Friday 5: What Are Type O Negative’s 5 Starter Jams?
Happy Friday, MetalSucks reader! Welcome to MetalSucks Friday 5, our awesome series that appears every Friday (duh) on MetalSucks (duhh) and involves the quantity of five (duhhh).
Here’s how it works: A list of best/worst/weirdest/whatever five somethings is posted by one of your beloved MetalSucks contributors or by one of our buds (like you?). Then you, our cherished reader, checks it out, has a chuckle, then chimes in with a list of the same. No sweat, just whatever springs to mind, k? (Just like that movie about those losers working at a Chicago record store!) After all, it’s Friday — the day dedicated by the gods to mindless, fun time-wasting.
Today, let’s talk about where to start in an awesome band’s discography!
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THE FIVE
Your bud asks for your help getting into Type O Negative. What five jams do you start with?
THE LISTER
Anso DF, MetalSucks senior editor
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1. “Christian Woman”
from Bloody Kisses | Roadrunner
1993
The starting point for any would-be mega-fan of metal’s most human, lovable band: a sprawling, wry mini-play about (sigh) a nun’s raw lust for Jesus, its expression of her confused faith, and her deliverance via real, human wang. Both earnest and antagonistic, tender and carnal, spiritual and earthly, “Christian Woman” sums up Type O in nine glorious minutes. Best harmony vocals of all time??
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2. “Who Will Save The Sane?”
from World Coming Down | Roadrunner
1999
It was five years ago that Type O frontman Peter Steele passed away suddenly. And though his friends, bandmates, and family so very kindly spoke with me at length one year later, I’m still nagged by unknowns. Will his cause of death never be discussed? If not, how shall fans ever close the door on our grief? Will Type O’s massive achievements fade away with no widow or sponsors to flog their legacy? Truly, who will save those left behind?
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3. “Halloween In Heaven”
from Dead Again | SPV/Steamhammer
2007
Type O Negative’s most impressive songs may be their many lurching, marauding three-act epics, each buoyed by a half-dozen perfect melodies and anchored by pristine Sabbath/Beatles riffage. But Type O’s hails would be just slightly fainter if their albums instead were packed only with rippers like “I Don’t Wanna Be Me,” “Blood And Fire,” and “Halloween In Heaven” (above). Oh well, oh well.
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4. “Burnt Flowers Fallen”
from October Rust | Roadrunner
1996
Type O jams are rarely small in scope, yet their lyricist’s restraint counts as a key to their excellence: Steele might just list the dozens of fictional females who accompany him on his TV. He might reiterate his refusal of homosexual advances in 20 different ways. Or he might cling like a cracked-out teen to a single phrase (or two) for six minutes. Say a lot, say a little — Steele always said everything.
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5. “The Dream Is Dead”
from Life Is Killing Me | Roadrunner
2003
The final song on Type O’s most impressive album, “The Dream Is Dead” is yet another tale of heartbroken Peter, the big guy who expended tons of energy being nice to people — and who was regularly crushed to yield tiny returns on his investment. It’s like he wasn’t tough enough to suffer someone’s misplaced anger, so he substituted good deeds for true faith. Maybe he was a servant rather than a partner, the latter who’d shrug at his partner’s hang-ups instead of sweating to accommodate them like the former. Did he ever “next” a shitty girlfriend? Would he walk from a dead relationship or chalk it up as a problem to be solved? Were his fuck-yous really fuck-mes? Could he really not “believe things turned out this way”?
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Happy Friday! Your turn :)
