DrFaustus's Full Review: Ministry (Psalm 69) by Ministry
Ah, Spring. It's a time when the world comes alive. There are so many familiar sounds that mark this time of year. The low rumble of thunderstorms as the weather warms up. The early morning chirps and squeaks of newly-hatched birds. And of course, the collective cry of Epinions music writers exclaiming, "what the hell kind of music is this?"
Yes, it's time for the annual "I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours" write-off. The tradition reaches back countless years to those dark days that historians call the "late twentieth century," when Epinions' own MattA75 invited chose a few music writers, paired them off, and commanded each to select an album that lies outside their partner's normal listening realm for them to review. Each year, the event has grown, gathering more and more music writers each time. Last year was my first chance to participate in the party, and I couldn't wait to do it again this year.
There's an inherent risk when you ask a music writer to reach beyond their comfort zone. Yank someone away from what they know and love, and they may just clam up and trash whatever they hear. Over the years I've spent here at Epinions, though, I've come to respect and admire the skill of our music writers. Give us absolutely anything, and we'll be able to look at it fairly and objectively.
When Jeff_Wilder78 told me he would sending me he would be sending me Ministry's Psalm 69 to review, I took the news with a hint of trepidation. I knew enough that, despite the terms "psalm" and "ministry," this wouldn't be any sort of church music I'd be getting. I didn't know much beyond that, though. To prepare myself, I did a little research and found out that Ministry, throughout the eighties and early nineties, was one of the pioneers of industrial rock, opening the doors for later groups like Nine Inch Nails. Psalm 69 marked the peak of the groups critical and commercial success. It would certainly be a sharp departure from the melodic power pop that I normally listen to, but at least of would getting a sampling of the group's strongest material.
I realized as soon as I slipped the album into my stereo that the album's overall feel was one of hostile aggression. The guitars on the opening track were in no way warm and inviting, as on so many of my favorite albums. Rather, these guitars were like a siren warning me to enter at my own risk. The growled, distorted vocals were no less inviting, coming across as more of a threat than a promise. In my less enlightened days, I might have dismissed the album as just a bunch of noise, but I've learned to be more open minded. Still, if I were to get to know Psalm 69, I was in for a dark journey indeed.
The overall structure of Ministry's song felt alien and unfamiliar, making my task all the more difficult. It wasn't just that the songs felt repetitious upon first listen, they felt downright monotonous. I'm so much more used to songs that follow the "intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus" structure, with a bridge thrown in somewhere for the sake of variety. On Psalm 69, it felt like every song started out with one particular tone/feel/riff and remained stuck in that particular moment, lest they deviate from the path and lose the momentum. The songs felt like the musical equivalent of a Jackson Pollack or Piet Mondrian. I could tell that the lack of structure (or the presence of a structure so rigid that it allowed no variation was good deal of the point of the album. Criticizing the songs for failing to conform to a certain structure would be like criticizing Pollack and Mondrian for painting pictures that don't actually look like anything. Even after a few listens, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy this aspect of Psalm 69, but at least I could understand and accept it.
After a few more listens, I finally started to notice some really interesting things at work in the songs. On the surface, the music is all loud guitars and thumping drums, but there are plenty of hidden layers on which Ministry have lain down some intriguing recorded samples. Take the opening track, N.W.O as an example. In addition to Al Jourgunsen's rough, growled vocals, the group intercuts snippets of speeches from George Bush the elder, particularly the phrase "a new world order." It takes a little digging to get there, but there's some pretty biting social commentary here. Or take the title track. Along the religiously critical lyrics that assault the listener, there are brief, sermonistic lines repeated over and over in an attempt to expose the hypocrisy of modern religion. Once again, the vocal samples looped into the song add some unique textures into the song (and they would help to enhance the overtly critical message of the song if the mix as a whole didn't come off as so ridiculously over-the-top).
As I continued to listen, I also found myself intrigued with the way the group played around with stark contrasts. In TV II, Jourgunsen lays down thick, rapid-fire guitar riffs that periodically drop out abruptly, leaving only a second or two of quiet, distorted vocals. The closing strains of Hero even cut in a few fractions of a second of complete silence to shock the listener back to attention after so much rough, overwhelming cacophony.
It took me a while to reach many of the high points of Psalm 69 that I managed to find, but there was one song that endeared itself to me right away. Among the dark, gothic moments that abound, Jesus Built My Hotrod stands out as a pilliar of unabashed goofiness. The guitars are as intense as any other part of the album, but the lyrics more or less consist of nonsense lines like "dingy dang, a ding a-long ding dong" wrapped around a handful of actual words that have no real bearing for the song. It's like the old doo-wop classic Rubber Biscuit cut a deal with Satan to gain some street cred without loosing any of its goofy charm. Just goes to show that industrial rock has its lighter side, too.
Psalm 69 certainly isn't my cup of tea. It's far too bleak and nihilistic for me to listen to with any sort of regularity. Artistically, though, the album has more than a few intriguing twists to offer those who are willing to brave these dark musical depths. I'm glad Jeff broadened my musical horizons with his selection, but it's time for me to head back to the sunnier music I normally listen to, like Jellyfish's Bellybutton the power-pop album I sent Jeff in exchange for Psalm 69. I can't wait until next year when Matt invites us all for another musical swap meet.
Be sure to check out Matt's profile page for a list of all the participants in this year's I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours challenge. If you ask nicely, you too can join in next year.
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