The Dark Side of the Spoon [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Details
Includes Two Exclusive Bonus Tracks Not on USA Version, 'Untitled'& 'Dialogue'.

The Dark Side of the Spoon
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • How dark? Like some Skull-laden Train that got derailed halfway to hell.
  • "Dark" is a good description.
  • Another great Ministry album- very solid
  • sad
  • Industrial music that ROCKS!
 The Dark Side of the Spoon
Ministry
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Alt IndustrialAlt Industrial | Industrial | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:
  1. Filth Pig
  2. The Land of Rape and Honey
  3. The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
  4. Keianh (Psalm 69)
  5. Twitch

ASIN: B00000J7J9
Release Date: 1999-06-08

Tracks:

  1. Supermanic Soul
  2. Whip And Chain
  3. Bad Blood
  4. Eureka Pile
  5. Step
  6. Nursing Home
  7. Kaif
  8. Vex & Siolence
  9. 10/10
  10. Silent
  11. Silent
  12. Silent
  13. Silent
  14. Silent
  15. Silent
  16. Silent
  17. Silent
  18. Silent
  19. Silent
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  36. Silent
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  38. Silent
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  40. Silent
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  42. Silent
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  64. Silent
  65. Silent
  66. Silent
  67. Silent
  68. Silent
  69. Bonus Track 1

Amazon.com

To hear longtime Ministry mainstays Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker tell it, Dark Side of the Spoon is some sort of lighthearted comic romp. Getting there was anything but; virtually completed in 1997, most of the original Spoon was scrapped and rerecorded the following year for an eventual 1999 release. But longtime Ministry devotees needn't worry that Jourgensen and Barker have traded in the band's formulaic hard-edged mix of heavy-riffing guitars, percussion loops, and techno-industrial flourishes for a dash of Noël Coward. In fact, aside from the song titles--"Nursing Home," "Eureka Pile," "Vex and Siolence"--listeners without a lyric sheet handy are going to be hard-pressed to enjoy the witticisms present in the album's typically overwrought, electronically subverted vocals. And who knows? Maybe if one sang Gilbert and Sullivan through a distorted megaphone in an echo-prone parking structure, it would sound just like this. Allow us the liberty of mixing our equestrian metaphors: Spoon only proves how tough it is to paint a horse of a different color when you're a one-trick pony. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars How dark? Like some Skull-laden Train that got derailed halfway to hell........2006-08-07

Dark Side of the spoon was release by Ministry in 1999 and was their final record with Warner Brothers. Following the slower, more basic sounding Industrial album "Filth Pig" and coming before the recently released Anti-George W. Bush Concept albums "Houses of the Mole" and "Rio Blood Grande", this particular album was one of the bands least commercially successful albums to date. Despite the single "Bad Blood" which also received heavy acclaim after being on the Matrix soundtrack, Dark Side of the spoon quickly slipped through the cracks and was forgotten, and when it was remembered, it was segregated from the rest of Al Jourgenson's enigmatic, eccentric, and harsh sounding discography. I myself did purchase this album in 2000, only to eventually let it sit on the shelf and collect dust.

First off, we have to see what the fans are mad about. What, you ask? It's the fact that Al Jourgenson changes his style on nearly every album. He incorporates different themes and speeds, mixes up the mixes, battens down the hatches, and ultimately PROGRESSES as a musician. The problem is best described by James Hetfield, the lead singer for Metallica; "People keep wanting another "master of puppets" album, but we already did that, so we're moving on". Apply the same thing to ministry. Personally I'm not like most ministry fans, and I don't grovel all over the older releases like "Land of Rape and Honey" (1988) and Psalm 69 (1992). Therein lies the problem; no matter what this band does, we still find ourselves wanting more of what they already did, and in my case I was partial to "Mind is a terrible thing to taste" (1989) and "Filth Pig" (1996). So what do you do? You find the right time to listen to it, you don't give up on it, and you just keep throwing it in once in a while. Sooner or later you'll get it. Sooner or later it should grab you. That's what Dark side did for me.

We need to also realize with all of the negative fan hate for this album, that it was during a rough time in Jourgenson's life. His former guitarist, William Tucker, had committed suicide by cutting his own throat, and Al was deeply immersed (like, uh, so many rock icons) in a cruel cycle of drug abuse that was taking him down the road of no return. For all the issues at hand, Dark side of the spoon still as its strong points.

My thoughts on the album: The first track opens up with some familiar Ministry patented screeching synth coupled with razor edge metal guitars. Jourgenson himself is singing in his normal yelling mode, which as fans know is a distinct sound all its own that could never be copied. "Supermanic Soul" is really pretty choppy in both beat and rhythm, and Al's lyrics are short and blunt, punching you in the gut with realism as he shouts, "I've pulled the trigger in the record room". A dark, crazy, and disturbing song that is a good opener for the album. The sound on this album kind of reminds me of the style they had on the album "The mind is a terrible thing to taste". Supermanic Soul rips off into track two, which is a slow, doom-ridden driver of a track called "Whip and Chain". Whip/Chain starts out with some heavy drums that thunder slowly along until the guitars come in with an even slower, deep, groove that is backed up by some heavy, drawn out bass sounds. Jourgenson's vocal style here is not "yell" but more just talking as he starts angrily saying the lyrics in a poignant and preachy style that really is great in getting the message across. The tune increases in power when Jourgenson yells out "Who did the talking then, the whip or the chain?/You've got pleasure from the sentence of pain/But then they get you with the burden of shame/The true measure is the one that remains. Again, a dark and driving song that I feel is one of their top songs in the past decade.

Just when we're reeling out of that dark, brooding song that was track two, we're thrown into a fast and furious anthem that is "Bad Blood". Blood is a classic Ministry song in that it's got all of the elements: Jourgensons screaming vocals, fast guitars and a great beat. The songwriting on this album is great as so many times the lyrics coupled with the themes that are behind them really connect well with the audience (unless their eardrums are blown out I suppose). That's evident with the eventual lyrics that are driving along with a super fast guitar and hard hitting bass...

What lies?
He's finally come alive
Out of these mediocre plentiful things all the time
A steady stream of madness
Conscious to a flood
The clock is ticking for Bad Blood

Tracks four and five are "Eureka Pile" and "Step". Both have their good sides, and both seem like they belong somewhere in the Ministry universe as they have a lot of different electronic as well as industrial sounds coming in and out of them. The lyrical approach is vastly different on both, almost like Jourgenson is sometimes an insane man screaming out the window at the street below, while other times drowning down into some sort of monotone 1950's congressional anti-communistic recording. Each song is okay, but definitely not the powerful or dark tunes that came before them.

Track six is "Nursing Home" and clocks in over seven minutes long. The sound here has some carnival sounding themes coming out of the shadows and is a slow, grinding industrial sounding song that takes a while to take off. Jourgenson gets with the program eventually and starts ripping off some narcotic induced ninja madness of a nursery rhyme on the chorus before the song starts zooming out into la-la land with the continual carnival sounds, which eventually must lead to a circus of madness. This song is really on the point of madness, or maybe prog rock, and considering the albums title is partly a spoof on the famous Pink Floyd album, should we expect any different? Track seven is "Kaif"...whoah, turn up the bass, well if you want to blow your speakers. Dark again. Deep again. Slow again. This is like some Skull-laden Train that got derailed halfway to hell. The sound bogs along before Jourgenson comes in and we immediately realize the song has some promise...Al screams his supersonic wail with "Where did the times go-ohhhh-oh?". Overall a great dark and driving song as seen on earlier tracks, and yes I'll admit, though I said the band progressed, there is some Filth Pig sound hanging around here. The drums are crashing over and over as the bass line is by now seeming glued in full force reverb. Wanna wake up? Wanna feel gloomy? Just push play.

The following track is Vex and Siolence, and is really showing that Al must be so damn depressed about something that he's set the La brea Tar pits on fire and is now being lowered into them for this track. Good grief, I'm really seeing this song as a hint that this was a rushed record maybe. The lyrics don't come through near as strong and though he's executing it well it just kind of gets dull. I guess I can only take so many dark, driving songs but by now everyone is dead, their skulls are crushed, we're aware of the pain, the suffering, and so forth. Yeah, the train is derailed, and even the evil souls standing beside it are ready to lighten up with some 1997 Metallica.

Final track is called "10/10" and is just an instrumental, but a great one at that. It comes out with some great guitar and drumbeats and doesn't seem so gloomy or doom sounding but more impending peril. Make sense? Well we're not in the chasm, we're on the edge and we're looking back over our shoulder. The song now and again interrupts the cute little guitar pieces to have a thundering shred of a solo coupled by heavy bass break the monotony. Later on a saxophone comes in and plays a beautiful little part that is Jazz sounding which of course, is really weird here, kind of like a demon in wolf's clothing at this point. 10/10 has a lot of atmosphere and overall has a great beat to it and is one of my favorite instrumental tracks of recent memory.

Despite it's shortcomings, the overall sound and vision of this album is not something to sneeze at. I don't think it deserves five stars or four but definitely 3 1/2 which even then, is nothing to sneeze at. The more I listen to this album, the more I enjoy it for what it is, and not what it is not.

3 out of 5 stars "Dark" is a good description........2006-05-20

If the hotline of HELL had call waiting, this album would be on "repeat."

5 out of 5 stars Another great Ministry album- very solid.......2006-02-10

Not as dismal or noisy as the previous "Filth Pig", Dark Side of the Spoon has a lot more groove and plenty of psychedlic hypnotic feel, just as much atmosphere as its predecessor. If you're one of the fans who loved Filth Pig, it's a good chance this album is for you. It's definitely the newer style of Ministry- different instrumental sounds and composition style, still very very good. The guitars and bass grind loudly, as opposed to the controlled distorted tone on "Mind", "Psalm" and "Land". The drums sound like REAL drums run through some distortion and booming reverb.

This album has excellent distorted bass lines synched perfectly to pounding rhythms, much like "Cannibal Song" from Mind, but there's more variation and more 'fun' to it. There are a few rockers like "Reload" from Filth Pig, like "Supermanic Soul", and "Bad Blood". These songs have the anthemic quality of old Ministry and seem to be the ones the fans tolerate the most.

For the first time since "With Sympathy" Al uses his saxophone playing skills and his fantastic melodic voice. This alone makes the album worth hearing, great new elements. This is a more intelligent, mature and less adrenaline fueled Ministry. "Nursing Home" also has some of what sounds like a mandolin. That song, by the way, is one of my favorite Ministry tracks, period. Love the shrieking processed guitars, grooves like nothing else. "Eureka Pile" has another great bass groove, as does "KAIF". Al has a real knack for creating atmosphere.

"Step" has very little musical value (just a couple power chords) but the hilarious vocals make up for it. "Whip and Chain" is a bizarre psychedelic experiment. The mixing is very strange, guitars in the back, vocals above everything else. It's a good song none-the-less, mainly due to the vocal melodies. "10/10" is the only song that doesn't stand out much.

I should also mention what an EXCELLENT song "Vex and Siolence" is. Fantastic melody, epic.

45 consistent minutes of entertaining, atmospheric bass-driven industrial rock. Remains entertaining throughout, one of the most enjoyable Ministry albums. Recommended and VERY underrated. 4.5 stars.

1 out of 5 stars sad.......2005-07-17

It really saddens me to think the only redeeming qualities of this album are the brilliantly sickening cover art and the Pink Floyd spoof of the title, a not so inside joke about the band leader's heroin addiction. The music itself is lethargic and unspirited, and to me sounds forced and uninspired. A waste of time, effort and money. This is the one that got em dropped from their record label, and for once, the guys in the suits at Warner Brothers knew when it was time to call it quits. Ministry, apparently, did not.

5 out of 5 stars Industrial music that ROCKS!.......2005-05-12

Ministry is a million times better than the whiny Nine Inch Nails. Al Jourgensen can drop kick Trent Reznor and pimp-slap him til he turns beet-red. Anyway, this CD is totally kickass! Buy now!
Dark Side of the Spoon
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Dark Side of the Spoon
    The Nitwitz
    Manufacturer: Get Hip Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    PunkPunk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B00000J62M
    Release Date: 1999-03-23

    Tracks:

    1. Landmine Heart
    2. Black Name Ringing
    3. Bad Chemistry
    4. Drunk Tank Celebrity
    5. Fruitcakes
    6. Burn Baby Burn
    7. Living On Leftovers
    8. Jackass
    9. Lithium And Lipstick
    10. N.V.S
    11. Superslob
    12. Babysitter (Made A Man Out Of Me)
    13. Ticket To Gomorrah
    14. Church Of Chumps
    The Dark Side of the Spoon
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • Ministry wide open.
    • DOES NOT HAVE THE 2 EXTRA TRACKS
    • Industrial Work of a Sonic nature .
    		 The Dark Side of the Spoon
    Ministry
    Manufacturer: Wea International
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    Alt IndustrialAlt Industrial | Industrial | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    Alternative MetalAlternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
    Alternative RockAlternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
    Hard Rock & MetalHard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
    RockRock | Imports | Stores | Music
    ASIN: B00000JR4R
    Release Date: 1999-06-21

    Tracks:

    1. Supermanic Soul
    2. Whip and Chain
    3. Bad Blood
    4. Eureka Pile
    5. Step
    6. Nursing Home
    7. Kaif
    8. Vex & Siolence
    9. 10/10
    10. [Silence]
    11. [Silence]
    12. [Silence]
    13. [Silence]
    14. [Silence]
    15. [Silence]
    16. [Silence]
    17. [Silence]
    18. [Silence]
    19. [Silence]
    20. [Silence]
    21. [Silence]
    22. [Silence]
    23. [Silence]
    24. [Silence]
    25. [Silence]
    26. [Silence]
    27. [Silence]
    28. [Silence]
    29. [Silence]
    30. [Silence]
    31. [Silence]
    32. [Silence]
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    38. [Silence]
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    40. [Silence]
    41. [Silence]
    42. Everybody

    Album Details

    Includes Two Exclusive Bonus Tracks Not on USA Version, 'Untitled'& 'Dialogue'.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Ministry wide open........2006-01-26

    I think that this is the most human record that Ministry came out with, and is a dark, hard story of rehab, abuse, and the questioning of one's worth. This album blew me away.
    Songs like 'Eureka Pile' and 'Nursing Home' still give me shivers every time I hear them. I was really impressed with the forthright honesty and depth of this album.

    1 out of 5 stars DOES NOT HAVE THE 2 EXTRA TRACKS.......2001-07-28

    I bought this CD because of the 2 extra tracks and it does not have them. I was very disappointed.

    5 out of 5 stars Industrial Work of a Sonic nature ........2001-04-12

    I am a huge fan of Ministry and thier reinventing of sound that goes beyond the expectations of all of thier fans. This album is by far the greatest example of this to date. If you are a true fan of Ministry you will not want to miss out on this newer album. They are the undisputed Father of Industrial music and will never be replaced by any other. This is one of the best compilations of songs that I have heard from Ministry. Your money is well invested in this and any other album by Ministry starting with "The Land of Rape And Honey".
    Dark Side of the Spoon
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Dark Side of the Spoon
      Ministry
      Manufacturer: Pid
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
      Alt IndustrialAlt Industrial | Industrial | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
      ASIN: B00000JJAF
      Release Date: 1999-06-22
      Dark Side of the Spoon
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Dark Side of the Spoon
        Ministry
        Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD
        ASIN: B000N0MM4Y
        Release Date: 2004-08-17

        Music:

        1. The Essential Collection (25th Anniversary Edition) [Import]
        2. The Essential Collection [Import]
        3. The Great Chicken Soup Caper E.P. [EP]
        4. The Kids Are All Wrong
        5. The Missing Beloved
        6. The Verve Pipe
        7. Tsunami [CD-single] [Enhanced]
        8. Tsunami Pt. 2 [CD-single]
        9. Velocity of Sound [Import]
        10. Virginia [CD-single] [Import]

        Music

        music

        Music

        Swamp Tech

        Wind Currents

        Vertical Time Study

        Back to the Barrooms

        You Gotta Have Moxie, Vol. 2

        Wagner & Strauss

        When the Sun Goes Down

        Vaughan Williams Concert

        Turn the Tide

        Warm Evenings

        Victorialand [Original recording remastered]

        We Got Rhythm: The Swing Side of the Serenaders

        Women of the World Pt.2 [CD-single] [Import]

        Heifetz Plays Gershwin and Encores

        Quadromania