N.W.O. (song)

"N.W.O." (New World Order) is a song by American rock band Ministry, released as the opening track and second single from their fifth studio album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992). An industrial metal song, it was co-written and co-produced by the band’s frontman Al Jourgensen and bassist Paul Barker, and is widely regarded as a protest against then-President George H. W. Bush, featuring samples from his speeches.[2] The song was nominated for a Grammy Award under the Best Metal Performance category in 1993,[3] and was featured in the soundtrack album of Ralph Bakshi’s 1992 film Cool World.[4] In 1994, the song was used in a Spin Magazine commercial which featured Jourgensen, among others.[5] In 2015, "N.W.O." was ranked #10 in the VH1 "Top 10 Hardest Hitting Heavy Metal Political Anthems" list.[6]

"N.W.O."
Single by Ministry
from the album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs
ReleasedJuly 1992
Recorded1991
GenreIndustrial metal[1]
Length5:31
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Hypo Luxa
  • Hermes Pan
Ministry singles chronology
"Jesus Built My Hotrod"
(1991)		 "N.W.O."
(1992)		 "Just One Fix"
(1993)
Music video
“N.W.O.” on Vimeo

The promotional single, featuring two mixes of "N.W.O." and a non-album instrumental track "Fucked", has been released around the same time with its parent album,[7] and topped out on the Billboard Modern Rock chart at no. 11.[8]

The music video for “N.W.O.” was directed by Peter Christopherson. The majority of the video is a mix of police beatings, riots, and gunfights. It also includes a scene in which a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty is beaten by police in a manner similar to the famous amateur video of Rodney King being beaten by police.[9][10] The video was featured on Beavis and Butt-Head along with another track from Psalm 69, "Just One Fix".

The song was featured in the video game Need for Speed: The Run.[11]

Samples

Samples from Apocalypse Now are included in this track: Dennis Hopper's character exclaiming "It's alright!" as the patrol boat is approaching the colonel's fort, as well as the siren that was used during the scene. There is also a loop of the guitar solo coming from a transistor radio in the grenade launcher's bunker.

Footage from the music video of the Octopus is from the Japanese film Space Amoeba. Footage of the turtle is from the film franchise Gamera.

Track listing
No.TitleCreditLength
1."N.W.O." (Album Edit)
4:40
2."Fucked"
5:06
3."N.W.O." (Extended Dance mix) 8:11

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the “N.W.O.” single, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs and Greatest Fits.[12]

References
  1. Rammstein on Fire: New Perspectives on the Music and Performances. McFarland. 2013. p. 61. ISBN 1476613052.
  2. Dimartino, Dave (July 31, 1992). "Music Review: 'Psalm 69'". Entertainment Weekly. No. 129. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  3. "Ministry Mainman Comments On Fifth Grammy Nomination". Blabbermouth.net. December 4, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  4. Mills, Ted. "Cool World [Original Soundtrack]". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. Serota, Maggie (March 28, 2018). "Here's a 1994 Commercial for Spin That Features Beck, the Breeders, and…Tony Bennett". Spin. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  6. McPadden, Mike (November 6, 2015). "The Top 10 Hardest Hitting Heavy Metal Political Anthems". VH1. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  7. Greene, Jo-Ann (April 2, 1993). "Ministry". Goldmine. Vol. 19 no. 7 (331). p. 40. ISSN 1055-2685 – via Prongs.org archive.
  8. Цалер, И. В. (2009). Популярная музыка XX века [Popular Music in the 20th Century] (in Russian). Moscow: Avanta Plus. p. 295. ISBN 978-5-4215-0027-8.
  9. Mühlmann, Wolf-Rüdiger (1999). Letzte Ausfahrt, Germania: ein Phänomen namens Neue Deutsche Härte (in German). I.P. Verlag. p. 47. ISBN 3-931624-12-9.
  10. Welker, Holly (2007). "The Rodney King Beating Trial: A Landmark for Reform". Crimes and Trials of the Century [2 volumes]. 2. ABC-Clio. p. 155. ISBN 1573569739 – via Google Books.
  11. "Need for Speed Soundtrack Announced!". needforspeed.com. Electronic Arts. November 7, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
    • "N.W.O." (CD booklet). Ministry. Sire Records. 1992. 9362-40514-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
    • ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (CD booklet). Ministry. Sire Records. 1992. 9 26727-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
    • Greatest Fits (liner notes). Ministry. Warner Bros. Records. 2001. 9 48115-2.CS1 maint: others (link)


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