Twitch | ||||
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Studio album by Ministry | ||||
Released | March 12, 1986 | |||
Recorded | 1985 at Southern Studios, London | |||
Genre | EBM | |||
Length |
45:41 (LP) 57:00 (CD) |
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Label |
Sire/Warner Bros. Records 25309 Radioactive (2003 re-release) |
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Producer | Adrian Sherwood, Alain Jourgensen | |||
Ministry chronology | ||||
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Singles from Twitch | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Robert Christgau | B- |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide |
Twitch is the second studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1986. The album stepped away from the pop-oriented form of their previous album With Sympathy and moved toward a darker, more aggressive sound in the form of EBM. Released by Sire Records, Jourgensen was granted more artistic control over the production than under Arista/BMG. Twitch was re-released in 1990 with two additional tracks.
Jourgensen was living in London at the time of recording, an experience that he intensely disliked because of the cultural differences. Jourgensen worked with producer Adrian Sherwood, whom he hired to teach him how to mix an album. In his autobiography, Jourgensen called Twitch "pussy shit" but credited Sherwood with giving the music an aggressive edge. The album was named after a drug called Wiz, which was prevalent in England and Jourgensen was addicted to it at the time.
"Over the Shoulder" was the only single from the album, with the accompanying music video directed by Storm Thorgerson. According to Jourgensen, Thorgerson hired two kids to steal a car, then filmed it. When the band asked to film in a store, the owner refused. Thorgerson allegedly paid the same kids to break into the store and trash it, and the band asked once again. The owner, needing money to pay for cleanup, agreed. Jourgensen said, "Everything that happened on that video was criminal."
Twitched, an unauthorized 2003 release by Radioactive Records, is a remastered version of Twitch, featuring the track listing that the band is said to have intended it to have before the intervention of the record company. It includes previously unreleased alternative versions of tracks from the album.
All tracks written by Alain Jourgensen.