Side Trax

Performer: Ministry
Producer: Hypo Luxa; Hermes Pan; Hypo Luxa; Hermes Pan
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Ministry: Buck Satan (vocals, guitar, bass instrument); Officer Agro (vocals, drums); Viva Nova (vocals); Ike Krull (guitar); Willie Wee Reefer (drums); Chris Connelly, Al Jourgensen, Ogre, Temple of Drool Choir, Count Ringworm. Personnel: Ian MacKaye, Ike Krull, Al Jourgensen (guitar); Frenchie LAmour (Spanish guitar); Alien Dog Star (pan flute, finger cymbals); Officer Agro, Wee Willie Reefer (drums); Psychodrill, J.G. Ballard (programming). Ministry mainstays Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker were remarkably busy during the late 1980s and early '90s. In addition to releasing their best albums during this period--particularly the aggro-techno opus THE LAND OF RAPE AND HONEY and the fierce, guitar-laden THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE--the duo dabbled in many side projects, a number of which are collected here. The swirling stomp of 1000 Homo DJs' take on Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" proved to be more conventionally "rock" than anything Jourgensen and Barker had recorded under the Ministry name, while the "No Name No Slogan" single, credited to Acid Horse, matched them up with the influential industrial act Cabaret Voltaire. However, the most notable aspect of SIDE TRAX is the inclusion of Pailhead's entire TRAIT EP. One of the most unusual collaborations in rock history, Pailhead was essentially Ministry fronted by Ian MacKaye, just as his new band, Fugazi, was forming. Although pairing a famously straight-laced hardcore icon with a decadent, former dance-pop group might sound like a recipe for disaster, TRAIT works wonderfully, with Jourgensen and Barker's let's-get-heavy phase perfectly synced up with MacKaye's shouted vocals and non-conformist lyrics. The driving, defiant "Don't Stand in Line" and "I Will Refuse" alone are worth the price of this compilation.

Though Chicago's Ministry is known as the archetypal industrial rock band, they actually started out as a dour synth-funk outfit before founder Alain Jourgensen really ratcheted up the noise and the gloom on 1988's THE LAND OF RAPE & HONEY. In so doing, Ministry became the template for scores of industrial bands to come, combining roaring, metallic guitars, distorted, demonic vocals, and relentlessly pounding electronics. By the '90s, they were alt-rock icons, getting heavy play on MTV and appearing at the Lollapalooza festival. Even after Jourgensen's musical partner Bill Rieflin left in 1994, Ministry continued making dark, disturbing music for their legions of admirers.

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