{"product_id":"ministry-work-for-love","title":"Ministry - Work For Love","description":"\u003ch6 class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLong before Ministry became a monument to industrial noise, Al Jourgensen was making sleek, romantic dance music. “Work For Love” captures that almost unrecognizable incarnation of the band at its most unabashedly infectious.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eReleased in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e1983 on Arista\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, “Work For Love” belongs to Ministry’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith Sympathy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e period, when the project occupied a very different corner of the musical landscape. Synthesizers, electronic percussion, funk-inflected bass, and polished pop production dominate, placing early Ministry alongside the new wave and synth-pop filling alternative dance floors at the beginning of the decade.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe song itself is an irresistible artifact of that era. A bright sequenced groove runs beneath Jourgensen’s theatrical vocal, while synth hooks and a surprisingly funky rhythmic foundation give the track a buoyancy almost unimaginable beside records like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Land of Rape and Honey\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e or \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePsalm 69\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Beneath the polished exterior, however, there are already hints of the rhythmic fixation that would remain central to Ministry even after nearly everything else about the band changed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Work For Love” also became one of Ministry’s earliest successes, reaching \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNo. 20 on Billboard’s Hot Dance\/Disco chart\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Its popularity was significant enough that the European edition of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith Sympathy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was retitled \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWork For Love\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, with the album’s running order rearranged around the single.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe extended format is particularly well suited to the track. Stretching the central groove beyond the album version allows the percussion, synth sequences, and production details more room to breathe, while the accompanying \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003edub treatment\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e dismantles the song further into its rhythmic components. Heard decades later, these versions reveal just how thoroughly Ministry began as a dance-music proposition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThat makes “Work For Love” more than an amusing pre-industrial curiosity. It documents the other extreme of one of alternative music’s most dramatic transformations. Within only a few years, Jourgensen would abandon this polished synth-pop almost entirely for the mechanical aggression of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTwitch\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and the industrial assault that followed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBright, synthetic, funky, and almost impossibly far removed from the Ministry most listeners know, “Work For Love” is a fascinating piece of the band’s earliest history and a genuinely excellent slice of early-’80s synth-pop in its own right.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ministry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47236241915958,"sku":"CP 726","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/2592\/7222\/files\/ministry-work-for-love.jpg?v=1792548159","url":"https:\/\/greycatrecords.com\/products\/ministry-work-for-love","provider":"Greycat Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}