The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is the fourth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on November 14, 1989, by Sire Records. The music took a more hardcore, aggressively guitar-driven direction, with frontman Al Jourgensen inspired by Stormtroopers of Death and Rigor Mortis to add thrash metal guitars to the album and subsequent Ministry releases. As with most of Ministry's work, the album's lyrics deal mainly with political corruption, cultural violence, environmental degradation, nuclear war, drug addiction, and insanity.
Background
Jourgensen recalled the band's state as dysfunctional and the album's production as "complete chaos and mayhem", which gave the band a level of artistic freedom impossible had they planned it. Jourgensen says that despite being a fan favorite, it is not among his favorites because of the condition he was in at the time; he was heavily into drugs during recording and had a poor relationship with his bandmates. In one instance, he chased bassist Paul Barker around the studio with a chair and hit him on the head with it because he "couldn't stand him anymore". Jourgensen credited the era, the city, and the atmosphere at Chicago Trax Studios for the album. Bill Rieflin and Chris Connelly instead attributed the album's sound to the band's interest in technology. Rieflin had previously recorded drums and bass after he became frustrated waiting for the others to contribute music to the track; Barker said he thinks that Rieflin played all the instruments on the song. Lukacin herself said "Dream Song" was a poem she wrote after having a dream about an angel. She did not know she was being recorded but enjoyed the song.
Album title and art
The title of the album is a reference to the UNCF's slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". Jourgensen was further inspired by the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. Rieflin said the other band members groaned when they heard it, but Jourgensen had the final say in naming. According to Connelly, the album art was inspired by a television program Jourgensen saw where migraine sufferers painted images of their pain. The image itself was a picture of an x-ray from a studio receptionist's mother, who had been in a car accident and received a metal plate. Jourgensen said he wanted that as the album artwork as soon as he found out about it, but the other band members disliked it. Barker praised the concept but said the execution was poor. "Burning Inside" reached #23 on Billboards Hot Modern Rock Tracks.
Reception
Music critic Tom Moon included the album in his book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, calling it "one of the great works of industrial music" and an influential album that is "way ahead of its time". In rating it 4.5/5 stars, AllMusic reviewer Marc van der Pol described it as a "wonderful album" that avoids the clichés common to industrial rock. The A.V. Club also wrote about "So What", including it on a list of the best songs written from the point of view of a crazy person. They called it "the most obvious and best-executed" of Ministry's songs about violent psychosis.
Track listing
Samples
"Thieves"
- "Get up! Get on your feet!" "You will not kill!" "I can't hear you!" "Pray!" – dialogue from R. Lee Ermey's drill instructor character in Full Metal Jacket. Jourgensen later attributed these samples to Kubrick's interest in having the band appear in A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
- "I want peace." – Former U.S. President Richard Nixon.
- "We are fighting for the liberation of man. Not for the rights of these pigs. The rights of society!" "We're going to rip this motherfucker off, we're going to tear this motherfucker down." "I hope they realize this is their last god damned chance!" "Power to the people!" from The War at Home documentary.
"Burning Inside"
- (Intro of warning horn and synthesizer tones) - John Carpenter's The Thing (klaxons) and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (original score).
"Cannibal Song"
- "The mind is a labyrinth." is from the film Hellbound: Hellraiser II.
"Breathe"
- "Opening musical sequence (first 30 seconds)" - taken from the film Cry Freedom.
"So What"
- The dialogue spoken during the song ("You have had all that money can give you", "Kill for a thrill", etc.) is from the judge's summing up at the end of the Ed Wood-scripted film The Violent Years.
"Dream Song"
- Features the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir singing the song "Kalimankou Denkou" off of the 1975 compilation album Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares.
Personnel
Ministry
- Al Jourgensen – vocals (1–3, 5, 6, 9), guitars, programming, production
- Paul Barker – bass, programming, production
Additional personnel
- Bill Rieflin – drums, programming, background vocals (8), bass & drum programming (7, uncredited)