Ministry - Dark Side Of The Spoon CD

 Fun with Power Tools or Ministry is back !
Ministry had us waiting for a couple of years for a new album (in fact, since 1996). Here it is, finally ! DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON (1999) is a pure Ministry album, that's for sure. It's a straight continuation of their previous work... For those who discovered them with THE LAND OF RAPE AND HONEY (1998) or later with the excellent MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE (1989) or any other albums afterward, they won't be too surprise. It's still the hard-driven Industrial/Power WHATCHAMAYCALLIT music.

DSOTS is a very abrasive album, be warned. Seems like Ministry is definitly leaving its subtle use of sampling and programing (as heard in MIATTTT and in Psalm 69) to explore the harder edge as presented in FILTH PIG. Once again, Ministry sound is powerful and Jourgensen delievers his lyrics (most of the time unintelligible) is a heavy distorted voice (which sounds sometimes like a electric drill). There is some surprises as well, banjo & saxophone... in the middle of a wall of chaotic sound. No doubt, Ministry ain't dead yet. There is still life left in the body.

But DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON is not exactly the album we were waiting for... Jourgensen had - in an inteview I've lost - stated that Ministry's new material would be a return to the MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE territory. So I've been waiting for some touches of techno... Anyway, we should know by now that Ministry has always taken new approches with each album and do things as they please. So DSOTS is, as always, an experimental sound laboratory for the Jourgensen/Barker noise unit.

If you like Ministry since their 1988 mutation, then you'll like this album... But if you're looking for more commercial stuff like JESUS BUILT MY HOTROD, N.W.O. and the like, DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON will be too hard an album to get familiarized with.
Submitted by the Grey  (Sherbrooke, QC)
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 Ministry returning to their roots?
Ministry has always been an abrasive band. They've managed to get popular that way, too. Infact, the overly-aggressive sound copyright should be given to these guys. But, the question is, how far is to far? Ministry showed in 1992's Pslam 69 (subtitled Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs) they were beginning to become found of a slower soun ('Scarecrow'). And, in 1995's Filth Pig, Ministry devoted an entire album to that sound. Although many hate that album, I love it. On this album Ministry combined the two, somewhat. They deffinatly showed they still are interested in making fast songs, and they show they are sitll very good at it (Bad Blood, Supermanic Soul), while they also showed they are still found of the 'Filth Pig' era sound ('Kaif'). Still, at the same time, they add some new tools to the box, including a sense of humor that'd normally only surface in one of Al and Paul's side projects ("Nursing Home"). This is an expiremental album, and if you are new to Ministry I'd recommend 'Greatest Fits' over this, but if you don't like Greatest Hits albums, get "Psalm 69" instead.
Submitted by Y2K_games (Aberdeen, SD)
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