March 2024 • Volume 50 , Number 05 • www . illinoisentertainer . com
Photo : : Edward Spinelli
COVER STORY : MINISTRY
When I heard the hard-hitting new Ministry album ; its sixteenth , it was stunning . And not only was HOPIUM- FORTHEMASSES bracing musically , shaking its industrialstrength , metal-gloved fist at current predictable chart-savvy conventions , but longtime bandleader Al Jourgensen was also shaking his shrewd , politically-fomented lyrical fist at a World Gone Numb With Ennui , a World on the brink of knuckle-headed self-annihilation , a World he – like a lot of equally uneasy observers – no longer clearly recognized . The last time the man and I spoke , for an IE cover in August of 2021 , he was equally concerned and venting through a tirade-testy long-player dubbed “ Moral Hygiene ” and sniping at fact deniers – right-wing and otherwise – in gutpunching anthems like “ Disinformation ,” “ Death Toll ,” “ Broken System ,” “ We Shall Resist ,” and even an oddlyappropriate reading of Iggy and the Stooges classic “ Search and Destroy .” At the time , neither of us could have predicted the grave course changes civilization would take in the ensuing months and years .
Can Ministry ease us back from the China-vs-Taiwan Doomsday Clock brink of Armageddon with HOPIUM- FORTHEMASSES ? And blunt-force traumatic tunes like “ B . D . E ,” “ New Religion ,” “ Just Stop Oil ,” and ” It ’ s Not Pretty ”? At 65 , Jourgensen knows he has s limited audience for his work , so it ’ s not like he ’ s tilting at Quixotic windmills . But he doesn ’ t have dreams of singlehandedly launching a peaceful new era , either . Personally , he explains , the now-California-based former Chicago native feeling too bad . “ But do I have hope for humanity ?’ he asks rhetorically before prefacing his answer with a protracted sigh . “ Not a lot , really . “ I ’ m not Nostrafuckingdamus , so we ’ ll see what happens . Tom Lanham returns in this issue to speak to Uncle Al .
ROCK OF PAGES
This vivid 208-page hardback ( The Ultimate Illustrated History ) chronicles the ascent to global influence of Bob Marley and the Wailers , rising from humble beginnings in the early 1960s as a teenaged ska band in Kingston , Jamaica . Ultimately , the band brought reggae music to the masses . The sound was ideal for mellow good times , but the Wailers also introduced the world to Rastafari culture and Jamaican pride while wielding music as a grassroots tool for revolution and justice .
PAGE 20 : MINISTRY
Spins
Green Day , The Who , Frank Zappa and more
Rock of Pages
Bob Marley & The Wailers .
CinemaScopes
March Films in Theaters and Streams .
Calendar
1500 shows and 3300 bands , it ’ s IE ’ s live music calendar .
Classifieds
Music services , musicians and more .
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Publisher John Vernon
Contributing Editors Curt Baran Mike Meyer Tom Lanham Lori Vernon
Design Team Notion Pool Dragon Design Vision Design Teknigram Graphics
Classified Advertising David Gedge
Founder Kenneth L . Voss
Publisher Emeritis
Advertising Sales Scott Assmann Mike Engel
Advertising Director John Vernon
Website Direction Notion Pool
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illinoisentertainer . com
Contributing april 2019 Editors
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Mike Engel |
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Mike Meyer illinoisentertainer . com march 2024 |
Advertising Director |
Senior Columnists
Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
- Sweet Home Rick Kaempfer - Media
Kelley Simms - Caught In A Mosh
David C . Eldredge - East Coast
Contributors : Andy Argyrakis , Guy Arnston , Penelope Biver , Patrick Conlan , Deena Dasein , Jaime de ' Medici , Andy Derer , Jeff Elbel Terrence Flamm , Steve Forstneger Michael Gallucci , Michael C . Harris , Max Herman , Tom Lanham , Aubrey Vernon Carter Moss , Michael Obrecki , Greg Olma Arsenio Orteza , Rodney Pawlak , Bruce Pilato , Matthew Pollock , Jason Scales , Kelley Simms , Ed Spinelli , Riley Vernon , Tim Shockley , James Turano
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The ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER is published monthly by Roberts Publishing , Inc , All materials copyright 2021 by Roberts Publishing , Inc . All rights reserved . No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from Roberts Publishing , Inc . Current and back issues of the IE are $ 10.00 postpaid .
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