Houses of the Molé

Infobox Album
Name = Houses of the Molé
Type = studio
Artist = Ministry


Background = Orange
Released = June 21, 2004
Recorded = Sonic Ranch, El Paso, TX
Genre = Industrial metal
Length = 53:58
Label = Sanctuary
Producer = Al Jourgensen
Reviews =
* Allmusic rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4s8n1v04zzza~T1 link]
* Austin Chronicle rating|3.5|5 [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A227248 link]
*PlayLouder rating|4|5 [http://www.playlouder.com/review/+housesofthemole/ link]
*Rolling Stone Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ministry/albums/album/6195689/review/6294714/houses_of_the_mol link]
Last album = "Animositisomina"
(2003)
This album = "The Houses of the Molé"
(2004)
Next album = "Early Trax"
(2004) |

"Houses of the Molé" is the ninth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry. The album was released on June 21, 2004 internationally and a day later in the United States through Sanctuary Records.

The album is the 1st part of the band's anti-George W. Bush trilogy, followed by 2006's Rio Grande Blood and 2007's The Last Sucker. It was released in the run up to the 2004 American presidential elections, and it is an intensely political album, with Bush being president at the time of its release. All songs start or contain the letter "W" in their title.

The musical style of the album is more speed metal-oriented than Ministry's previous releases.

Al Jourgensen has stated that the name "Houses of the Molé" is a tribute to the "Houses of the Holy" album, released by Led Zeppelin in 1973. Molé itself is a Mexican sauce made from chocolate that is nearly black in color, an image that Jourgensen believes represents crude oil.

The first track on the album, "No W", features numerous satirical samples of George W Bush's speeches, particularly samples in which he spoke of his war on terror. This stance has divided fans uncomfortable with the overtly political content. Other fans counter that Ministry has always been quite a political band, who have on numerous occasions in the past made condemning statements regarding George H. W. Bush, the war on drugs and the 1991 Gulf War. These fans counter that music, an expression of an artist's views and feelings, is at times going to be unavoidably political and that condemning an artist's moral stance is akin to censorship. Though this approach garnered some new fans it also alienated many of the traditional Ministry fanbase who had followed the band since the 1980s and 1990s.

This was the first and so far only Ministry studio album to not chart on the Billboard 200. Due to slow sales, the band left Sanctuary.

"Houses of the Mole" is also noteworthy for being the first Ministry LP not to feature longtime collaborator Paul Barker since "Twitch" in 1986.

Track listing

All songs are written by Al Jourgensen.

#"No W" – 3:24
#"Waiting" – 5:02
#"Worthless" – 4:09
#"Wrong" – 4:54
#"Warp City" – 4:01
#"WTV" – 4:25
#"World" – 5:13
#"WKYJ" – 5:14
#"Worm" – 9:10

Hidden Tracks

23. "Psalm 23" (Jourgensen) – 5:41
69. "Walrus" (Jourgensen) – 2:45

"Psalm 23" is an alternate version of "No W" (minus the Carmina Burana samples) preceded by a mysterious rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner (source of the recording unknown) and featuring a furious, Slayer-style guitar solo at the conclusion. Later versions of "Houses of the Molé" do not feature the version of "No W" with the Carmina Burana samples. Instead, a version of "Psalm 23" with a shortened intro is included as the first track (and labelled as "No W"). "Psalm 23" is replaced by the track "Bloodlines". Also at the start of "No W", George Bush says "Song 23" which may have a connection to "Psalm 23".

Psalm 23 does not contain a 'W' in its' title, which may have some link to it being a version of 'No W', or that "W" is the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

Personnel

* Alain Jourgensen - vox, guitars, drums, bass, programming, keyboards, harmonica, slide guitar
* Mike Scaccia - guitar, bass, vox, keyboards
* Mark Baker - drums, vox, keyboards
* John Monte - bass, vox
* Max Brody - drums, keyboards
* Kol Marshall - keyboards, synthesizers
* Angie Jourgensen - vox

References

[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6196660/ministry?pageid=rs.Artistcage&pageregion=triple3&rnd=1121871070564&has-player=unknown Rolling Stone interview with Al Jourgensen]