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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Ministry's Al Jourgensen announces the end of his iconic, industrial band. But first, one last album and tour
After wreaking havoc and dishing out dissonance since 1981 — evolving from its early synth-pop dance roots into the industrial thrash metal chaos it's best known for — Ministry's band leader Al Jourgensen is finally ready to call it quits. He's preparing to put an end to the band's relentless run of recording and touring — this time for good. But not before one last album and a final world tour, as 'Uncle Al' prepares to bring the band's legendary career to a close. Speaking on the phone from a tour stop in Canada, he discussed Ministry's current Squirrely Years Tour — a special run of shows that focuses exclusively on the band's first two albums, 'With Sympathy' and 'Twitch.' For the first time in decades, Jourgensen is performing early songs — largely steeped in synth-pop — which he once dismissed, now embracing the full arc of his career. The frontman opened up about reuniting with longtime collaborator Paul Barker, the band's final album, his disdain for violent mosh pits, and why he never read his autobiography. When did you decide to bring Ministry to an end? Was it a process or something more abrupt? Oh, it was a process. After 17 albums, I feel like we've pushed the boundaries as far as we could go with this band. I know I've got one more album left in me that'll stretch those limits even further. But I don't want to end up like one of those bands doing the same riffs for 40 or 50 years — it just gets old. This has been coming for a while. It's not tied to my past health issues; it's just time. After our final album comes out next year, we're doing one last world tour. Then that's it. I'm done. Time to let the kids take over. So you're stepping away from Ministry — but are you stepping away from music entirely? Not entirely. I'll still do film scores. I just did one for a documentary called 'Long Knife,' about the Koch brothers ripping off the Osage Nation. It's kind of a follow-up to 'Killers of the Flower Moon.' That kind of work still interests me. But being on a tour bus and constantly talking to people? I'm over that. How's your health now? I feel great. It's a gift to go out in good health and a clear frame of mind. At one point in the early 2000s, I didn't think I'd ever tour again. I had a ruptured artery in my stomach and was bleeding every day on the road. I just said, 'Nope, this isn't worth it.' But now we're wrapping everything up intentionally — bringing back people like Paul Barker, recording in old places, ending things right. You've said before that you hate mosh pits. What's the energy like on this tour, especially with the older material? Man, this tour is a psychedelic freakout. We're playing 40-plus-year-old songs, and somehow there's still a little bit of moshing happening — but not violent. It's cracking me up. These shows feel like a one-off trip into the past. People are just dancing and enjoying the moment. It's more like a weird, dark, electronic hippie dance party. I didn't expect to enjoy it this much. Is it a different mindset performing the early material versus the heavier Ministry songs? Oh, hell yeah. But the fans know what they're getting into. Nobody's screaming for the '90s metal stuff. It feels like stepping into a hot tub time machine. We've put real work into this setlist, and it's paid off. I'm genuinely enjoying it. Will your final tour represent the full scope of Ministry's career? Absolutely. It'll be a two- to three-hour career retrospective. We'll be covering every era — all 17 albums. We might even bring back two drummers like we did in the '80s. The final tour won't just be a greatest hits set — it'll be a curated journey, and maybe even feature some old friends. You've been open about your battles with addiction. How did that shape you? Like everyone, I've evolved. Twenty years ago, I was a different person. Now people call me 'Uncle Al,' and I like that. I've been through enough that fewer things bother me. And the things that do matter? I'm more focused on them than ever. I'm grateful for all of it, even the madness — it brought me to where I am now. Did music help you survive those darker times — or did it make them worse? Both. Some days, it saved me. Other days, being in the music business made me want to blow my head off. It's a double-edged sword. Ministry has always taken on injustice. Are you still fighting the good fight? That's the irony of this tour. With everything going on in the world, this felt like the right time to step back and let people remember what joy felt like. That said, the next album will be laser-focused. I haven't stopped speaking out — if anything, I've sharpened my aim. Is it true you never read your autobiography, 'Ministry: The Lost Gospels of Al Jourgensen?' Never read it. I didn't even write it. I told stories to a Rolling Stone writer over a gallon of vodka, and their legal team cleaned it up. They handed it back to me as a finished book. The first interview I did about it, they asked, 'Did you read it?' I said, 'Why should I?' Same thing with watching concert footage — I lived it. Why relive it? Do you think Wax Trax! Records and the early Midwest scene are overlooked in Ministry's legacy. Sometimes, yeah. But real musicians know how important that era was. Wax Trax! was its ecosystem. It's wild now seeing 14- to 18-year-old goth kids in the front row, right next to 50- and 60-year-olds who were there back in the day. That's the reward. What does the very final chapter of Ministry look like? The new record will be done by Christmas and out by June 2026. Then we'll hit the road for one last world tour starting next September. Every continent except Antarctica. One year. One final ride. Then it's over. And I'm good with that. Ministry's Squirrely Years Tour stops at the Hollywood Palladium on June 4, with support from Nitzer Ebb, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, and Die Krupps.
Auto Express
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Ford should bring back the Fiesta. Oh no it shouldn't!
The Ford Fiesta is as big a name as they come in the car world, particularly in the UK where the supermini was a perennial best seller for decades. Now it's dead, off sale and only available on the used car market but we've discovered that there's more than a flicker of interest within Ford in bringing it back. Advertisement - Article continues below The question is, should Ford reanimate its small car icon for the electric car age or would it do better to look to the future? Editor Paul Barker, and editor-at-large Phil McNamara, have differing views on the subject that they outline below but which side of the Fiesta fence are you on? Let us know in the comments... By Paul Barker, editor As someone who has spent a couple of years explaining why Ford was right to kill off the Fiesta, it's now entirely correct that I bang the drum for its return. Everything about this makes sense – if Ford can make money. Which was why the last one had to die; it wasn't bringing in enough cash to justify its existence. Nobody cans profitable projects, but producing millions of Fiesta simply to appease people who would be sad that it's not around any more isn't sound business. Sell as many cars as you like; if you're not making any money on them, it's pointless. But teaming up with Volkswagen makes sense; two traditional giants of the automotive world helping each other fight back against the invading forces of cheaper electric competition. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Stellantis has the economy of scale to produce small electric cars across multiple badges, and Dacia's stripped-back offering makes it easier to hit lower price points. But Ford, and to a lesser extent Volkswagen, require help to get the volumes to make the sums add up. Advertisement - Article continues below Ford also really needs some good news. It's missed the boat on everything from SUVs to EVs in the past decade or so, and the thought of it sitting watching from the side as brand after brand gets stuck into the sub-£25k electric car sector is a bit sad – especially if it's pointing to a £30k Puma Gen-E as a good enough entry point to its EV range. If Ford is going to flourish in the electric era, it needs real, credible mass-market cars that people will love. The Fiesta is one of those models that everyone has a memory of, a car that worms its way into daily life. Ford is in real danger of losing its place in the nation's heart, and unlike the controversial resurrection of the Capri, a sub-£25,000 electric Fiesta would be an appropriate return for an already much-missed nameplate. A partnership with VW is the only way I can see the company pulling it off, though. Without it, Ford's future line-up just looks a little bare. Make it happen! By Phil McNamara, editor-at-large Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The Fiesta has been Ford's latter-day Model T, the car that gave Europeans the freedom of mobility in the 1910s and '20s. To Britons, it's still hard to contemplate a market without the Fiesta, the best driving supermini bar none up until production ended in 2023. Advertisement - Article continues below I hail from Essex. My first girlfriend had a Mk2, her mum a fuel-injected XR2i. Even my mum's last car was a sixth-generation, burgundy red Fiesta. Ford was the go-to brand of my formative years. But I think bringing the Fiesta back could be a big mistake, and it all comes down to economies of scale. JATO Dynamics reckons Europeans bought two-million hatches in the 'supermini' B-segment last year – and 2.46-million B-SUVs. Not much more than a decade ago, there was no such thing as a B-SUV; no Nissan Juke or Ford Puma. So the market has splintered but competition remains intense: Volkswagen Polo, Renault Clio, Vauxhall Corsa, MINI, Peugeot 208, Toyota Yaris and so on. And while Stellantis, the Volkswagen Group and the Renault-Nissan Alliance can pool volume, Ford of Europe is on its own. Attempts to take the Fiesta global failed; too small for America, too costly for emerging markets. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below 'The Fiesta is too expensive for the rest of the world,' Ford CEO Jim Farley told me a year ago. 'To be successful, you either need a local government supporting you in the B-car business, or you need to have global scale. And if you have global scale, the centre of the market is not Europe. It's South America, Africa and the Middle East – and the cost base is half what it is in Europe.' Advertisement - Article continues below Could Ford get sufficient scale by partnering with Volkswagen Group? It's clearly being discussed, and VW would love to share the burden of the MEB-Entry architecture with Ford. But it's telling that stablemates SEAT, Skoda and Audi don't see a way to get involved in the project. And there's another huge blocker for Jim Farley. 'We're always open for business, we're working with Volkswagen [on the Explorer and Capri which use VW's MEB electric car platform]. But opportunities like this are more complex than meets the eye. 'Anyone who says we can all share is overlooking our industry's digital software complexity. One of my biggest bets as CEO is my platforms and that includes our electric architectures. There will be places where we work together like MEB. But in the future that will be harder, not easier.' Writing the software that delivers differentiated Ford features – like it's nailed with Ford Transit digital services that monitor vehicle health, driver behaviour and real-time tracking – becomes so much harder. And as the industry totally embraces Software Defined Vehicles, a compromised Fiesta just won't make an impact. So Ford should stick to its guns, and leave the supermini fray to budget supremos such as Dacia, and whizzy EVs like the forthcoming BYD Dolphin Surf – not to mention VW's own ID.2. Let Ford focus on its survival plan for the rest of the European passenger car market… Let us know your thoughts on the Ford Fiesta's potential return in the comments section below... View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta View Fiesta Find a car with the experts Ford Fiesta set to return? Icon could be reborn with a little help from Volkswagen Ford Fiesta set to return? Icon could be reborn with a little help from Volkswagen The Ford Fiesta could be coming back from the dead, and our exclusive image previews how it might look New Renault 4 2025 review: as good as the Renault 5 with the bonus of extra space New Renault 4 2025 review: as good as the Renault 5 with the bonus of extra space The new Renault 4 takes everything that's good about the Renault 5 and adds extra cabin and boot space Kia EV6 now cheaper than ever thanks to new entry-level model Kia EV6 now cheaper than ever thanks to new entry-level model The new Kia EV6 Air Standard Range can cover up to 265 miles on a single charge, and starts from just over £39k
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Drivers can escape £195 car tax hike by 'resetting their renewal date'
Drivers can avoid £195 fee by 'resetting their renewal' ahead of major car tax changes launching soon. Electric vehicles (EVs) will no longer be exempt from paying car tax from this April. Paul Barker, editor of Auto Express, explained that drivers do not need to wait until their current VED has expired before taxing their car for another year, allowing them to avoid the £195 fee for another year. If you buy a new EV after April 2025, you'll pay the lowest first year rate of vehicle tax of £10 - then from the second year onward, you'll pay £195 road tax. If your EV was registered between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2025, then you will pay the standard rate of road tax, which is £195 a year from April 2025. READ MORE: New driving licence change could allow thousands of drivers to skip taking UK test READ MORE: Drivers over age 70 warned over 'five documents' they must supply to DVLA READ MORE 68 per cent of drivers risk £5,000 fine at any point between March and May EVs, zero or low emission cars that were registered between March 1, 2001 and March 31, 2017, and emit up to 100g/km of CO2, will pay £20 a year from April. Car tax rates for some other vehicles will also rise, depending on how much CO2 they emit and the year they were manufactured. He added: "A foible of the system means owners can opt to reset their annual renewal date to this month, even if they've still got weeks or months of their existing car tax left to run. "Doing so will mean skipping the £195 standard charge for up to a full year, because anyone taxing an EV that was first registered after March 31, 2017, will be liable to pay VED at the standard rate from April." You can renew your road tax up to two months before it expires, so if you're able to do this before April, you can put off any increases until 2026. You'll need to enter your number plate online and the 11-digit reference number on your V5C log book.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
1.5 million drivers warned 'ignoring MOT issues compromising safety'
One in seven drivers are ignoring MOT advisories, including faulty lights, damaged suspension and worn tyres, according to new and exclusive data. Motoring experts at Auto Express surveyed 500 drivers. The data, from Auto Express' MOT checker service, found that 15% admitted ignoring MOT advisories. Given almost one in three (29%) of MOTs result in at least one advisory, that means that across the UK, more than 1.5million cars are driving around with potentially dangerous defects, the researchers said. The most common advisories are faulty lights and electrical equipment – they account for one in four (25%) of all defects - and almost a third (30%) of these faults, which include things like a failing battery or clouded headlights, are deemed 'major'. The next most common advisories concern the car's suspension system – these make up one in five (20%) but are only classed as 'major' 22% of the time. Next are problems with the car's brakes; these make up 16% of all advisories, and worryingly, 29% are categorised as 'dangerous'. READ MORE: Martin Lewis responds to worries cash ISA limit could be reduced to £4,000 READ MORE: The East London neighbourhood once dubbed 'the next Hackney' that's now 'terrible at night' While tyres only account for 13% of all advisories, where issues are present, they are generally of bigger concern than any other, with 60% of tyre-related advisories categorised as 'dangerous'. This means that there could be more than 116,00 cars driving in the UK with dangerously worn-down tyres, Auto Express said. Paul Barker, editor of Auto Express, said: 'The minimum tyre tread depth in the UK is 1.6mm and going below this can seriously compromise a car's ability to grip the road and/or slow down, so the fact that so many drivers are ignoring tyre-related advisories – the vast majority (60%) of which are categorised as 'dangerous' - is very concerning, as it means there could be more than 100,000 cars on the UK's roads with seriously worn tyres. 'While driving with an advisory is not illegal, they should not be ignored because they indicate issues that aren't serious enough to cause an MOT failure but could worsen over time. For example, low tread tyres, worn brake pads or slightly corroded components could compromise safety if they deteriorate further." But safety is not the only issue with ignoring an advisory; there are the financial impacts to consider too, as Paul explained: 'Minor issues can turn into major, expensive repairs if left unchecked. And, if the issue worsens, it could lead to an MOT failure next time around, potentially leaving you without a road-legal vehicle until repairs are made. "Plus, if you plan to sell the vehicle, buyers might be wary if they see recurring advisories in the MOT history, suggesting neglect. Our free MOT Checker can help you do just that – just enter your car's registration and you can check your car's MOT advisories, when its next MOT test is due – and set a reminder - quickly and easily.' Defect Overall % of Defects % categorised as 'major' % categorised as 'dangerous' Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 25% 30% 1% Suspension 20% 22% 5% Brakes 16% 14% 29% Tyres 13% 4% 60% Visibility 8% 10% 0% Body, chassis, structure 6% 7% 2% Noise, emissions and leaks 6% 7% 0% Steering 3% 4% 1% Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems 2% 2% 0% Identification of the vehicle 1% 1% 0% Road wheels 1% 1% 1% Auto Express said Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) data shows there were 34,714,326 MOTs across all vehicle classes for 2023-24. 28.58% had at least one advisory. That is 9,921,354 vehicles. 15% (those that ignore) of 9,921,354 is 1,488,203 13% (those with tyre defects) of 9,921,354 is 1,289,776 60% (dangerous) of 1,289,776 is 773866 15% (those that ignore) of 773866 is 116,080
