Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs

ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ
Studio album by Ministry
Released	July 14, 1992
Recorded	1991–1992 at Chicago Trax Studios
Genre	Industrial metal, alternative metal[1]
Length	44:38
Label	Sire, Warner Bros.
Producer	Hypo Luxa, Hermes Pan
Ministry chronology
In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (1990) Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992) Box (1993)
Singles from Psalm 69
"Jesus Built My Hotrod" Released: November 7, 1991 "N.W.O." Released: July 1992 "Just One Fix" Released: January 21, 1993[2]

Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (or as simply referred to as Psalm 69) is the common title for the fifth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1992 on Sire Records. The actual title of the album is ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, which is made up of κεφαλή (kephalē), a Greek word meaning "head" (and by extension "heading" or "chapter"), and ΞΘ, the number 69 in Greek numerals. The title Psalm 69 is used for simplicity's sake. The album gave Ministry a more mainstream audience, with the track "Jesus Built My Hotrod" receiving major airplay on MTV and various other music stations. Psalm 69 also marked Ministry's first release with guitarist Mike Scaccia, who was recruited by band frontman and founder Al Jourgensen in 1989.^[3]

Video game composer Frank Klepacki cites Psalm 69 album as a primary influence in creating the iconic Industrial soundtrack in 1995's Command & Conquer video game.^[4]

History

The record company Sire gave the band $750,000 to make the album; frontman Al Jourgensen and guitarist Mike Scaccia spent almost $1,000 a day of the money on drugs.^[5][6]

The song "Jesus Built My Hotrod" features guest vocals by Gibby Haynes from the Butthole Surfers.^[7] Jourgensen explained the process of collaborating with Haynes during the recording process:

Gibby came down completely drunk off his ass to the studio we're at in Chicago. He couldn't even sit on a stool, let alone sing. I mean, he was wasted. He fell off the stool about ten times during the recording of that vocal. He made no sense and it was just gibberish. So I spent two weeks editing tape of what he did.^[8]

Etymology

The title of the album is directly linked to chapter 69 of The Book of Lies, a written work of Aleister Crowley, where he uses the expression "The way to succeed and the way to suck eggs" as a pun for the 69 sex position ("suck seed" and "suck eggs"). Moreover, Crowley titled the chapter ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, Greek κεφαλη or "head" and ΞΘ or "69" (both slang in English for oral sex - but not the original ancient Greek words).

Subsequent to the album's release, Ministry put multiple references to the number 69 in future albums. For example, the albums Dark Side of the Spoon and Houses of the Molé both had hidden tracks with a track number of 69.

Reception and awards

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[10]
Kerrang!	[11]
Q	[12]
Robert Christgau	A-[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]

"N.W.O." was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1993, but lost to Nine Inch Nails' "Wish".^[15]

Track listing

Samples^[16]

"N.W.O."

• "All right! It's all right!" - The Freelance Photographer (played by Dennis Hopper, Apocalypse Now)
• "What we are looking at is good and evil, right and wrong." "A new world order!" "We're not about to make that same mistake twice." - President George H. W. Bush
• Also worth noting, towards the end of the song, there is a guitar riff, by Randy Hansen, which is a looped sample from a transistor radio in the film Apocalypse Now.

Additional samples of Bush saying "God bless America! [croud sheering]", "Wait... Watch and learn.", and "I believe in freedom", and Joseph McCarthy saying "I'm not setting myself above any law", appear on the extended dance mix from the single release.

"Just One Fix"

• "Give me that thorazine, man... " - The Trip
• "Jesus Wept." - Hellraiser
• "Noooooooo!" - Hellbound: Hellraiser II
• "Never trust a junkie." - Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb) from Sid and Nancy
• "I wanna fix! Gimme a fix!" "Just one fix!" - Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) from The Man with the Golden Arm
• Closer to the end of the song you can clearly hear the passage from Slayer's "South of Heaven"

"TV II"

• "Doesn't know a good thing when he..." - The Betsy

"Hero"

• Contains many samples from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon series.

"Jesus Built My Hotrod"

All the samples used in "Jesus Built My Hotrod" appear on the Redline/Whiteline version from the single release, not on the album version.

• "Let's hit... the fuc'...kin' road!" - Blue Velvet
• [Tires squealing] - Blue Velvet
• "Nobody with a good car needs to worry about nothin', do you understand?" - Wise Blood
• "Nobody with a good car needs to be justified." - Wise Blood
• "I come a long way since I believed in anything, and I come halfway around the world." - Wise Blood
• "What are you talking about? Where you came from is gone, where you thought you were going to weren't never there, and where you are ain't no good unless you can get away from it...." - Wise Blood

"Scarecrow"

• Wailing noise from Exorcist III (audible at 4:35)

"Psalm 69"

• "I feel like my heart is being touched by Christ" - Altered States
• "Liar! Blasphemer!" - The Pit and the Pendulum
• "STOP IT!" - Suspiria

"Corrosion"

• "Fight, fight!" "[screaming]" - The Abyss

"Grace"

• "Armageddon", "Doomsday", "The final battle", "Apocalypse", "[screaming]" - Armageddon

Singles

• "Jesus Built My Hotrod" was released in 1991 on 12", cassette and CD, featuring "Jesus Built My Hotrod (Redline/Whiteline Version)", "Jesus Built My Hotrod (Short, Pussillanimous, So-They-Can-Fit-More-Commercials-On-The-Radio Edit)", and "TV Song", and on 7", omitting "Jesus Built My Hotrod (Redline/Whiteline Version)"
• "N.W.O." was released in 1992 on 12" and CD, featuring "N.W.O. (Extended Dance Mix)", "Fucked", and "N.W.O."
• "Just One Fix" was released in 1993 on 12" and CD, featuring "Just One Fix (12" Edit)", "Quick Fix" (a remix of "Just One Fix") and "Just one Fix (Video Edit)"

Chart positions and certifications

Music certifications

Personnel

Ministry

• Al Jourgensen – Vocals (1-4, 6, 7), Guitars, Keyboards, Production
• Paul Barker – Bass, Programming, Vocals, Production
• William Rieflin – drums (1-7)
• Mike Scaccia – guitar
• Louis Svitek – guitar
• Michael Balch – keyboards, programming

Additional personnel

• Howie Beno – programming
• Gibby Haynes – vocals (5)
• Jeff "Critter" Newell – engineer
• Paul Manno – engineer
• Paul Elledge – art & design

References