This is a public service announcement.
Yesterday was the first anniversary of the death of Peter Steele, the frontman for Type O Negative. I am not feeling especially sad about the death of Mr. Steele. I am not happy about it either. I’m just indifferent, because (a) I did not know him personally; (b) I have never spent the time necessary to explore and learn to love the music of Type O Negative. I bought the band’s final studio album, Dead Again, when it came out in 2007, and it simply didn’t vibrate my tuning fork to the right frequency, so there I stopped.
HOWEVER, I am aware that many people genuflect before framed photographs of Peter Steele and remain heart-broken over his passing. Therefore, I am sharing this news because I try not to allow my own personal interests in music to dictate EVERY LAST FUCKING THING WE DO ON THIS SITE — merely 99% of what we do on this site.
The news is that MetalUnderground has organized a compilation of Type O Negative songs performed by other bands, as a tribute to Peter Steele, and made it available for purchase beginning yesterday, the anniversary of his death. Lest you think this was just a rank effort to make a buck off of the helpless teariness of Peter Steele fans, MetalUnderground states that the $3 it’s charging for this 12-track comp “covers the costs of the mechanical license and the transaction fees” and that “Metalunderground.com will be donating any leftover profits to charity.”
You can’t argue with that. So, I bought the comp, because I was curious. So far, I’ve listened to one song because I like the band who played it — A Band of Orcs. It was worth the $3, and I’ve got 11 tracks to go. Check out the track list and hear the Orcs after the jump . . .
First, here’s the track list:
1. Auvernia – “I Don’t Wanna Be Me”
2. Fairytale Abuse – “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)”
3. Stabbingback – “Halloween in Heaven”
4. Emancer – “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”
5. Dead Shape Figure – “Dead Again”
6. Enthrope – “Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)”
7. Dark Hound – “Life is Killing Me”
8. A Band of Orcs – “Green Man”
9. In.Verno – “Everything Dies”
10. Blind Greed – “Christian Woman”
11. Revilement – “Sex and Violence”
12. Autumns Eyes – “Love You To Death”
Second, here is the link that will take you to the page where you can buy the comp.
Third, here is A Band of Orcs‘ cover of “Green Man”. It is a rank piece of flesh-eating evil:
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/08-Green-Man.mp3|titles=A Band of Orcs: Green Man]Fourth, you may now feel free to explain why I was a dick for not liking Dead Again four years ago and why I should invest the time necessary to explore the entire Type O Negative discography without any further fucking around.
Fifth, enjoy the rest of your fucking day.
UPDATE: Sixth, in the comments below, .jh gave us a link to a professionally filmed video of Peter Steele’s band Carnivore playing “Sex and Violence” live at Wacken in 2006, and it is just too fucking awesome not to include right here. So, here it is — a great song and a great performance, which would be worth watching even without the appearance of the topless female assistants and their water guns, though that’s certainly a plus!
Type O Negative was the metal band I listened to before I listened to metal. They are (were) an excellent crossover band, because they are very nearly radio friendly, but they also have some heft in their step.
That said, I haven’t listened to them in years….so I don’t think it’s all that odd for fans of more extreme metal to be disinterested in Type O.
That said, they were good for their humor and their deep vocals and gothic metalness. Like Paradise Lost’s early albums, but with a sly grin, I guess.
Paradise Lost is another band I didn’t get into — back in the day when I’d listen to a few songs from a band and then, on that basis alone, either write them off and move on, or dig deeper. I guess most people still do that — there’s just not enough time, and there’s too much music out there, to do more than make quick judgments. Lately, I’ve been giving a second chance to bands I wrote off earlier. Tastes change, and I’m “discovering” bands that have been around a while that now sound good to me. But I still haven’t done that with T-O-N or Paradise Lost.
I always had a soft spot for TON, they were a decent rock / metal band. That said I got into them early and I think if it was a band I had run into later in life I wouldn’t have gotten into. Now a days I rarely listen to them but it does happen. I always liked Peter’s first band Carnivore a lot more, I mean how can you just not a love an old trash band with such hits as “Sex & Violence” and “Jesus Hitler” 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FREjf_E5dA
(live at Wacken 2006 – I was at this show, it was fucking awesome)
oh towards the end of that video there are some tits, so probably NSFW
Damn! Great recommendation. Check the update to the original post. 🙂
Oh, and I was clearly wrong in saying that this tribute album is just Type O Negative songs, since it includes a cover of “Sex and Violence”.
That was a sweet cover tune. I bought Type O’s Bloody Kisses back when it first came out and it remains my personal favorite of theirs. Christian Woman, Black No. 1, We Hate Everyone, Blood and Fire and their take on Summer Breeze, how can you not love those songs?
green man is my favourite song from type 0, and ive got nothing against A Band of Orcs, but they just butchered the original one, well its a cover and kudos for making it sound very diferent from the original, but man i dont like it at all, perhaps because its a cover of a beloved song i dont know.
i was listening to type 0 the other day, by coincidence it was also the day Pete died, damn i still cant fucking believe the man is gone and i never got the chance to see them play live, oh well at least i will always have the music.
thanks for sharing the info bro, i had no idea there was a tribute album coming out, even if its made by bands i do not know anything about, il still check it out.
I listened to that “Green Man” cover as just a song, because I don’t know the original. I wouldn’t be surprised if the others on this tribute take similar liberties with the originals.