Ministry's fourth album was their no-nonsense chuggernaut masterstroke, an iconic blast that's as easy to understand as its first four buzzgrindy seconds. The rapid-fire scattergunnery of "Thieves" is the "Smoke On The Water" of industrial metal, a memorable jackhammer riff that's the perfect blend of human muscle and machinelike chilliness: equal parts heft and precision. The rest of the album neatly falls in line as if responding to the barked orders from Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, lovingly sampled by Ministry from Full Metal Jacket. The band eschewed what little strobe-light goth-dance was left on 1988's The Land Of Rape And Honey, opting instead for nine songs of piston-like flog, propelled by man-machine drummer William Reiflin. Totemic four-note riffs were guitar armies marching into war, Al Jorgensen's bray-gargle is deformed into a near-incomprehensible blur, percussion includes only the most piercing clanks and clonks — ultimately, Taste became the new blueprint for industrial churn-'n'-chug, the meat-and-potatoes version of its sexier cousin, Pretty Hate Machine. Shockingly, these automaton death-march anthems had plenty of room for diversity: flurries of tribal drums fight for attention on "Breathe," terrifying dub flourishes haunt "So What," and a Boogie Down Productions-style rap turns "Test" into a rap-rock… read more »