Ministry

American band from Chicago, essentially the brainchild of [a86726]. Beginning in 1981, playing new wave & synth-pop with funk & disco influences, 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.

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 [m=7332] (1989), where the guitar began to take on more importance, as heard on their breakthrough album [m=7376] (1992), that saw the band moving further into thrash metal while still retaining elements of industrial music and noise.[m=7396] (1996), and [m=7510] (1999), showcased a much more straightforward heavy metal sound, selling less. The band released their first 'best of' collection [m=292713] in 2001, and were then dropped by Warner.

In 2003, the band 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 2004's 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 [a=Killing Joke]) on bass. In May, 2006, Ministry released [m=16269], which was followed in 2007 by what was announced as their final album, [m=16284], and by a collection of covers titled [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] in 2013. Scaccia's death in 2012 made Jourgensen put the band on pause until early 2017 when he began working on a new album. Since 2018 a handful of new albums have been released.