This Rock Thing Was True

Ministry's Al Jourgensen recently announced that their next album will be the last for the project:

Jourgensen, who has led the group and its numerous side projects since 1981, says he plans to go right back into the studio for what he says will be "the last Ministry album." And, he promises, this is no cheap ploy to get attention for the band.

"I've got other things to do," Jourgensen explains. "I just started a label (13th Planet Records), and I want to sign some bands and really build it up like I did with WaxTrax in the '80s, not just a vanity label. I think it's time -- and I'll be leaving on the top of my game instead of hanging on too long and doing crappy Aerosmith and Rolling Stones albums 30 years later."

: I don't know that "top of my game" applies to Ministry's recent material it's more like an improvement on the really horrible material produced at the height of Jourgensen's drug problem. If he was looking for untainted glory he could have left after the one-two punch of "Jesus Built My Hotrod" (Live 105 used to play the 8-minute version of the song during drive time radio) and "NWO". When you've got killer rock industrial songs like that and synth-goth anthems like "Everyday Is Halloween" on your resume you know there's no where to go but down:

Jourgensen, who lives near Waco, Texas, says that like its two predecessors -- 2004's "Houses of the Mole" and this year's "Rio Grande Blood" -- the final Ministry album will be politically minded blast at the administration of President George W. Bush.

"It's a trilogy," Jourgensen says. "The next one's going to be called 'The Last Sucker,' and it's also about this corrupt administration. That seems to be my muse."

: I found it really interesting when Ministry took a left turn into the political arena because a profile interview in a family newspaper during the height of Ministry-mania spent lots of time discussing, for the benefit of their Boomer readership, the band's non-political anger with Jourgensen denying any specific message when sampling Bush 1.0 for "NWO". For a taste of Ministry's political direction here's a download of "Lies Lies Lies" from their current release "Rio Grande Blood".