"for someone who suffered through twenty years of addiction to cocaine, heroin, crack, and methadone, Jourgensen is extraordinarily coherent. Occasionally he'll repeat himself, but for the most part not only can he recall past episodes in vivid detail, he also analyzes them and puts them into context."
Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen begins with a few pages of tributes from Trent Reznor, Luc Van Acker, Jello Biafra, Jonathan Davis, and others who pay tribute to the significance and influence of Ministry. After that, there's Wiederhorn's foreword, then a prologue from Jourgensen before we finally get on to Chapter 1. But it's worth the wait - this book is solid gold for any Ministry/Jourgensen fan as he details growing up, getting into the music biz, and his wild ride with rock & roll, sex, drugs, addiction, and recovery. Also scattered through the book are short "intervention" sections which include Q & As with key members of the Ministry/WaxTrax! family such as Luc Van Acker (Revolting Cocks), Sascha Konietzko (KMFDM), Jello Biafra, Gibby Haynes, and late Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia. One of the chapters lists each Ministry/RevCo release with Jourgensen revealing what drugs/substances he and the band were on during the making of the albums (Filth Pig was made under the influence of "99.9 percent heroin.") A collection of color photos taken throughout Jourgensen's life (including his high school yearbook picture) is also included in the middle section.
Jourgensen's autobiography puts all other 'sex, drugs, and rock & roll' memoirs to shame. The book is very explicit (there's a chapter subtitled "Soul Selling for Blow and Blowjobs"), which should not come as a shock AT ALL to Ministry/RevCo/WaxTrax! fans, and those easily offended should probably give it a pass. However, if you haven't clicked away yet in disgust, I'm guessing you'll enjoy it immensely and you'll learn a LOT (and perhaps a bit more than you wanted to). In case you have no idea of what to expect, read an excerpt from a pretty entertaining and dead-on review of the book on Amazon from a reviewer named Ragman:
"...the depravity in this thing is off the charts...I feel like I need a shower and there isn't enough soap in the world. It's outrageous, depraved, and at times absolutely horrifying...stolen cars, IV drug use, stints in an orphanage and mental institution, electro shock therapy, group sex with mental patients, car crashes, alien abductions - and that's just his childhood. We haven't even gotten to the music industry yet. Once it gets to his music career, things get insane: rampant drug use, stabbings, overdoses, more car crashes, arrests, bestiality, women with blood pouring out of their genitals, severed animal heads, transvestites, bags of bodily fluids, Branch Davidians - if you think you get the idea, you really, really don't..."
Buy Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen here.
Ministry will release a live CD/DVD Enjoy The Quiet - Live at Wacken 2012 on August 13th, and a new studio album, From Beer To Eternity, drops September 6th. According to the interview in Texas Monthly, a Ministry tour is being mapped out (Al says he needs the money), plus there's another musical project in the works called Dubistry - which is said to mix the Ministry sound with reggae. Read the full interview with Jourgensen in Texas Monthly here.
Another shorter interview with Jourgensen talking about his love of history and how he would have liked to be a professor is posted here.
Check out the trailer for Enjoy the Quiet and a webisode about the making of From Beer To Eternity below:
