
"Houses Of The Mol" and 2006's "Rio Grande
Blood" being cases in point) and this, the last
glorious bastard scheduled to ever leave the shop, is
the most powerful yet. If the hills had eyes like Mad
Max on mega-steroids, the vehicle in question would
look like this, sound like this and knock the living
shit out of you like this.
Welcome to Ministry circa 2007.
Welcome to the renegade road warrior and chief mechanic
Great Uncle Al Jourgensen?s latest behemoth juggernaut
of a beast.
Welcome to "The Last Sucker," a brand new,
off-the-map, piston-encrusted - 12 hundred-thousand-horsepower
motherfucker of a vehicle which runs on sweet, raw,
sticky adrenaline laced with equal part s fury, disgust,
distrust and dismay.
And if you see it coming, your best bet would be to
move directly into its path, open your arms wide and
embrace the beast as it fairly steamrolls the shit out
of everything you thought you knew but didn't. Yeah,
you?ll bear some bruises and scars, a few broken bones
and a re-arranged brain, but that?s the price of higher
conscience, especially when it's administered with these
sort of balls.
To me this is important music for important times,
states Jourgensen, and like I said, your surroundings,
the society, the situation that we're in all dictates
the level of urgency there is in the music. Let?s say
I was to have written an album during the era when Clinton
got blown by Monica Lewinsky; there?d be a lot more
humor in that. But right now we are to the point where
not only has his war broken the military but its broken
our entire economy. Which is pretty serious shit.
Now I'm the last sucker
Now Im the last one
No longer in charge
Of anyone!
Here?s the thing too. After 12 albums and 27 years
(including four Grammy nominations (2006 ?Lieslieslies?,
2005 ?The Great Satan?, 2000 ?Bad Blood? and 1993 ?N.W.O?)
Great Uncle Al?s decided that the MINISTRY garage is
ready to close its doors, leaving ?The Last Sucker?
as his 12th, and absolutely final, Ministry studio offering.
?I think the synchronicity of it all is amazing,? says
Jourgensen. ?Here we are, all coming to a boiling pop.
Bush is leaving and I?m leaving, because I?ve got other
shit to do. It?s just a nice little bow and ribbon on
top of the entire package? And being the last in what
has become a trilogy of government-fuelled, material,
it positively spits and sizzles with grease and venom,
each joint heaving under the pressure of emotionally
relentless delivery. Let?s go to the edge of disaster
Push the pedal and go a little faster? Which is why
from the first double-digit salvo of ?Let?s Go,? with
its deliciously bizarre dance ability adding a trademark
Ministry accent to its wasteland brutality, you?ll hear
a glorious smorgasbord of Ministry mayhem. Strap on
?Death & Destruction? for joyriding thrills, ?Watch
Yourself? for its distinctive Ministry ?sample and slam
you? warning, ?The Dick Song? for Ministry?s tribute
to the current US Veep, and a propane-powered cover
of ?Roadhouse Blues? that satisfies an old craving Jourgensen?s
had to resuscitate the classic Doors cut. Being that
this is the last Ministry album, Jourgensen wanted to
make sure that the personnel were up to the task of
helping him ?get every last ounce of metal out of me.?
So it was that he was joined by Paul Raven on bass and
Tommy Victor on guitar from the ?Rio Grande Blood? album
and tour, plus the addition of touring guitarist Sin
Qurin to the fold. ?The great thing about this line-up,
as it was with the last album which had the same band
except Sin didn?t record with us, is that we can enjoy
the punches and just roll through them,? says Jourgensen.
?So just like before we just buckled up and let the
songs take us to a certain place instead of vice-versa.?
I disregard those who govern me I hate all of this treachery
I numb my mind and try to walk away Toward the trail
of tears and to the end of days Amidst the previously
described fury sits the true embodiment of this creative
ethos, ?The End Of Days? parts 1 & 2 capturing every
single element of Ministry?s pioneering uniqueness in
the world of industrial music. Between a thundering
rhythm sit layers of spoken word and orchestral arrangements,
both used as delicious supporting accents for the main
event. ?What?s ironic is that this is the first song
ever on a Ministry record that was a one-take jam. Raven,
Tommy and me, we just jammed for 14 minutes and it was
great. Raven?s joint never even left his mouth and I
didn?t change anything. And the orchestral stuff is
something I love to wrap my mind around when I get the
chance to fit it within the framework of a song. I mean
if you look at ?Psalm 69? which was one of my favorite
studio songs, and also the remix of ?No W,? each of
those have over a hundred tracks of choral vocals and
an entire symphony! So yeah, when I see the opportunity
for that sort of stuff, I jump into it full fire.? The
cut also features a guest appearance by Fear Factory
frontman Burton C. Bell, whom Jourgensen met on tour
last year when the two bands played some shows together.
?He asked if there was anything he could do on the last
Ministry album, I was very happy to see what unfolded.
So he came down, we went out in El Paso, he wound up
biting curb and throwing up his last week's worth of
food from his belly after drinking with me for a night,
and I think that what you end up hearing is a new Nick
Cave.
You go to war without a care in the world
No matter what the cost
Must be a reason for all this treason
It never mattered if we won or lost
As for the sleepless nights spent working through the
hours of Bush sound bites for "The Last Sucker,"
Jourgensen wants to make something perfectly clear.
I don't know if people think I enjoy it, but I view
it as a necessary and very uncomfortable evil I've had
to endure,? he sighs, ?me and my engineer Bixby were
hunched over a computer listening to this fucking idiot
until our minds were numb. I mean, I am absolutely stupider
for listening to his drivel for such concentrated periods
of time. Balance between actions of the moment and the
national welfare of the future We annually spend on
military security alone more than the net income of
all United States corporations In the councils of government,
we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military
industrial complex
Which sets up a fitting irony for the final four minutes
of Ministry's last ever recorded moments a speech from
former President Dwight Eisenhower.
Ironic that I'm closing everything out with a Republican,
chuckles Jourgensen, but its so fitting with what?s
happening right now, which in itself is an irony. And
thats the thing, I went through Watergate. I was 12
years old and already fully briefed and reading the
papers, so I lived through that era and was actually
very cognizant of it. So I dont grab my heart and have
a heart attack over the shock of how corrupt it is.
Become a rascal and a scandalous type (And I just can't
take this anymore!)
For those who still aren't sure, Jourgensen is adamant
that "The Last Sucker" will be Ministry's
final studio album.
I feel it's very, very important. I really loathe seeing
bands that hang on too long. I don't need the fucking
money, there's nothing that I'm really wanting for in
life, and I feel that I'm really on top of my game right
now, and I don't want to go past that. I do not want
Ministry to be a caricature of itself five years from
now.
Perhaps you should also avoid asking if Al Jourgensen
is therefore heading into some wheelchair-bound colostomy-bag-strapped
retirement. Oh yeah, I'm just gonna lounge around and
smoke clove cigarettes for the rest of my fucking life!
he spits with an aggressive chuckle. ?Here?s the thing.
We have our label, 13th Planet Records, and I'll be
focusing on working with the younger bands we sign and
producing some of them. There's a lot of other people
that will have the angst that I have now and that I
have had for many years, and they can continue that
same kind of movement or cause with me offering some
guidance where requested or not as the case may be!
The Last Sucker might well be the end of the Ministry
journey but rest-assured, its chief mechanic and designer
has plenty more lead in his pipe.
Band description courtesy of
Luckymanonline.com
Back
|
