Houses of the Molé

Houses of the Molé, the 1st part of Ministry’s Anti George W. Bush Trilogy (Also Including, 2006’s Rio Grande Blood and 2007’s The Last Sucker ) is the ninth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry. All songs start or contain the letter “W” in their title. The album was released on June 21, 2004 internationally and a day later in the United States through Sanctuary.

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 album Houses of the Molé was released in the run up to the 2004 United States of America presidential elections and it is an intensely political album, with quite a few of its songs highly critical of George W. Bush, president of the United States of America at the time of its release.

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 political stance has divided fans uncomfortable with the 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 the President’s father, 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.

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

‘Houses of the Mole’ is also noteworthy for being the first Ministry LP not to feature longtime collaborator Paul Barker since ‘Twitch’ (1986). The musical direction of Ministry subsequently changed towards a more speed metal, overtly politically motivated orientation. 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.

Track listing

1. "No W" – 3:24 (Al Jourgensen)
2. "Waiting" – 5:02 (Al Jourgensen, Max Brody, Mike Scaccia)
3. "Worthless" – 4:09 (Al Jourgensen, John Monte, Mark Baker)
4. "Wrong" – 4:54 (Al Jourgensen, Max Brody, Mike Scaccia, John Monte, Mark Baker)
5. "Warp City" – 4:01 (Al Jourgensen, John Monte, Mark Baker)
6. "WTV" – 4:25 (Al Jourgensen, Mike Scaccia, Max Brody)
7. "World" – 5:13 (Al Jourgensen, Max Brody)
8. "WKYJ" – 5:14 (Al Jourgensen, Max Brody, Kol Marshall, Turn Vanblarcum)
9. "Worm" – 9:11 (Al Jourgensen, Mike Scaccia, Kol Marshall)
23. "Psalm 23" – 5:41 (Al Jourgensen)
69. "Walrus" – 2:43 (Al Jourgensen)

Notes

Tracks 10 - 22 and 24 - 68 are silent, one-second tracks.

The song "Worm" ends at 8:11 and is followed by a minute of silence, adding on to the eventual silence leading to "Psalm 23". Jourgensen wanted the length of the last song listed on the CD to be 9:11 for obvious reasons. The same idea occurred again at the end of "Psalm 23." The song itself is 4:41 and followed by a minute of silence adding to the silence leading up to track 69, "Walrus." Cutting "Walrus" in half, making it 1:23, is the actual, raw length of the song. It is simply reveresed at the exact midway point of the song, doubling the track length.

"Psalm 23" is an alternate version of "No W" (minus the Carmina Burana samples) preceded by a mysterious, poorly recorded rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. The source of the recording is unknown but is possible to be from a sporting event of some sort. It features 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".

One of the samples contained at the start of "No W", George Bush says "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

Ministry

• Alien Jourgensen - vox, guitars (1-4, 8, 9) , bass (1, 7, 8), programming, slide guitar (5), harmonica (9)
• Mike Scaccia - guitars, bass (2, 6, 9), background vox (5, 9)
• Max Brody - programming (2, 6, 7, 9) drums (8), saxophone (9), background vox (9)
• John Monte - bass (3-5), background vox (5)
• Mark Baker - drums (3-5), percussion (3), background vox (5)

Additional Personnel

• Angie Jourgensen - background vox (5, 9)
• Odin Myers - background vox (5)
• Carl Wayne - background vox (5)
• Kol Marshall - B3 organ (8, 9)
• Turner Vanblarcum - DJ scratches (8)
• Rey Washam - drums (uncredited, possibly tracks 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9)