The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Studio album by Ministry
Released	November 14, 1989
Recorded	1987–1989 at Chicago Trax Studios
Genre	Industrial metal
Length	50:18
Label	Sire/Warner Bros.
Producer	Hypo Luxa, Hermes Pan
Ministry chronology
The Land of Rape and Honey (1988) The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (1990)
Singles from The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
"Burning Inside" Released: November 7, 1989 "Thieves" Released: 1990 "So What" Released: 1990[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Metal Storm	[3]
Robert Christgau	B+[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is the fourth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1989 through Sire/Warner Bros. Records. The music took a more hardcore, aggressively guitar-driven direction. As with most of Ministry's work, the album's lyrics deal mainly with political corruption ("Thieves"); cultural violence ("So What"); environmental degradation, and nuclear war ("Breathe"); drug addiction ("Burning Inside"); and insanity ("Cannibal Song").

The album peaked at #163 in the US and was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units in December 1995.^[6][7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Thieves"	Alain Jourgensen, Paul Barker, Chris Connelly, Kevin Ogilvie	5:02
2.	"Burning Inside"	Jourgensen, Barker, William Rieflin, Connelly	5:20
3.	"Never Believe"	Jourgensen, Barker, Connelly	4:59
4.	"Cannibal Song"	Jourgensen, Barker, Connelly	6:10
5.	"Breathe"	Jourgensen, Barker, Rieflin, Connelly, Ogilvie	5:40
6.	"So What"	Jourgensen, Barker, Rieflin, Connelly	8:14
7.	"Test"	Jourgensen, Barker, Rieflin, K. Lite	6:04
8.	"Faith Collapsing"	Jourgensen, Barker, Rieflin	4:01
9.	"Dream Song"	Jourgensen, Barker	4:48

Samples

"Thieves"

• "Get up! Get on your feet!" "You will not kill!" "I can't hear you!" - dialogue from R. Lee Ermey's drill instructor character in Full Metal Jacket.

"Burning Inside"

• (Intro of warning horn and synthesizer tones) - John Carpenter's The Thing (klaxons) and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (original score).

"Cannibal Song"

• "The mind is a labyrinth." is from the film Hellraiser II.

"Breathe"

• "Opening musical sequence (first 30 seconds)" - taken from the film Cry Freedom.

"So What"

• The dialogue spoken during the song ("You have had all that money can give you", "Kill for a thrill", etc.) is from the judge's summing up at the end of the Ed Wood-scripted film The Violent Years.
• "Die!" and the laughter sample are from the film Scarface.

"Faith Collapsing"

• Features dialogue samples taken from the films 1984 ("There have been spontaneous demonstrations by party workers, voicing gratitude and joy") and Fahrenheit 451 ("The system will eat itself").

Chart positions

Album Year Chart Peak position 1989 The Billboard 200[6] 163

Singles Song Chart (1990) Peak position "Burning Inside" Hot Modern Rock Tracks 23

Personnel

Ministry

• Alien Jourgensen – vocals (1-3, 5, 6), guitars, programming, production
• Paul Barker – bass, programming, production

Additional personnel

• William Rieflin – drums, programming, background vocals (8)
• Mars Williams – saxophone (4)
• Chris Connelly – lead vocals (3, 4), background vocals (5, 6)
• The Grand Wizard (K. Lite) – vocals (7)
• Joe Kelly – background vocals (1)
• Kyle McKeough – background vocals (6)
• Jeff Ward – background vocals (5)
• Dave Ogilvie – background vocals (5, 8), engineer
• The Slogan God (Tommie Boyskee) – vocals (7)
• Bobbie DiBartollo – background vocals (8)
• Angela Lukacen – vocals (9)
• Keith Auerbach – engineer
• Jeff Newell – engineer
• "Dog" – cover design
• "Ill" – cover design
• Maura – cover design
• Tom Young – cover photos
• Tom Baker – mastering

References

1. "Ministry So What (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
2. van der Pol, Marc. "The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste - Ministry". AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
3. jupitreas. "Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste review". Metalstorm. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
4. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Ministry". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 20, 2010.
5. Brackett, Nathan. "Ministry". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004, p. 544. Cited March 20, 2010
6. "The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste - Ministry". Billboard.
7. "RIAA certifications". Recording Industry Association of America.