Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (Expanded) - Rocktober 2LP 180g Black Vinyl

The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste stands as one of Ministry’s most uncompromising statements — a brutal collision of industrial noise, thrash-metal guitars, and apocalyptic atmosphere that redefined what heavy music could sound like at the end of the 1980s. Originally released in 1989, it captured Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker at the height of their creative rage, crafting an album that felt like both a war machine and a political manifesto. The 2025 Rocktober expanded 2LP edition doesn’t just revisit that era; it amplifies it with remastered clarity and bonus tracks that remind listeners why this record remains essential.

From the opening salvo of “Thieves,” the record is pure confrontation — a metallic barrage laced with samples of political rhetoric, sirens, and distorted shouts. “Burning Inside” is a relentless, propulsive anthem that still sounds like a riot in motion, while “Breathe” and “Cannibal Song” dive deeper into paranoia and psychological decay. The sprawling “So What” is a masterpiece of industrial storytelling, a dark odyssey that fuses hypnotic repetition with searing aggression, laying the groundwork for the genre’s evolution into the 1990s.

The expanded edition’s final side offers a glimpse into Ministry’s club-driven, remix-heavy world, with extended 12” versions of “Burning Inside” and “Thieves” that push the songs into new, pounding shapes. The inclusion of “Smothered Hope” (originally a Skinny Puppy track Ministry covered in their early days) is a fitting reminder of the band’s deep ties to the industrial underground.

Presented on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl, this reissue delivers a sound as sharp and dangerous as it was in 1989, but with the added weight of history. The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is more than an album — it’s an experience of fury, chaos, and razor-edged intensity that helped cement Ministry as the godfathers of industrial metal. This expanded edition is not only a celebration of that legacy but also a warning: decades later, the record still burns with unholy fire.