Dark Side of the Spoon

Dark Side of the Spoon
Studio album by Ministry
Released	June 8, 1999 (1999-06-08)
Recorded	1998–1999
Genre	Industrial metal
Length	63:25
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Hypo Luxa, Hermes Pan
Ministry chronology
Filth Pig (1996) Dark Side of the Spoon (1999) Greatest Fits (2001)
Singles from Dark Side of the Spoon
"Supermanic Soul" Released: 1999 "Bad Blood" Released: September 17, 1999

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[2]
NME	6/10[3]
Q	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Dark Side of the Spoon is the seventh studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1999 through Warner Bros. Records. "Bad Blood" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2000.^[6]

Background

Dark Side of the Spoon features less aggressive songs than Ministry's previous albums, and frontman Al Jourgensen had intended it to be the case. He wanted to branch out from the "drug-infused" records of The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and Psalm 69 to a more "unfamiliar territory." As such, Jourgensen ranks Dark Side of the Spoon as his favourite 90's Ministry album.^[7]

There are two theories behind the title (which occurs in the lyrics of the opening track), the first being a simple play on words, referencing Pink Floyd's record The Dark Side of the Moon. The second is a reference to the blackened or dark side of a spoon when heated to dissolve heroin, as several members of the band suffered from long-term addiction to said substance at the time.

The album's cover, which features a naked fat woman sitting in front of a black board with "I will be god" written numerous times gained controversy and was banned from Kmart. The woman and the words on the blackboard were later airbrushed out.^[8]

The saxophone part of the song "10/10" is taken from the last 22 seconds of "Group Dancers" on the Charles Mingus album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Whip and Chain and Bad Blood feature vocals from Ty Coon, singer and Al Jourgensen's girlfriend at the time.^[9]

Track listing

1. "Supermanic Soul" (Jourgensen, Barker, Svitek, Washam, Hukic) - 3:13
2. "Whip and Chain" (Jourgensen, Barker, Coon, Svitek) - 4:23
3. "Bad Blood" (Jourgensen, Barker, Coon, Washam) - 4:59
4. "Eureka Pile" (Jourgensen, Barker, Svitek, Washam) - 6:22
5. "Step" (Jourgensen, Barker, Washam) - 4:06
6. "Nursing Home" (Jourgensen, Barker, Washam) - 7:02
7. "Kaif" (Jourgensen, Barker, Svitek, Washam) - 5:25
8. "Vex & Siolence" (Jourgensen, Barker, Svitek, Washam, Hukic) - 5:24
9. "10/10" (Jourgensen, Barker, Svitek, Washam) - 3:53
10. "Happy Dust" (Japanese bonus track) - 6:18
69. "Everybody (Summertime)" (hidden track) - 1:55

Hidden tracks

After the end of track 10, tracks of silence begin. There are 59 silent tracks on the album, totaling 10:26

11. Track 11 - 2:00
12. Track 12 - 3:00
13. Track 13 - 1:10
14. Track 14 - 0:13
15. Track 15 - 0:23
16. Tracks 16 - 68 are all approximately 4 seconds in length.

"Everybody" is track 69. Houses of the Molé, another Ministry album, features a hidden track called "Walrus" which is also track 69. According to BMI, track 69 is called "Summertime". Allmusic and the official website of the band refers to this track as "Everybody".

Personnel

Ministry

• Al Jourgensen – vocals (1-7), slide guitar, electronics, banjo (6), saxophone, production
• Paul Barker – bass, electronics, vocals (8), production
• Rey Washam – drums, electronics
• Louis Svitek – lead guitar, electronics
• Zlatko Hukic – rhythm guitar, electronics

Additional personnel

• Ty Coon – vocals (2, 3)
• Yvonne Gage – vocals (4)
• Jason Bacher – engineering
• Jeff Dehaven – engineering
• Bryan Kenny – engineering
• Esther Nevarez – engineering
• Brad Kopplin – engineering
• Tom Baker – mastering
• Paul Elledge – art direction, photography

Chart positions

References