Song · Ministry
“N.W.O.” by Ministry
From the album ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (1992)
“N.W.O.” by Ministry appears on 20 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1992 and 2024. It was first released in 1992 on the album ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ. Its best result is #13 on the CFNY Top 102 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #27 alternative song of 1992, #2,209 alternative song of all time and #480 of the '90s.
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"N.W.O." kicks off Ministry's 1992 album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs, and it hits like a riot squad coming through the door. Al Jourgensen and bassist Paul Barker wrote and produced it together, bolting machine-gun guitars to a pounding industrial grind, and the target is George H. W. Bush, whose own speeches are sampled and chopped into the mix until his "new world order" sounds like a threat.
Sire sent it out as the album's second single, it climbed to 11 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, and it drew a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1993. Peter Christopherson's video, a barrage of police beatings, riots and gunfire, made it onto Beavis and Butt-Head, and the song turned up on the soundtrack to Ralph Bakshi's Cool World.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 65 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 | 107 |
| 1992 | 17 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 | 91 |
| 1992 | 20 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992 | 105 |
| 1992 | 65 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 | 101 |
| 1992 | 93 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 | 100 |
| 1992 | 13 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 102 Songs of 1992 | 102 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 285 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) | 497 |
| 1994 | 79 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
| 1995 | 230 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) | 500 |
| 1999 | 894 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 363 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 594 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2001 | 463 | WBRU | WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) | 500 |
| 2002 | 908 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1841 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 181 | Q101 | Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) | 300 |
| 2006 | 388 | Live 105 | Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2007 | 479 | KROQ | KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) | 500 |
| 2023 | 790 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2024 | 265 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
Also listed as: N.w.o..
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