Rio Grande Blood
| Rio Grande Blood | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Ministry | ||||
| Released | May 2, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 at 13th Planet Studios, El Paso, Texas | |||
| Genre | Industrial metal, thrash metal | |||
| Length | 51:18 | |||
| Label | 13th Planet, Megaforce | |||
| Producer | Al Jourgensen | |||
| Ministry chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Pitchfork Media | 6.4/10[2] |
| PopMatters | [3] |
| Sputnikmusic | 3.5/5[4] |
| Stylus | B−[5] |
Rio Grande Blood is the tenth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 2006. It is their first release through 13th Planet and Megaforce Records.
Overview
The album is the 2nd part of the band's anti-George W. Bush trilogy, preceded by 2004's Houses of the Molé and followed by 2007's The Last Sucker.
The title of the album is a parody of the 1972 ZZ Top album Rio Grande Mud.
Just like Houses of the Molé, Rio Grande Blood contains very political lyrics, making frequent allusions to the George W. Bush administration. The second track makes an explicit reference to Bush as Señor Peligro, which translates to "Mr. Danger" in Spanish. Some of the issues raised include the then-current Iraq War, U.S. immigration policy and U.S. military policy (particularly the US Marine Corps in the song "Gangreen"). The Halliburton corporation is also quoted and linked to the Bush administration.
The album also contains allegations of the Bush administration complicity in the 9/11 attacks in the track "Lieslieslies," which contains audio samples from the conspiracy documentary Loose Change. The song received a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards.[6]
A remix of the song "The Great Satan" from Rantology appears on this album. Along with "LiesLiesLies", "The Great Satan" was also nominated for a Grammy.[6]
Samples of genuine Bush soundbites are cut-and-pasted together at various points to satirical effect: for example, the title track begins with Bush stating "I have adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics and I'm a dangerous, dangerous man with dangerous, dangerous weapons."
The album was re-released in remixed form as Rio Grande Dub on July 10, 2007.
Track listing
All tracks written by Al Jourgensen and Tommy Victor, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rio Grande Blood" | Jourgensen | 4:24 |
| 2. | "Señor Peligro" | 3:38 | |
| 3. | "Gangreen" (feat. Sgt. Major) | 6:00 | |
| 4. | "Fear (Is Big Business)" | 4:51 | |
| 5. | "LiesLiesLies" | 5:16 | |
| 6. | "The Great Satan" (Remix) | Jourgensen | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Yellow Cake" | Jourgensen, Paul Raven | 4:35 |
| 8. | "Palestina" | 3:18 | |
| 9. | "Ass Clown" (feat. Jello Biafra) | Jourgensen, Raven | 6:42 |
| 10. | "Khyber Pass" (feat. Liz Constantine) | Jourgensen, Raven, Victor | 7:31 |
| 11. | "Untitled" (silent track) | 0:04 | |
| 12. | "Untitled" (silent track) | 0:06 | |
| 13. | "Sgt. Major Redux" (feat. Sgt. Major) | 1:45 | |
| Total length: | 51:18 | ||
| Japan bonus track | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 11. | "LiesLiesLies" (Jungle Remixxx) | 9:34 |
Personnel
Ministry
- Al Jourgensen - vocals, lead guitar (1), guitars (1-3, 5-10), bass (1, 6), keyboards (1-10), drum programming (1, 6), production
- Tommy Victor - guitars (2-5, 7-10), bass (2-4)
- Paul Raven - keyboards (2, 3, 10), background vocals (2, 3), bass (5, 7-10), guitars (7, 9, 10) drum programming (7, 9), drums (10)
- Mark Baker - drums (2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
Additional personnel
- Isaias Martinez - Latin vocals (2)
- Freddie Macias - background vocals (2, 3)
- Sgt. Major - drill instructor vocals (3, 14)
- Bobby Torres - background vocals (3)
- Jim Ward - background vocals (3)
- Justin Leeah - drum programming (4), engineer
- Mike Scaccia - lead guitar (6)
- Jello Biafra - intro vocals (9)
- Liz Constantine - additional vocals (10)
- John Gray - engineer
- John Bilberry - assistant engineer
- Dave Donnelly - mastering
- Lawton Outlaw - art direction, design, layout
In popular culture
- The song "Palestina" is used in the skateboarding game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.
- The sound after the opening speech at the album's beginning is sampled from the track "Snagglepuss" by John Zorn.
- The song "Señor Peligro" is used in the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours.
- The song "Lieslieslies" is featured in the 2007 film Battle for Haditha.
- The songs "Lieslieslies" and "The Great Satan" are available as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band 2.
- The songs "Fear (Is Big Business)", "Palestina", and "Khyber Pass" were used in the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Hurt Locker.[7]
Chart positions
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums Chart[8] | 60 |
| The Billboard 200[9] | 134 |
| Independent Albums[9] | 11 |
| Tastemakers Albums[9] | 12 |
| Top Internet Albums[10] | 134 |
References
- ↑ Jeffries, David. "Rio Grande Blood - Ministry". Allmusic.
- ↑ Byrom, Cody D. (2006-04-30). "Ministry: Rio Grande Blood". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- ↑ Friedman, Lou (2006-06-07). "Ministry: Rio Grande Blood". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- ↑ Stagno, Mike (2006-10-20). "Ministry - Rio Grande Blood (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- ↑ Lee, Cosmo (2006-06-06). "Ministry - Rio Grande Blood - Review". Stylus. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- 1 2 "Ministry Mainman Comments On Fifth Grammy Nomination". Blabbermouth.net. 2008-12-04.
- ↑ "The Hurt Locker (2008) - Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database.
- ↑ "German chart positions" (in German). musicline.de.
- 1 2 3 "Rio Grande Blood - Ministry". Billboard.
- ↑ "Ministry - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums". Allmusic.