Houses of the Molé

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Houses of the Molé 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 It was also on the Need For Speed Underground 2 and Need For Speed Underground Rivals soundtrack. 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. One theory behind the "W" naming scheme is that this was inspired by George W Bush's middle initial. Some also speculate that it is in relation to an event occurring when Bill Clinton left the presidency, when White House bureaucrats were alleged to have taken the 'W' key off all of the keyboards before leaving their posts; a reference to Bush's father George Bush Sr, and therefore creating the name "No 'W'." 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. "No W" video is available as here or here.

Track listing

All songs by Jourgensen

1. "No W" – 3:24
2. "Waiting" – 5:02
3. "Worthless" – 4:09
4. "Wrong" – 4:54
5. "Warp City" – 4:01
6. "WTV" – 4:25
7. "World" – 5:13
8. "WKYJ" – 5:14
9. "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". Psalm 23 does not contain a 'W' in its' title, which may have some link to it being a version of 'No W'.

Personnel

• Alien 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

Rolling Stone interview with Al Jourgensen