Critical Soundbites So Far…
(2005, Liquor & Poker Music)
STUFF "an unapologetically down and dirty rock band." –Paul Semel (10/05)
REVOLVER "thoroughly badass…Their Rock Is Not Our Rock should make a dynamite stocking-stuffer for that tattooed biker uncle on your Christmas list." –Dan Epstein (12/05)
LA WEEKLY “The metal that riffeth, that roareth, that passeth understanding. These devils breathe with such steady power, they must even snore rock. Full-range songwriting makes for a headbang that hangs on.“ –Greg Burk (10/05)
GUITAR WORLD "Like a cross between AC/DC, Queens of the Stone Age and Mountain, L.A.'s Fireball Ministry are pointedly rock, bluesy and psychedelic, but the band is engagingly subdued while bringing the noise. Guitarists Rev. James A. Rota II and Emily J. Burton down-tune and play simply and slowly, with tracks like ‘Hellspeak’ and ‘Sundown’ revealing their earthy, Malcolm Young-inspired riffs. The turgid stoner-rock production of Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, QOTSA) adds to the authentic old-school soupiness, while Rota's smooth vocal tenor acts as a foil to the band's plodding heft." –Martin Popoff (12/05)
BILLBOARD "From Los Angeles by way of Cincinnati, Fireball Ministry's third album is more of the same for them–and thank God for that. The quartet's melodic, bluesy hard rock fits like a broken-in denim jacket." –Bram Teitelman, (11/05)
FHM "Like Motorhead high-fiving Black Sabbath at a biker orgy." –Sam Barclay, (11/05)
METAL MANIACS “For those about to Rawk (with a capital R), Fireball Ministry salutes you with 10 dirty jams on Their Rock Is Not Our Rock. [The album] gives a big, fat double-finger salute to corporate radio rock focused on hit singles. You could call the roguish and ruffian Fireball Ministry an “album rock band,” which means they’re the kind of band who makes whole records that require entire listens.” –Amy Sciarretto, (10/05)
ALL MUSIC GUIDE "[On Their Rock Is Not Out Rock] Fireball Ministry offer another helping of part stoner, part biker metal… In this day and age, any group that sticks to their guns and doesn't give in to the mainstream should be commended, and Fireball Ministry refuse to buckle. The group made a conscious 'epic' effort in the songwriting department, as several tracks stretch past five minutes in length-case in point, one of the album's strongest tracks, the moody 'Hellspeak.'" -Greg Prato (9/05)
(Nuclear Blast Records, 2003)
ALTERNATIVE PRESS “Fluid bass lines and unpretentious percussion…Fireball Ministry’s authenticity and songwriting trumps the band’s more prevalent peers without breaking a sweat.” –Brian O’Neill, (1/04)
KERRANG! “Chock full of languorous, hypnotic grooves, the band have hit upon something very special here, an irresistible mix of blues, grunge and just balls out rock that places them somewhere between Nebula and Soundgarden. If you're looking for thrashy riffs and hyperspeed drums then don't even bother pressing 'play' – this never gets anywhere near approaching 'double time', instead rolling along nicely at it's own pace…” –Nick Ruskell, (11/03)
ROLLING STONE.COM “At times very melodic and almost peppy, Fireball Ministry’s musical fortunes eventually turn to show a dark side. They drag their instruments through sludge, tune down and change their vocals to a low growl.” –(11/03)
OUTBURN “Carrying the torch for the future of rock n’ roll, Fireball Ministry tear pages from rock history’s past by evoking images of the dirty fuzzed-out sound of Black Sabbath mixed with the punk metal-edge of Motorhead, the party atmospherics of Andrew W.K., the street rock flair of Circus of Power, all topped with a distinctive 80’s era Ozzy Osbourne vocal delivery.”–Joseph Graham, (10/03)
HIT PARADER “Determined to unleash all of the pent up energies of the heavy metal from, past, present and future, Fireball Ministry seem assured to lead the charge up the hard rock mountain with a sound that has drawn comparisons to everyone from Grand Funk Railroad to Motorhead to Black Sabbath.” –Jonathan Norman, (6/04)
AQUARIAN WEEKLY “…when something is this huge it can’t be denied. The truth is here. You gonna be a believer or a follower?”–Adrian Glover, (9/03, A+ CD review)
OU EST LA ROCK?
(1999, Bong Load)
LA WEEKLY “The Fireball Ministry sound is dry, heavy and stripped-down brutal enough to match modern metal mutants like Queens of the Stone Age
–Quentin Haskins, (9/01)
INK 19 “Part deep-as-purple whiskey-doom, part atomic boogie-rock, part post-Soundgarden…” –Nathan T. Birk, (9/99)
ALL MUSIC GUIDE “Fireball Ministry's debut album, Ou Est la Rock?, is an enjoyable synthesis of grungy alternative rock and classic hard rock, the latter especially apparent in the resemblance of the vocals and some of the melodies to mid-'80s Ozzy Osbourne.” –Steve Huey, (9/99)
http://