Ministry's Dark Side of the Spoon hasn't been out for even a week and already it's creating controversy. The retail chain Kmart, citing what it deems offensive cover art, has decided not to stock the album in any of its locations.|

"We took a look at it and said it's not something that we normally carry," says Kmart spokesperson Dennis Wigent. Kmart specifically objects to the naked overweight woman seen wearing a dunce cap on the album cover. The same woman, shown only from behind and always naked, reappears on the back cover and three times on the jacket sleeve.

"I thought that people would probably be offended by it, but not to the degree that it would be offensive," says Ministry bassist Paul Barker. "I think it's really beautifully composed. It's just how we want to have the band represented for this record and the social satire involved in it. It's a highly developed concept and I think it was perfectly realized."

On the cover, the naked woman stands in front of a blackboard where the words "I will be god" are written over and over again. Barker says the band has no intention of using an alternate cover of Dark Side of the Spoon -- perhaps one with a clothed woman -- to conform to Kmart's standards. "The corpulence of it is part and parcel to the whole concept," Barker says. "So if the person were clad, you wouldn't necessarily notice."

Oddly, Wal-Mart, which normally follows a values system similar to that of Kmart, has decided to stock the album, though they haven't done so yet. "I think we're slated to get it next month," says Wal-Mart spokesperson John Bisio. "It's not a consideration to ban it."

Last week, both retail chains decided to yank Godsmack's self-titled debut under pressure from a Cleveland area parent who deemed lyrics on the album offensive. Neither chain will carry albums with parental advisory stickers, which Ministry's album doesn't carry. In Ministry's case, it's simply the nudity that has Kmart irked. "I suppose it's perfect that somebody finds offense in its self-mockery, so to speak," Barker says. "They're taking it hook, line and sinker."

BLAIR R. FISCHER(June 11-13, 1999)