Exterminate! (song)

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "Former Madonna backing singer steps into the spotlight as the German act's new (at least for the moment) front woman. Electronic hip hop beats are doused with ambient sound effects, while Haris offers an appropriately ominous and forceful vocal. Not as radio-friendly as the previous 'Rhythm Is a Dancer', but a savvy club entry that should glide onto playlists."^[3] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said, "Its chart success so far is somewhat of a surprise being, aside from the one vocal line, almost an instrumental and certainly with little of the quirky appeal of the earlier singles."^[4] Sharon O'Connell from Melody Maker felt it's "full of latent power but just sitting on the launch pad."^[5]

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote that it "might not be as accessible on first hearing, but it's actually a killer dance song which chokes you with its chorus with built-in snappy piano riff."^[6] A reviewer from Music Week stated, "The trance-like tune builds and builds from a five note riff, while new vocalist Niki Harris manages to fill in some soulful wailing as well as the Dalek's catchphrase. The song hasn't got the same killer pop chorus as 'Rhythm Is a Dancer', but its sheer simplicity will win the day."^[2] Barbara Ellen from NME commented, "After what seemed like an interminable long and shaky period post 'The Power', Snap seem to have rediscovered their dancing feet recently, first with 'Rhythm Is a Dancer' and now this upfront, arrestingly sterile disco diversion."^[1] Mark Sutherland from Smash Hits gave the song three out of five, noting that it didn't feature Turbo B.^[7]

"Exterminate!" peaked at number one in both Finland and Spain.^[8][9] The single entered the top five in Belgium,^[10] Denmark,^[11] Germany,^[12] Greece,^[13] Ireland,^[14] Italy,^[15] the Netherlands,^[16] Sweden,^[17] Switzerland,^[18] and the United Kingdom. In Greece, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK, the song peaked at number two. In the UK, the song peaked during its second week on the UK Singles Chart, on 10 January 1993, and stayed there for three weeks.^[19] In Germany, it peaked at number five and spent a total of 23 weeks within the top 100. "Exterminate!" also was a top-10 hit in Austria, Norway and Portugal.^[20][21][13] The single entered the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 70 on 9 January after charting in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands.^[22] It peaked at number two six weeks later, on 13 February,^[23] while on the European Dance Radio Chart, it reached number four in early March 1993.^[24]

Elsewhere, "Exterminate!" charted in North America, peaking at number two on Canada's RPM Dance chart and number 29 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.^[25][26] In Africa, it peaked at number six in Zimbabwe,^[27] while in Oceania, the song reached numbers 25 and 50 in New Zealand and Australia, respectively.^[28][29] In Germany, the single was awarded with a gold record after 250,000 units were shipped.

The accompanying music video for "Exterminate!" was directed by Angel Gracia,^[30][31] who had previously directed the video for "Colour of Love". This was the first video that Durron Butler (Turbo B) does not appear. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe in January 1993.^[32]