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Album review “The Last Sucker” by Ministry

Posted on February 24, 2008 in the Music category

Ok, ok, this is a bit of a late review. Mostly cos Necromag was not forged when I got the damn thing. But this is such an important album and, in my humble opinion, the best album of 2007. So the revieweth shalleth taketh place…th.

So uncle Al and his band of merry men told us all a long time ago that this album would be their last as Ministry. This of course isn’t counting on the covers album due out this year, tentatively titled “Cover Up”, to tie up over two decades worth of music, the latter half of which has seen the band berate the US Government administration to high hell. Regardless of how you feel about Bush and Co, Ministry have to be given credit for the sheer amount of effort and belief they have in these efforts to crush the Bush.

Their last album “Rio Grande Blood” was less of an Industrial album than a thrash metal one, with the usual cutting and pasting of sound vox and effects to clever usage. This album is much easier to listen to, and in my opinion the best work I have heard for a long time. Every song fits right in place as flows perfectly. Opener “Lets Go” rocks so hard it’s actually impossible not to nod along. Literally. Try it. “The Dick Song” (about vice president Cheney and that incident with a gun last year….:) is hilarious and Fear Factory’s Burton Bell makes appearances on “Die in a crash”, and closing epic “End of Days.” Personal favourite of mine is “Watch Yourself”, one for the conspiracy theorist in us all.

So whats so good about it then? Al Jourgensen has been able to craft together good, catchy riffs mixed with drumming so fast it’s hard to keep up and vocal hooks so catchy a basking shark would find itself singing along. It’s powerful, it’s memorable and most importantly, it’s RELEVANT. No band has been able to keep up the ability to have something relevant to say in the world we live in today with such passion, vibrancy and colour as Ministry. This album should rightly be hailed as Al’s opus. His “Downward Spiral”, his “Moonlight Sonata”, his “Ok Computer.”

Make sure you catch the band playing in the UK with Meshuggah on the CUlaTour this year, you wont be able to see them again. Tickets are available through many sites but I recommend these:

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/artist/735660

http://www.aloud.com/cgi-bin/aloud/search.pl?artist=minstry&townfree=

Or, if you’re reading this in the US (dream on brother….) get them from the 13th Planet records website. Either way. LETS GO!

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