Ministry – Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs
Album Review by Adam McCann
Label : Sire Records
Year : 1992
Connect the God Damn Dots!
Following the success of ‘The Land of Rape and Honey’ and ‘The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste’, Ministry continued their drug fuelled rampage with the seminal ‘Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs’. Industrial guru Al Jourgensen continued to write in his now famous politically cynical and nihilistic style as ‘Psalm 69…’ considerably pushed the boundaries as to what Jourgensen could accomplish at the time and the addition of Mike Scaccia as the guitarist proved to be a great boon for Ministry as his exceptional playing helped shape the sound of Ministry for future albums.
From the off, ‘Psalm 69…’ is a rollercoaster of an album, it never lets up and has the ability to pull the flesh from your face with tracks such as ‘N.W.O.’ and ‘TV II’ which stand as tall today as they did in 1992. However, it is the tracks ‘Just One Fix’ and ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod’ which propels ‘Psalm 69…’ into the stratosphere. ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod’ features the insane and drunk vocals of Gibby Haynes from Butthole Surfers whereas the formers mantra of: “never trust a junkie” paved the way bands such as Marilyn Manson and Rammstein who took what Ministry started and brought to a more mainstream audience.
The latter half of ‘Psalm 69…’ does tail off into a bit of an industrial headache at times, but is saved by the grinding and impressive beats of ‘Scare Crow’ which impressively hold tight for nearly nine minutes without feeling bored or unimpressed. A headfuckingly rhythm of the second half or not, ‘Psalm 69…’ provides the pinnacle of the success of Ministry and unfortunately, the remainder of the 90’s would be a bumpy ride for the band as internal tensions and drug problems escalated to tipping point.
Rating : 84/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
