Label: 13th Planet Records
Released: April 1, 2008
I’m not much of a Ministry fan. Sure, Land of Rape and Honey was a very good album, particularly for its time, but otherwise they’ve never grabbed me. Nonetheless, when I saw Al (or Alien as he’s listed in the conspiracy-themed liner notes) Jourgensen and friends were releasing an album full of covers, I was intrigued. If irreverence ever served anything well, it would likely be covers of a bunch of rock staples and perhaps no one is as irreverent as Jourgensen.
Sadly, the end result sounds like someone covering Ministry covering these songs. It has all the tell-tale signs of industrial music (overly-distorted guitars, rapid-fire beats), but nothing that sounds like it was done by a founder of the sound rather than an imitator. To be fair though, the album isn’t without its fun. “Mississippi Queen” gets a jump start (and keeps the cowbell). The already dirty “Roadhouse Blues” has that dirtiness amplified by the sludgy noise. “Lay Lady Lay” does a great job of walking the not very fuzzy line between Dylan and Ministry. “What a Wonderful World” should be exempt from the kind of mistreatment that I expected to hear on this album, but it’s pulled off well enough that I’m not sure it gets disparaged, even when the speed gets turned on. Is there a softer side to Jourgensen? Probably not, but give him credit for making me ask. These few exceptions aside though, the album falls short of the expectations of even a non-fan.
I removed the Dylan rating for this one, because they’re all covers.
Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: ?/10
Aretha: 4/10
Overall: 5/10
If you’re curious about my rating categories, read the description.