Twitch is the second studio album by American industrial band Ministry, released on March 12, 1986, by Sire Records. Recorded mostly in London and West Berlin during 1985, it was largely produced by On-U Sound Records owner Adrian Sherwood, while the band's frontman Al Jourgensen co-produced two tracks. It stepped away from the synthpop-oriented form of Ministry's 1983 debut studio album, With Sympathy, and moved toward a darker, more aggressive sound, heavily influenced by industrial dance groups Cabaret Voltaire and Front 242.
Preceded by "Over the Shoulder", with an accompanying video directed by Peter Christopherson, the album was supported by a concert tour of North America, which was the first to feature Paul Barker and Bill Rieflin in the line-up, playing bass guitar and drums, respectively. The album was released to mixed reviews.
Background and production
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Shortly after touring in support of Ministry's 1983 debut album, With Sympathy, Al Jourgensen and bandmates moved to Evanston, Illinois, and proceeded to record what was to be Ministry's second album with Arista Records. Amid differences in the upcoming recording's style, the band left Arista in Spring 1984, following a legal dispute, and returned to Wax Trax! Records, their original label. In that year's Autumn, Ministry embarked on the tour of the East Coast with Belgian industrial dance band Front 242 as a supporting act; according to various accounts, Jourgensen began working on new music either during that tour or the same time With Sympathy was recorded. By the Summer of 1985, Ministry released several non-album singles on Wax Trax!: “All Day”, “(Every Day Is) Halloween”, and “The Nature of Love”, before getting signed to Sire. By this point, Jourgensen remained the only official member of Ministry.
Stein subsequently employed On-U Sound Records owner Adrian Sherwood as the record's principal producer, after regarding his remix work on Depeche Mode's 1984 singles "People Are People" and "Master and Servant". Recalling sessions in The Lost Gospels..., Jourgensen mostly regarded Sherwood for production advice, though he expressed dislike about his experience in London, citing cultural differences and conflicts with Sherwood's friends; also he admitted that can't "feel like this one's really mine because it's so Adrian Sherwood-influenced."<!--=== Cover ===
Photographer Brian Shanley The artwork for this album is a motion effect of an image depicting a starch-covered Jourgensen. The original image can be seen here.-->
Style and composition
Twitch is more abrasive and beat-driven than Ministry's previous works, moving away from the pop-oriented sound of With Sympathy, and incorporating elements from the growing industrial scene of the mid-1980s. The album's sound is reminiscent of Ministry's contemporary acts in Europe, such as Cabaret Voltaire and Front 242.