Rio Grande Blood Explained
Rio Grande Blood is the tenth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released in 2006. It is their first release through 13th Planet and Megaforce Records.
Overview
The album is the second installment in the band's anti-George W. Bush trilogy, preceded by 2004's Houses of the Molé and followed by 2007's The Last Sucker.
The title of the album is a parody of the 1972 ZZ Top album Rio Grande Mud.[1]
Just like Houses of the Molé, Rio Grande Blood contains very political lyrics, making frequent allusions to the George W. Bush administration. The second track makes an explicit reference to Bush as Señor Peligro, which translates to "Mr. Danger" in Spanish. Some of the issues raised include the then-current Iraq War, U.S. immigration policy and U.S. military policy (particularly the United States Marine Corps in the song "Gangreen"). The Halliburton corporation is also quoted and linked to the Bush administration.
The album also contains allegations of the Bush administration complicity in the September 11 attacks in the track "Lieslieslies," which contains audio samples from the conspiracy documentary series Loose Change. The song received a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards.[2]
A remix of the song "The Great Satan" from Rantology appears on this album. Along with "LiesLiesLies", "The Great Satan" was also nominated for a Grammy.[2]
Samples of genuine Bush soundbites are cut-and-pasted together at various points to satirical effect: for example, the title track begins with Bush stating "I have adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics and I'm a dangerous, dangerous man with dangerous, dangerous weapons."
The album was re-released in remixed form as Rio Grande Dub on July 10, 2007.
Jourgensen ranks Rio Grande Blood as his second favorite Ministry album saying that not only he liked the songs but he had a good time working with Paul Raven and Tommy Victor. He was also proud that some of the songs were used in the 2008 Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker.[3]
Personnel
Ministry
- Al Jourgensen - lead vocals, lead guitar (1), guitars (1–3, 5–10), bass (1, 6), keyboards (1–10), drum programming (1, 6), production
- Tommy Victor - guitars (2–5, 7–10), bass (2–4)
- Paul Raven - keyboards (2, 3, 10), backing vocals (2, 3), bass (5, 7–10), guitars (7, 9, 10) drum programming (7, 9), drums (10)
- Mark Baker - drums (2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
Additional personnel
- Isaias Martinez - Latin vocals (2)
- Freddie Macias - background vocals (2, 3)
- Sgt. Major - drill instructor vocals (3, 13)
- Bobby Torres - background vocals (3)
- Jim Ward - background vocals (3)
- Justin Leeah - drum programming (4), engineering
- Mike Scaccia - lead guitar (6)
- Jello Biafra - intro vocals (9)
- Liz Constantine - additional vocals (10)
- John Gray - engineering
- John Bilberry - assistant engineering
- Dave Donnelly - mastering
- Lawton Outlaw - art direction, design, layout
In popular culture
- The song "Palestina" is used in the skateboarding game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.
- The sound after the opening speech at the album's beginning is sampled from the track "Snagglepuss" by John Zorn.
- The song "Señor Peligro" is used in the video game .
- The song "Lieslieslies" is featured in the 2007 film Battle for Haditha.
- The songs "Lieslieslies" and "The Great Satan" are available as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band 2.
- The songs "Fear (Is Big Business)", "Palestina", and "Khyber Pass" were used in the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Hurt Locker.[4] [5]
Chart positions
Bibliography
Notes and References
- Book: Daniels, Neil. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers: A ZZ Top Guide. Soundcheck Books. 2014. 978-0-9571442-7-9. 177.
- Web site: Ministry Mainman Comments On Fifth Grammy Nomination. October 15, 2018. Blabbermouth.net. October 15, 2018. July 6, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180706163703/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ministry-mainman-comments-on-fifth-grammy-nomination/. live.
- Web site: Acharya . Kiran . Revolting Lots: Al Jourgensen's Favourite Ministry Albums . 3 . The Quietus . 6 June 2018 . May 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240527034310/https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/al-jourgensen-favourite-ministry-albums-interview/ . live .
- Book: O’Brien, Wesley J.. Music in American Combat Films: A Critical Study. McFarland. 2012. 978-0-7864-6343-5. 120–121, 127–129, 132. Heroes Without a Cause: Scoring Practice and the Devolution of Combat Film Heroism in the Wake of Vietnam.
- Web site: The Hurt Locker (2008) - Soundtracks. Internet Movie Database. June 30, 2018. December 26, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226105154/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/soundtrack. live.
- Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts. offiziellecharts.de. de. October 31, 2021. October 31, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211031051352/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-34551. live.
- Web site: Ministry Chart History (Billboard 200). Billboard. October 31, 2021. May 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240527034307/https://www.billboard.com/artist/ministry/chart-history/tlp/. live.
- Web site: Ministry Chart History (Independent Albums). Billboard. October 31, 2021. May 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240527034308/https://www.billboard.com/artist/ministry/chart-history/ind/. live.
- Web site: Ministry Chart History (Tastemakers Albums). Billboard. October 31, 2021. April 19, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220419193821/https://www.billboard.com/artist/ministry/chart-history/tas/. live.
- Web site: Ministry - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles. AllMusic. March 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305085110/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ministry-mn0000420133/awards. October 31, 2021.
