Stale Book Review #30: Ministry

Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen by Al Jourgensen

Cost: $5.00US

Page Count: 272

"Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true

Jerry lee Lewis was the devil

Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world

So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long"

- Jesus Built My Hotrod

Ministry Cover

Al Jourgensen has achieved just about the impossible:  he's written a book that almost matches the insanity of Motely Cure's The Dirt.  Almost...I mean it's a really close race and I would solidly put Ministry: The Lost Gospels firmly in second place all time rock book reads.  Holy shit, it's really good.

Let's get everyone up to speed (pun intended).  Al Jourgensen is pretty much the mastermind behind the industrial metal band (I really don't know how to describe the group) Ministry.  Ministry...for those that really don't know...is an excellent mix of industrial noise, EDM, and metal.  It's so odd but eclectic and extremely well-done at the same time.  However, there are no Beach Boy hooks to grab a listener and give them a big old hug.  Nope, Ministry is all about a dental drill to your eardrum. The beauty of it is...you will like it.

I promise this will be the last rock and roll related biography for quite a while on Stale Reviews.  It's just that they are so dang easy to read and I plowwwww through them like nothing.  But...no more for a while.  Cross my heart.

Al Jourgensen

In Ministry: The Lost Gospels  Jourgensen holds zero punches and relives what he can remember about  the drug-addled '90's.  Let me break it down:  people in the rock world were getting fucked up.  Al was fueled on heroin and pot and cocaine and alcohol and speed and, well you name it and Jourgensen was using it and then producing and extremely intense brand of music.  The music of Ministry is probably the most intense and anxiety-inducing that I have ever heard.  That is what makes it great.  But, Al went through Hell to be able to create Ministry's sound.  

What is most interesting is Jourgensen's view on the music world:  he hates it because it's so fucked.  For example, Al has Ministry which has won awards, accolades, and is renowned worldwide for being a pioneer in industrial music.  Al equates Ministry with a job.  That was interesting to read.  Ministry, to Al Jourgensen is a 9-5 with all the pressures involved and that shit gives him ulcers.  That can't be any fun.  On the other hand, his side band The Revolting Cocks is one in which he loves.  Al loves RevCo because there is no pressure and it's fun.  The Revolting Cocks is a hilarious band...but, they're really fucking good, too.  The dude is pretty much a musical genius.  Just a twisted one.

Your mother will hate that you read this book. Your mother will hate that you listen to Ministry. 

So, yeah, mama probably don't want to read about how Al was shitting and pissing and throwing up blood because of extreme drug and alcohol abuse over the years.  Mama probably don't want to hear about Al and Courtney Love shooting up together and the disdain that Al has for so many in the music industry.  Tu Madre most likely doesn't want to hear about Al's escapades with Jello Biafra, Tim Leary, and Gibby Haynes.  For the record, Gibby Haynes may actually be insane.   Ministry: The Lost Gospels is one fucked up read but you will absolutely love the ride.  

This is a great read because of two things:  1) Al Jourgensen tells the whole story, holds nothing back, and lets it rip and 2) Al Jourgensen has led one interesting life.  It's a miracle the guy has survived to tell his tale.  

Is he the Keith Richards of his genre?  Read Ministry: The Lost Gospels and find out for yourselves.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ministry-frontman-al-jourgensen-on-his-sex-and-drugs-heavy-new-autobiography-20130708

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/outtakes-from-ministry-the-lost-gospels-according-to-al-jourgensen-1

http://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Lost-Gospels-According-Jourgensen-ebook/dp/B00CGNPPJK

Stale Book Review #29: Fall to Pieces

Fall to Pieces by Mary Forsberg Weiland

Cost: $0.75US

Page Count: 288

Very rarely do I ever get to read two books and get two different perspectives about the same subject.  I tend to jump from subject to subject because my curiosity and intellect apparently has the attention span of a gnat.  But, that's ok...at least I read many books on many subjects.  I'm a well-read and well-rounded gnat.  A renaissance gnat.

Fall to Pieces, by Mary Weiland, is the other half of the Scott Weiland (of STP and stale review #27 fame) saga.  She's the yin to his yang, so to speak.  I've got to be honest, normally the memoir of a rock star wife would hold absolutely no interest for me.  For some reason, Fall to Pieces called to me.  So, I figured it was short and it could tell the other side to the STP story.  I actually found Fall to Pieces and the Scott Weiland book, Not Dead and Not for Sale on the same night and spent less than a few bucks for both of them.  Finding this to be a good deal I thought it might be fun to read both biographies and compare notes.  Hint:  Mary is a far superior writer.

Mary is candid.  She holds no punches and appears to tell the whole story.  I totally respect her candor and her bravery to digging into some really deep and really personal issues.  And no, you hound dogs out there, she doesn't talk about her sex life.  Scott was the opposite in his strict adherence to the vague.  Mary's novel was like a Hollywood tragic love story.  Scott's book was a PBS documentary.  But, that's cool and to each their own, right?

Fall to Pieces runs you right through Mary's childhood, her meeting of Scott Weiland (while she was still a child of 16), their falling in love, her modeling career, their drug use and spiral into the drug abyss, the yo-yo of recovery and relapse for both her and Scott, Scott's arrest(s), their collective rock bottom, and finally her diagnosis with bipolar disorder.  Now, this...THIS... turned out to be the interesting part.  Turns out, I have never read anything that could actually portray what it is like within the mind of a person in both a completely manic phase of bipolar and also within their mind during those depressed phases.  To this, I must give Mary kudos. Well done, chick.  Undiagnosed and untreated, bipolar disorder is scary as fuck.  For her to go through the steps to get diagnosed and then a proper dose of the proper meds took a lot of courage and I'm sure hard work.  I'm sure that her being a recovering heroin addict didn't make the process any smoother.

So, Fall to Pieces was not normally what I would read and/or write about.  But, in the end I actually liked the book.  Mary does an infinitely better job at getting into some of the details that I like in a rock book:  she tells a little about the bands and the process of creation.  Even though she wasn't the artist herself (and was probably fucked up most of the time) Mary turned out to be a decent reporter.  

If you can find this book give it a whirl.  Particularly if you are in the mental health field or are interested in learning about bipolar disorder, I would definitely recommend.

*PSA:  If you or someone you know is having difficulty functioning in this world with a mental disorder, please contact a mental health professional.  Thank you and be well, people.