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	Ministry	mrdm's rating:
	"Rio Grande Bloodl"
	Rio Grande Blood - Senor Peligro - Gangreen (Featuring Sgt. Major) - Fear (Is Big Business) - LiesLiesLies - The Great Satan (Remix) - Yellow Cake - Palestina - Assclown (Featuring Jello Biafra) - Kyber Pass - Untitled
A scant two years after Houses of the Mole, Al Jourgenson is back--and more pissed off than ever! Ministry traditionally has not been an overtly political band, but all that changed during the last election when Al and company released a CD full out anti-Bush songs in 2004 and used his tour to encourage young people to vote against another four years of Dubya's warmongering ways. As we all know, unfortunately this was not a successful endeavor. The result? Another album filled with blistering diatribes against the current administration and its role in world affairs. A quick glance at the album art will tell you all you need to know! It's such a cliche to say this, but it's true: Rio Grande Blood is quite possibly the heaviest Ministry album ever. Although the case could be made for Land of Rape and Honey with its abrasive industrial soundscapes and apocalyptic themes, RGB is a beast of a different color as it is all about thrashy guitars and punk rock attitude. Forget about keyboards and futuristic studio tricks on this disc--cock rocking is in full affect, and Al's primal screaming makes you forget that the namby-pamby Dark Side of The Spoon was ever recorded. Many have complained about the lack of innovation on this CD and lamented the loss of the creative programming that appeared on past records--but to them, I say GET OVER IT because Ministry hasn't been doing that stuff for the greater part of a decade! Sampling fans will be happy with the copious amount of Bush-related clips and audio manipulations and have him admitting to his evil asshole-ish ways. The track that demonstrates this the best would be the lead-off tune "Rio Grande Blood"--which is a play on title of a ZZ Top album Rio Grande Mud. (I don't need to spell out the Texas/blood/oil connection do I?) A suitable asskicker to get the party started whose chorus sounds vaguely reminiscent of "The Missing" from LORAH. And the onslaught does not let up for the entire disc. A couple of notable tracks: "The Great Satan" originally appeared on the Ministry collection Rantology. This version, however, seems a million times better than that. For some reason, the production seems much crisper and all the elements (especially the vocals) are much more prominent. "Palestina"--is Al actually singing on the chorus? Wow. "Assclown" is my personal favorite song on this album. A brilliant monologue by Jello Biafra segues into an absolutely neck-snapping riff-o-thon that threatens to implode your brain. This truly should be the official anthem of our government's overthrow. "Gangreen": probably the most lackluster track to be found here. I can see what Al was trying to do by coming up with an ironic military anthem and throwing in a bit of authentic Full Metal Jacket flavor into the mix, but the whole thing just comes off as a bit too cheesy. For me, this was a near-perfect album. I would like to see Al do something non-Bush related though. I can see how some people who are not all into politics could get sick of the same subject matter being perpetually recycled. There are plenty of other things to be angry about in the world, after all! Bush and company are such an easy target, it's like shooting fish in a barrel (after the fish have been fed tranquilizers and duct-taped together). As a wise man once said, "don't swing at the easy ones."