In late 1981, Jourgensen was living in Chicago and involved in its underground scene. He began to write and record songs in his apartment, using a newly bought ARP Omni synthesizer, a drum machine, and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. At one point, a demo tape featuring the song "I'm Falling" gained the attention of Wax Trax! Records label co-founder and co-owner Jim Nash. Impressed by the demo, Nash offered to record its material professionally and to assemble the touring band, which Jourgensen named Ministry. In Chicago-based Hedden West studios, Jourgensen, with co-producers Jay O'Roarke and Iain Burgess, recorded Ministry's first recording, a twelve-inch single featuring tracks "I'm Falling", "Primental" and "Cold Life". Simultaneously, Jourgensen assembled the band's first live line-up, the five-piece group including Jourgensen himself on vocals and guitar, bassist Martin Sorenson, keyboardists Robert Roberts and John Davis, and drummer Stephen George. Jourgensen and Roberts state that their mutual friend Paul Taylor had to perform in the original line-up, but, according to Jourgensen, refused after getting sick and proposed to invite Roberts instead. While touring the Midwest and the Northeast during 1982, Ministry received some commercial success with "Cold Life". Consequently, the band gained attention of Arista label executives, who chose to sign them. With Sympathy was recorded in autumn 1982 with producers Vince Ely and Ian Taylor at the Synchro Sound studios in Boston.
Critical reception
On release, With Sympathy received positive critical reviews. Rolling Stone noted that any lack of originality in the synth-pop concept was "hardly worth complaining about, because Ministry manages to do something many far more innovative bands neglect: they write catchy dance songs." The review further observed that Jourgensen's singing was "charged with anger, passion and glee–real emotions instead of the vocal posturing so common in synth-pop." The album also achieved commercial success, peaking at number 94 in the Billboard 200 and selling more than 100,000 copies in the United States by 2007. The album was promoted with three singles—"Work for Love", "I Wanted to Tell Her", and "Revenge"—and the three-month tour. A music video was made for the single "Revenge".
Retrospective impressions by Al Jourgensen
Following the tour's completion, Jourgensen's dissatisfaction over his record deal led the band to depart Arista in early 1984. Jourgensen later disowned the album, maintaining that he was pressured by Arista management into producing the album in the then-popular synthpop style, which is in contrast to the harder industrial and heavy metal sounds he developed afterward. He compared this experience to that with Milli Vanilli. He further elaborated that Arista prevented songs being featured on the album that were written in 1982, which would later be seen on the band's subsequent releases. However, there are reports of Jourgensen saying in the 1980s that when he discovered hardcore music, his musical direction simply changed, and the claimed pressure from Arista is not mentioned, a statement he repeated in the documentary film Industrial Accident: The Story ofWax Trax! Records. Additionally, video of local concerts that Ministry performed in Chicago a few years before to their signing with Arista show them playing synthpop and dressed in new wave and dark wave styles. Jourgensen assumes a false English accent for all of the songs, for which he also later expressed regret; however, his ex-wife Patty stated in a 2013 interview that it was a homage to bands he liked. Former keyboardist Robert Roberts refuted the claims that Jourgensen was forced by Arista to "make the record cheesy", saying that the finished product was simply watered down and didn't properly capture the band's live sound. In 2016, he has since made peace with the album saying that, "because of that record I wouldn’t be who I am today. I think without that record, I wouldn’t be as much of a fucking maniac douchebag. So I’m thankful for it now."
Reissue
After having been long out of print the album was reissued in 2012 by Eastworld Records, with three bonus tracks.
Track listing
"What He Say" was renamed "Do the Etawa" on the European release.
The European LP releases has the 7" remix of "I Wanted To Tell Her", instead of the US album version. All CD versions use the US album version.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of With Sympathy.
