Ministry and co-conspirators-Cover up

13th Planet
2008

Al Jourgensen and his associates have spent recent years cranking out tracks ripping apart our current president. So by comparison this album of 60’s and 70’s cover songs seems far lighter in spirit. It may take a little time to adjust to the difference in the feel of the album, but once you have made that adjustment then you will be in for a good time. My take on cover songs has always been that if you must do them then be somewhat respectful to the song, but add your own sound as well or it isn’t worth doing. Much like Dr. Frankenstein in his lab the eleven covers here have been taken, twisted and put back together with monstrous results as Al and his cohorts have given each track some major treatment to to make them their own. Does every song work? Of course not, but the important thing is they kept the right approach for the majority of the songs. It's no coincidence that this was released on April Fool's Day because this album was obviously done with in a tongue in cheek manner. I think they had fun doing these songs and that is so key to making good covers as well. If you don't enjoy the songs then don't even attempt them, that sounds simple yet so many bands don't follow it. The Ministry have some charged up versions of "Radar Love", "Mississippi Queen" and "Space Truckin'" that all sucked me in immediately. "Roadhouse" and "Supernaut" are very cool too, but I had heard those when they were first released on other albums. "Under my thumb" seemed a bit too silly to me, I mean it was funny the first time just because of how much it was blown out of proportion, but it will likely not be as amusing on repeated plays. Most of the other tracks here are decent or fairly good. So overall this is a likable, better than average cover album.