Peter Steele’s favorite avenue for venting rage humbly started heavily rooted in the politically incorrect thrash band Carnivore, and it carried over to the new creation Type O Negative. This band emerged two sexist and over-the-top weirdness albums “Slow, Deep, and Hard” and canned live “Origin of the Feces” which offended quite a few individuals, but suddenly a major shift occurred with their masterpiece “Bloody Kisses” (1993). The album received both wide support from many different factions and the label Roadrunner Records, later the record become their first achieving gold and platinum. Their music elevated greatly from previous recordings with regard to incredible production values and songs, mixing crafty dark humor, and all of it assisting the excessive radio play.
Their opening track, “Machine Screw”, 30 seconds of what sounds like a woman having sex with a machine, before a solid and perhaps the genuine opening of “Christian Woman” has Peter Steele uttering a monotone before the music actual kicks thick into a gothic celebration, with poetic moments of sexual innuendos. The music switches from rock, to goth, and incorporates organ playing and Gregorian style chant. This all sets up the next track “Black #1” a song still popular today, and inclusion with Halloween, due to the lyric references to Nosferatu and Lily Munster, dying hair roots comical line, while Steele became a goth heartthrob to many teen girls at the time. The music in the track took note of The Addams Family theme with regard to a harpsichord and the snapping of fingers. The album contains three other short instrumental tracks aside from song 1, those “Fay Wray Come Out and Play” (reference to King Kong [1933])’; “Dark Side of the Womb”; “3.0.I.F.” as well as the controversial track number five. A wonderful cover of Seals & Crofts’ “Summer Breeze” returning to a melodic gothic sound delivered in Steele’s deep-voice and occasional growl. The track “We Hate Everyone” often misunderstood, as it first mentions how society compartmentalizes while discriminating and the music switches from punk to doom, to borderline pop and finally back to punk. By the tenth song the band reverts back to gothic themes once more with “Bloody Kisses (A Death in the Family)” as it deals with the topic of suicide.
Track Listing:
- Machine Screw
- Christian Woman
- Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)
- Fay Wray Come Out and Play
- Kill All the White People
- Summer Breeze [Seals and Crofts cover]
- Set Me on Fire
- Dark Side of The Womb
- We Hate Everyone
- Bloody Kisses (A Death in The Family)
- 3.0.I.F.
- Too Late: Frozen
- Blood and Fire
- Can’t Lose You
This album from Type O Negative, now celebrating its 25th anniversary the best arrangement and superior song writing, it all paved the way for the band to achieve much more with music varying over multiple genres and exploring different themed tracks. The cover at the time offended many conservative groups (also put-off by the gothic music and suicide themes), the theme was from Steele, who initially wanted something dark, but thought the lesbian image shared incredible qualities. Their music contains obvious influence from Danzig and Black Sabbath, and strive in other lasting songs, while this beloved album achieved several different releases, sadly though Peter Steele died on April 14, 2010.
Baron’s Rating: 4.5/5
Band’s Links:
https://www.facebook.com/typeonegative
https://twitter.com/typeonegative
Label’s Links:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/roadrunnerrecords