Ministry

Ministry is the brainchild of [a86726]. Beginning in 1981 playing synth pop with a strong disco influence, they released their first 12" on [l953], before being signed to [l362] and releasing their debut "[m=7612]" in 1983. After a falling out with the label and the direction of the project, Jourgensen returned to [l953] to release a series of 12" Singles, including "[m=213065]" which became an instant club favorite and would go on to become one of the band's most popular songs. Jourgensen then signed to [l27031]/[l1000] in 1985. Ministry's second album "[m=16563]" was produced by [a4969] and had a more menacing sound reflecting Jourgensen's interest in the international EBM (electronic body music) scene of the time. Ministry's third album, "[m=7643]" (1988,) was both a natural evolution of their aesthetic and a sharp break with previous pop tendencies and, with the arrival of [a100041] and other new members, Ministry's sound developed into a crossover between EBM, industrial, and heavy metal. Their experimentation with heavy metal was then continued with the following "[m=7332]" (1990), where the guitar began to take on much more importance to their sound. Ministry's breakthrough album, "[m=7376]" (1992), was a very dark, powerful, and violent album, that saw the band moving further into thrash metal while still retaining elements of industrial music and noise. The following records "[m=7396]" (1996) and "[m=7510]" (1999) showcased a much more straightforward heavy metal sound, to lower sales than previous records. The band released their first best of collection entitled "[m=292713]" (2001) and were then dropped by [l1000]. In 2003, the band then moved to [l36259] and released "[m=7543]". [a100041] left the band in January 2004, leaving Jourgensen to put together a new line-up for "[m=16549]". After the 2004 Evil Doer Tour, there was yet another change in personnel with [a68599] founder [a185073] on guitar and [a22534] (who had also played in Prong and in Killing Joke) on bass. In may, 2006, Ministry released "[m=16269]" which was quickly followed by what was announced as their final album, "[m=16284]", in 2007, and a collection of covers entitled "[m=7414]" in 2008. Despite Jourgensen's claim that the band was over, 2010 saw another collection, mixing covers and remixes, entitled "[m=493113]". Following a serious illness, [a86726] decided to restart the band with [a264545] and two new Ministry albums followed, "[m=422618]" in 2012 and "[m=595839]" 2013. Scaccia's death in 2012 had apparently brought a final, definite end to the band with the 2013 album until early 2017 when Jourgensen began working on a new album, tentatively titled "AmeriKKKant."