Ministry

Ministry is an American industrial metal band of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Alain Jourgensen was born 1958 in Havana, Cuba. He began Ministry in Chicago, Illinois in 1981. The original line-up consisted mainly of Jourgensen (vocals and keyboards) and Stephen George (drums), and Ministry's original sound was essentially synth-pop that was more melodic than the music for which Jourgensen would become known. In the incarnation of Jourgensen/George, Ministry created four 12" singles on Wax Trax! Records through 1984 (anthologized on Twelve Inch Singles). Their first LP, With Sympathy, was issued on Arista Records in 1983, and sold slowly. The music in With Sympathy, and the various singles that Arista issued in association with it, was melodic pop, unlike anything Ministry would record afterwards; critic Dean Carlson describes the album as "Human League's surly little brother."¹ Jourgensen has always expressed disappointment with Ministry's music during those early years, reportedly...