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

ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, commonly known as Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs and simply referred to as Psalm 69, is the fifth studio album by American rock band Ministry, released by Sire and Warner Bros. Records on July 14, 1992. It was produced by the band's official members, frontman Al Jourgensen and bassist Paul Barker, and was recorded during fifteen months from March 1991 to early May 1992, in Chicago and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The album's title, initially intended to be The Tapes of Wrath, ended up being derived from Alister Crowley's The Book of Lies. With much anticipation for the album following the success of Ministry's previous studio album, The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, pressures on the band were said to be high, in addition to the growing substance abuse of several band members, as well as worsening relationships between them. It was also the first time that Mike Scaccia had been significantly involved in a Ministry album, after appearing on tours in support of The Mind....

An industrial metal record, Psalm 69 features elements of speed metal, rockabilly and psychobilly, with lyrics exploring with social, political and religious topics. Preceded by the first single, “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, the record was a major success, peaking at No. 27 in the main Billboard chart, and No. 33 in the UK Album Chart. On release, the album was supported with two more singles, “N.W.O.” and “Just One Fix”; the accompanying videos for these songs were both directed by Peter Christopherson, and the latter featured Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs. Following the release of the album Ministry joined to the second annual Lollapalooza tour, before commencing a tour through Europe and the US; “N.W.O.”, “Just One Fix” and the title track have become permanent features of the band's live setlist. Positively received by music critics, Psalm 69 is considered Ministry's most successful album; it has been certified gold in the US, Canada and Australia, and has been certified platinum in the US. “N.W.O.” was nominated for the Best Metal Performance at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards.

Background and recording
In March 1991, following the conclusion of the year-long tour in support of Revolting Cocks album Beers, Steers, and Queers, Al Jourgensen returned with his bandmates at Chicago Trax! studios, to work on Ministry's next major release. Jourgensen claimed that the record company Warner Bros. Records (to which Ministry were signed via their subsidiary, Sire Records) initially gave the band an enormous budget expecting The Mind...' follow-up to become a big hit compared with Michael Jackson's album Thriller; actually, Jourgensen, as he claimed in 2013, with his then-wife Patty (née Marsh) and guitarist Mike Scaccia spent most of budget on drugs, paying $1,000 per day. Meanwhile, the first Lollapalooza tour had arrived in Chicago in early August 1991. Jourgensen went backstage attending a show by the band Butthole Surfers. After the gig, he had invited Butthole Surfers' singer Gibby Haynes at Chicago Trax! to record what became the vocals and spoken word parts for the song “Jesus Built My Hotrod”. While finishing “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, Jourgensen was contacted by Sire/Warner Bros. executives, who asked if he had any completed material. Jourgensen sent them “Jesus Built My Hotrod” since it was the only song recorded by this time. While the label was not happy with just having “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, Jourgensen told them either to give another advance for further work or sign the band off. The label was doubtful if the band would record anything else, but decided to release “Jesus Built My Hotrod”; following its success, they gave the band necessary budget, with the condition that the band would eventually finish the record.

Besides drug problems, there was also growing animosity between the band's members, divided into two groups: while one group included Jourgensen and Scaccia, another—dubbed “the Book Club” by Jourgensen—included bassist Paul Barker, drummer Bill Rieflin and guest/live singer Chris Connelly. Jourgensen claimed that he and Scaccia added their parts separately from Barker, Rieflin and Connelly; once Jourgensen and Scaccia would come in, they erased about 80 percent of what the Book Club associates did.

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
"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". Psalm 69 was ranked #80 on the Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” list, with author Suzy Exposito concluding that "the result of the album was a manic drag race into a swampy hellmouth of thrash Americana – and it worked". Psalm 69 went platinum and peaked at Number 27 on the Billboard 200, allowing other industrial acts passage into the charts, including Marilyn Manson, Rammstein and Orgy". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing
All songs credited to Ministry, except noted. Writing credits taken from ASCAP and BMI databases.

Chart positions and certifications

 * Album


 * Singles


 * Music certifications

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the album.


 * Ministry
 * Al Jourgensen – vocals (all tracks, except “Jesus Built My Hotrod” and instrumentals), guitars, keyboards, production
 * Paul Barker – bass, programming, vocals, production


 * Additional musicians
 * Bill Rieflin – drums
 * Mike Scaccia – guitar
 * Louis Svitek – guitar
 * Michael Balch – keyboards, programming
 * Howie Beno – programming
 * Gibby Haynes – vocals and lyrics (on “Jesus Built My Hotrod”)


 * Production
 * Jeff "Critter" Newell – engineer
 * Paul Manno – engineer
 * Tom Baker – mastering
 * Paul Elledge – artwork
 * "Thirst" – artwork assistant