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 | |||
| Length | 44:38 | |||
| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Hypo Luxa, Hermes Pan | |||
| Ministry chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Psalm 69 | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| Kerrang! |  |
| Q | |
| Robert Christgau | A- |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
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 (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.
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.
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.
The song "Jesus Built My Hotrod" features guest vocals by Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers. 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.
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 or "head" and ΞΘ or "69" (both slang in English for oral sex - but not the original ancient Greek words).
...
Wikipedia