With Sympathy

With Sympathy
Studio album by Ministry
Released May 10, 1983
Recorded Late 1982 at Syncro Sound Studios, Boston
Genre Synthpop[1]
Length 37:52
56:12 (Reissue)
Label North America: Arista
Europe: BMG
Eastworld (2012 rerelease)
Producer Vince Ely, Ian Taylor
Ministry chronology
With Sympathy
(1983)
Twitch
(1986)
Singles from With Sympathy
  1. "I Wanted to Tell Her"
    Released: 1983
  2. "Work for Love"
    Released: 1983
  3. "Revenge"
    Released: 1983[2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
I-Mockery[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

With Sympathy is the debut album by Ministry. The album was released in 1983 through Arista Records, with Ministry's members at the time being Alain Jourgensen and Stephen George.

Jourgensen has maintained that he was pressured by Arista management into producing the album in the then-popular "synthpop" style, which is in contrast to the harder industrial and heavy metal sounds he developed afterwards.[5] However, there are reports of Jourgensen saying in the 1980s that when he discovered hardcore music, his musical direction changed.[6] Additionally, video of local concerts Ministry performed in Chicago 1–2 years previous to their signing with Arista show the band dressed in "new wave" styles and playing new wave and synthpop music. Jourgensen assumes a false English accent for all of the songs, for which he also later expressed great disliking,[5] though his ex-wife stated in a 2013 interview:

...the English accent thing was more an homage to the bands he loved than anything else. He was not trying to come off as British. The Stones used a southern accent and no one crawled up their ass for it.[7]

With Sympathy was also released as Work for Love under BMG in Europe (with the same cover). There is a video available for "Revenge," which was one of three singles pulled from the album, the others being "Work for Love" and "I Wanted to Tell Her."

The album was long out of print and Jourgensen claimed for years that he had destroyed the master tapes. However, it was reissued in 2012 on Eastworld records with three bonus tracks.[8] In 2014, Jourgensen himself posted a previously unreleased song allegedly recorded during the With Sympathy sessions to his website, allowing it to be downloaded for free.[9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Alain Jourgensen, except "I Wanted to Tell Her" by Jourgensen and Shay Jones,.

No.TitleLength
1."Effigy (I'm Not An)"  3:51
2."Revenge"  3:48
3."I Wanted to Tell Her"  5:29
4."Work for Love"  4:44
5."Here We Go"  3:21
6."What He Say"  4:04
7."Say You're Sorry"  4:18
8."Should Have Known Better"  4:31
9."She's Got a Cause"  3:33
Bonus tracks on Eastworld re-release:
No.TitleLength
10."I Wanted to Tell Her" (Extended Mix)7:03
11."Revenge" (Remix)6:19
12."A Walk in the Park"  4:58

European release "Work for Love"

No.TitleLength
1."Work for Love"  4:44
2."Do the Etawa"  4:04
3."I Wanted to Tell Her"  5:29
4."Say You're Sorry"  4:18
5."Here We Go"  3:21
6."Effigy (I'm Not An)"  3:51
7."Revenge"  3:48
8."She's Got a Cause"  3:33
9."Should Have Known Better"  4:31

Personnel

Ministry

Additional musicians

  • Robert Roberts - keyboards (2, 3, 4, 9), bass (4)
  • Marybeth O'Hara - vocals (2, 4)
  • Shay Jones - feature vocals (3)
  • John Davis - keyboards (3, 4, 9)
  • Walter Turbitt - guitar (3)
  • Martin Sorenson - bass guitar (3)
  • Vince Ely - percussion & keyboards (4)
  • Antonia de Portago - vocals (4)
  • Brad Hallen - bass guitar (5, 6)
  • Ministry of Horns - horns (6)
  • Ziv Gidron - chanting (6)
  • Doreen Chanter - vocals (7)
  • Bob Suber - saxophone (7)

Technical staff

  • Ian Taylor - producer, engineer
  • Vince Ely - producer
  • David Wooley - engineer
  • Flood - engineer
  • David Heglmeier - tape operator
  • Roger Merritt - tape operator
  • Steve Jackson - tape operator
  • Greg Calbi - mastering
  • Joe Gastwert - digital remastering (CD edition)

Management

Artwork

  • Alberto Rizzo - photographer
  • David Gahr - inner sleeve photographer
  • Brian Shanley - cover concepts
  • Jim Nash - cover concepts

Chart positions

Album
Chart (1984) Peak
position
The Billboard 200[10] 94

Singles
Song (1983) US
Dance

[11]
NZ
[12]
"Work for Love" 20
"I Wanted to Tell Her" 13 35
"Revenge"

References

  1. 1 2 Carlson, Dean. "With Sympathy - Ministry". Allmusic.
  2. "Ministry Revenge (You Did It Again) (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  3. -RoG- (2008-03-27). "Weekly Stoplight - With Sympathy". I-Mockery.
  4. Considine, J.D. (1983-09-29). "Ministry: With Sympathy : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
  5. 1 2 Jourgensen, Al (July 9, 2013). Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306822186.
  6. Azerrad, Michael (December 2, 2012). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground. Little, Brown,. ISBN 9780316247184.
  7. "Session with Patty Jourgensen". prongs.org. 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  8. "Ministry - With Sympathy [US CD]". The Ideal Copy.
  9. "Al Jourgensen debuts rare and unreleased 'With Sympathy'-era "Synth-Pop" Ministry song 'Anything For You'". Post-Punk.com. December 15, 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  10. "Ministry - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums". Allmusic.
  11. "Ministry - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". Allmusic.
  12. "Ministry - I Wanted To Tell Her". charts.org.nz.
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