Turns out Al Jourgensen really loved dipping into Ministry’s synth-pop past at least year’s Cruel World festival, because he’s revealed that his iconic act have re-recorded a bunch of early Eighties-era tracks for the masses. A redux collection arrives this spring under the name The Squirrely Years Revisited.
As previously reported, Jourgensen had made peace with his pop-tinged past last May at the Cruel World event in Pasadena, California, where he performed a number of tracks from Ministry’s 1983 debut LP With Sympathy and its 1986 follow-up, Twitch.
While the industrial-metal titan had mostly denounced the albums and his relationship with Arista Record over the past several decades, re-recording the songs were apparently a way to celebrate the early Ministry catalogue on his terms.
“Since I hated my early stuff for decades, I decided to take ownership of it and do it right,” he said in a new statement.
The Squirrely Years Revisited is being released as a 9-song LP (with 3 additional songs appearing on CD), and features fully re-recorded takes of tracks including “Everyday Is Halloween,” “Work for Love,” “I’m Not An Effigy,” and “I’ll Do Anything For You.” While none of the songs have been revealed just yet, music videos are said to be impending.
The album sees release March 28th through Cleopatra Records, and can be pre-ordered here.
Jourgensen and his current live band – John Bechdel (keyboards), Monte Pittman and Cesar Soto (guitars), Pepe Clarke Magaña (drums) and Paul D’Amour(bass) – will likewise be celebrating the Squirrelly Years on stage this spring, with a tour set to kick off April 29th at Phoenix, Arizona’s Van Buren venue.
The tour finds electronic and industrial vets Nitzer Ebb, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Die Krupps appearing on select dates. You’ll find a full breakdown of Ministry’s tour schedule, which also includes an appearance at Columbus, Ohio’s Sonic Temple festival, down below.
The Squirrely Years Revisited follows Ministry’s 2024 full-length, Hopiumforthemasses. Ministry have also been putting work into their “final” album, though the details on that release have yet to arrive in full.
The Squirrely Years Revisited tracklisting:
Work for Love
Here We Go
All Day
Everyday Is Halloween
Revenge
I’m Not an Effigy
I’m Falling
Same Old Madness
I’ll Do Anything for You
Just Like You [CD ONLY]
We Believe [CD ONLY]
Over The Shoulder [CD ONLY]
Ministry tour dates 2025:
4/29 Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren*
4/30 Albuquerque, NM – Revel*
5/2 Austin, TX – Emo’s*
5/3 Houston, TX – House of Blues*
5/4 Dallas, TX – Factory*
5/6 Atlanta, GA – The Eastern*
5/8 Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
5/9 Chicago, IL – Riviera*
5/10 Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral*
5/12 Baltimore, MD – Soundstage*
5/13 Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall+
5/14 Boston, MA – Roadrunner+
5/16 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount+
5/17 Montreal, QC – MTelus+
5/18 Toronto, ON – History+
5/20 Minneapolis, MN – Palace+
5/21 Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre+
5/23 Edmonton, AB – Midway Music Hall+
5/24 Calgary, AB – Palace Theatre+
5/26 Vancouver, BC – Commodore+
5/28 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo+
5/29 Spokane, WA – Spokane Live Casino+
5/31 Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom+
6/1 Salt Lake City, UT – Union+
6/3 San Francisco, CA – Warfield+
6/4 Los Angeles, CA – Palladium+
6/5 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues+
*with Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps
+with My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Die Krupps