Review by Richie Pirone
When you’re credited with having a strong role in founding a genre of music it’s hard for anyone to tell you that you’re doing it wrong or doing a bad job at it. You created it, how can they tell you how to do it better? With the final and eleventh installment of Ministry’s career, Al Jorgenson proves that he hasn’t lost the touch that helped to earn him credit as one of industrial metal’s pioneers. On The Last Sucker, Jorgenson continues his tirade against George W. Bush’s regime. To complete the final bookend to Ministry’s career, Jorgenson has enlisted an all-star class that includes Burton C. Bell (vocals on three tracks) of Fear Factory fame and Thomas Victor and Paul Raven of Prong.
The Last Sucker opens with “Let’s Go,” a song that signifies that the end is near with an announcer saying “the party’s over for this existence” and then blasting into a heavy riff full of hammer-ons and pull-offs. There is no aural space spared here between the riff, drum machine, and Jorgenson’s distorted vocals. The chorus on the song is a repeated “let’s go insane” which is exactly what Jorgenson wants fans to do with this last Ministry album.
The album’s second song, “Watch Yourself” wastes no time taking shots a the President. The song opens with a short speech about a “famous middle-aged rocker” who feared the backlash for speaking out against the president. The songs lyrics focus on society being watched a little closely, with mentions of “big brother” it could easily be conceived that “Watch Yourself” is Jorgenson’s take on the liberties that the Patriot Act gives the government to spy on citizens.
When you read the track listing for The Last Sucker it’s hard not to notice the fourth track that is titled “The Dick Song.” You’d notice this for the obvious reasons but after a moment of thought you’ll likely realize that it’s more likely a song about the Vice President. “The Dick Song” also turns out to be on of the heaviest songs on the record. The song features a thick, heavy riff with much more natural than drum machine like percussion for the most part but it’s the shots at Dick Cheney that really make this song worth listening to. If you agree with Jorgenson you’ll get a good chuckle out of it.
The album’s titled track is a much tighter song than others on the album. It features a driving bass line and a very chromatic riff. Like “The Dick Song,” “The Last Sucker” is a direct shot at President Bush. Jorgenson recalls Bush’s being born into privilege and even points out his lack of public speaking skills – “They give me speeches I can’t understand, It doesn’t matter as long as no one else can.”
“Death & Destruction” is a blistering tune with the drum machines pounding on every beat and a thrash inspired riff. The song, again, takes clips from Bush’s speeches and makes the focal point of Jorgenson’s criticism. Clocking in at just over three and a half minutes, it is one of the shortest songs on The Last Sucker yet one of the most satisfying.
Next Jorgenson throws in a cover of The Doors classic “Roadhouse Blues.” When I first saw the title of the song on the track listing I assumed it would be this song but when it first came on I did not even recognize it until the vocals kicked in. Kudos to Al Jorgenson for this. Most covers these days seem to be exact replicas of the original and lack an inspired feeling but this is not the case this time around.
The Last Sucker ends with a two
part epic appropriately titled “End Of Days.” This song has
got two obvious meanings – the end of Ministry and the potential
end of the world as a result of the Bush administration being a bit trigger
happy. Part two of the song is more intriguing than part one. Part one
fits the typical industrial bill. Part two toys with some dissonant sounds
and features layering of different guitar and synth/drum machine parts
to fill the aural space. Over all it is a well-constructed ballad if you
can even call any Ministry song a ballad.