Hot on the heels of Squirrely Years, last year’s deep dive into the early days of industrial superstars Ministry, Al Jourgensen’s youthful repertoire resurfaces once more with a supercharged remaster of “Dancing Alone,” a song that originally appeared in the band’s live set in the aftermath of their 1982 debut album With Sympathy. However, the song pointed towards the dancier, heavier sound Al & Co. developed on the Wax Trax label.
A straightforward live version, recorded in Chicago 1982, appears on Ministry’s 2015 Trax! box set of rarities and unreleased material, and again on the Chicago/Detroit 1982 compilation. Here, however, it has been brought solidly into the band’s future, a wild 177bpm electro stomp remixed by Die Krupps mastermind Jurgen Engler. In other words, the future starts here, even as the accompanying kaleidoscopic video transports you back to the early 80s club scene from which Ministry arose.