Rio Grande Blood
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''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 Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (whe ...
.


Overview

The album is the second installment in the band's anti-
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
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 ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...
album '' Rio Grande Mud''. Just like ''Houses of the Molé'', ''Rio Grande Blood'' contains very political lyrics, making frequent allusions to the
George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...
. 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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...
, U.S. immigration policy and U.S. military policy (particularly the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
in the song "Gangreen"). The
Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest oil field service company. It has operations in more than 70 countries ...
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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in the track "Lieslieslies," which contains audio samples from the conspiracy documentary series ''
Loose Change ''Loose Change'' is a series of films released between 2005 and 2009 that argue in favor of certain conspiracy theories relating to the September 11 attacks. The films were written and directed by Dylan Avery and produced by Korey Rowe, Jason Be ...
''. The song received a nomination for
Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...
at the 49th Grammy Awards. 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. 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 The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winning film ''
The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film foll ...
''.


Track listing


Personnel


Ministry

*
Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is b ...
- lead vocals,
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...
(1),
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s (1-3, 5-10), bass (1, 6), keyboards (1-10),
drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...
(1, 6),
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
*
Tommy Victor Thomas M. Victor (born 1961/1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for heavy metal band Prong, which he founded in New York City in 1986, as well as the guitarist for ...
- guitars (2-5, 7-10), bass (2-4) * Paul Raven - keyboards (2, 3, 10),
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
(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 Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
*
Mike Scaccia Michael Ralph Scaccia (June 14, 1965 – December 22, 2012) was an American musician, best known as a guitarist for several heavy metal and alternative rock acts, including Rigor Mortis, Ministry and Revolting Cocks. Life and career Scaccia wa ...
- lead guitar (6) *
Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...
- 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 ''Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam'' is a skateboarding video game in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series. The game, named after the level "Downhill Jam" from ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', was published by Activision in 2006 as a timed Nintendo exclusive for the ...
''. *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 '' Scarface: The World Is Yours''. *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 The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning 2009 film ''
The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film foll ...
''.


Chart positions


References


Bibliography

* {{Authority control 2006 albums Albums produced by Al Jourgensen Megaforce Records albums Ministry (band) albums Cultural depictions of George W. Bush Obscenity controversies in music