The “one-of-a-kind” label is about as clichéd as it gets. But I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard another band that sounds quite like Type O Negative.
Not unlike R.E.M. (another band I’m oh so eager to discuss at the drop of a hat), Peter Steele and Co. never tried to hide their influences. Black Sabbath, The Beatles, hardcore punk, goth rock… it was always there on their collective sleeve. And they certainly went on to influence countless others as well.
Plenty have borrowed the low end, the gloom, and the graveyard humor, but somehow Type O remains a bit of an outlier. How’s the saying go? Oft-imitated, never duplicated. Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.
And now for a little personal backstory: “Christian Woman” was my introduction to Type O Negative. Like any other Gen- Xer, I dug the song, but with spending money always in short supply, Bloody Kisses just somehow never came home with me from the record store.
Fast forward to 1995, when I caught the band opening for Queensrÿche. I’m pretty sure my ears have been ringing ever since (the kick drum left a small indent in my sternum as well). But what really sealed the deal of a lifelong fandom occurred a couple years later when a high school buddy who swore by October Rust demanded I hear “the lowest voice ever recorded.”
I still remember sitting in the back seat of a Ford something (Escort? Focus?) on a late-night drive, all ten minutes of “Haunted” filling the cabin as we wound down a secluded parkway through a seriously creepy stretch of forest. The memory is burned into my brain, and October Rust soon became one of my favorite records.
When World Coming Down arrived in 1999, I’ll never forget my first listen. I was blown away. And Life Is Killing Me? That one soundtracked an entire summer of late-night drives with the windows down and “Anesthesia” blasting at unfathomable volumes.
So, my point is this: Type O Negative has been a part of my life for a long time. And with October Rust turning thirty this year, it feels like the right moment to take stock of the Drab Four’s singular catalog.
Per usual, there are a few caveats I need to get out of the way…
*Caveat Number One: This ranking covers the band’s studio full-lengths only, which means 1992’s The Origin of the Feces (a studio album masquerading as a live record, complete with fake bomb threat) sits this one out. It’s a fascinating artifact and worth hearing at least once, but it’s kinda playing a different game than everything else here.
**Caveat Number Two: It should go without saying, but I’m going to say it regardless: I’m a massive fan of Type O Negative. Any critique offered here is deeply subjective and reflects personal taste rather than objective quality.
***Caveat Number Three: I’d like to file everything written below in the ever-so-subjective ‘prisoner of the moment’ category. As with most things in life, nothing here is set in stone. I mean, just look at how I came around on Dead Again…
Alright, it’s time to get this show on the road.
6. SLOW, DEEP, AND HARD (1991)
Right out of the gate, the joke was on Type O Negative. The band delivered a demo to Roadrunner Records, and the label, in its infinite wisdom, decided to release it as is. 1991’s Slow, Deep and Hard sounds exactly like what it is: a band going for broke with absolutely no filter in place.
Honestly, it’s a really cool listen, and aggressive in a way the band would never quite be again. There are still points where I laugh out loud. The lyrics are so melodramatic and over the top that it’s hard to tell what’s self-loathing and what’s self-parody, especially when everything sounds like some combination of both.
Yes, this could have easily been the next Carnivore record. But it isn’t. It’s the beginning of Type O Negative. And for that reason alone, it’s worth a listen.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
The album-opening “Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity” is essentially a twelve-minute mission statement, and by the time the band starts shouting “he knows!,” you have a pretty good idea of what the rest of the record has to offer.
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
If we’re pointing fingers, “Glass Walls of Limbo (Dance Mix)” and “The Misinterpretation of Silence and Its Disastrous Consequences” together represent seven-plus minutes of sound effects and noise on an already-demanding record. But rather than focus on the songs, I think the real issue here is simply a matter of misaligned expectations.
If, like me, you came to this album working backwards from October Rust, the whiplash is real. Still, there are fans who swear by this record, and it’s worth noting that the band never fully abandoned this side of themselves. You can hear echoes of Slow, Deep and Hard all the way through to Dead Again.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“Gravitational Constant” is just tremendous, and easily the closest thing here to the band they’d soon become.
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
Can’t help but love the jackhammer that shows up near the end of “Prelude to Agony.” The solo in “IKYFSE” (and the “Kenn-ay!” that precedes it) is definitely one of the coolest leads in the catalog.
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical/vocal Moment)
Yeah, I mean, most of the lyrics here I wouldn’t feel comfortable repeating, so I think I’m just gonna go with the sound of a blade getting sharpened at the top of “Xero Tolerance” and leave it at that.
5. BLOODY KISSES (1993)
There is a huge contingent of fans who consider Bloody Kisses the one Type O Negative record to rule them all. The gold-selling breakthrough (that just so happened to put Roadrunner Records on the map) gave the band their first (and biggest) taste of commercial success thanks in no small part to a pair of monster singles.
But for me, Bloody Kisses has always felt like a bridge between the abrasive chaos of Slow, Deep and Hard and the lush gothic polish of October Rust. It’s a very, very good record with a few legendary songs. But I sincerely think the band only went up from here.
It probably didn’t help that I initially bought the digipak version. As Roadrunner was always so fond of doing, there were multiple releases of this thing floating around, each with its own sequencing, and I spent years genuinely confused as to what the quote-unquote “right” track listing even was.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
For a lot of fans, “Christian Woman” and “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” are where the Type O Negative story begins and ends. Still, I’d argue that album actually gets stronger the further you go. The title track, “Too Late: Frozen,” “Blood & Fire,” and “Can’t Lose You” make up one of the finest stretches of material in the band’s catalog (unless, of course, you bought the digipak!)
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
Songs like “Kill All the White People” and “We Hate Everyone” feel like holdovers from the Slow, Deep and Hard era. They’re totally fine for what they are, but they also kinda kill the mood.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“Can’t Lose You” is just such a good album closer. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good sitar sample.
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
The feedback burst immediately followed by the band launching into that first chorus is so good – “Christian Woman”
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical Moment)
“Too late for apologies!” – “Too Late: Frozen”
4. DEAD AGAIN (2007)
I’ve come a long way with this record. For whatever reason (maybe the ‘live’ drums???), Dead Again didn’t connect with me in 2007, and despite many attempts over the years, I kept dismissing it as a simple retread of Slow, Deep and Hard. It wasn’t until fairly recently that the record finally sunk its teeth into me, and I realized that I pretty much had it all wrong.
If anything, Dead Again is a cross-section of everything this band ever did: the hardcore aggression, the gothic balladry, the Beatles worship, the gallows humor, all of it crammed into one massive, sprawling farewell (though nobody knew it at the time).
“These Three Things” is just brilliant, full stop, and the final run from “Some Stupid Tomorrow” through “Hail and Farewell to Britain” is phenomenal, one of the strongest closing stretches in the band’s catalog. The title track is great. “September Sun” is genius, the kind of song that could have slid right onto October Rust.
I have no idea what I was hearing the first eighty-nine times I tried to dig in, but, man, this is the very definition of a late-career gem.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
“The Profit of Doom” and “September Sun” both got the single treatment here, but the whole opening salvo (including the title track and “Tripping a Blind Man”) is just tremendous. As a closing statement from Peter Steele, “Hail and Farewell to Britain” hits pretty hard.
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
The first, and only thing that really comes to mind is “She Burned Me Down.” There’s ‘long’ and there’s ‘repetitive.’ Neither is an automatic disqualifier when it comes to music, but when a song is both, it can start to feel like a chore. By the time Peter comes in with a seventy-third round of, “Every time I see her start a fire…” I’ve pretty much had my fill.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“These Three Things” is the obligatory answer here, as the fourteen-minute epic is worth the cost of admission alone. “Halloween in Heaven” might just be their most effective punk song (doubling as a perfect tribute to the late, great Diamond Darrel) and Tara Vanflower is just amazing on it.
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
The final minutes of “Hail and Farewell to Britain” are about as majestic as it gets.
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical Moment)
“We were brothers ’til discovered deceit / Tried with treason that’s the reason you’re beat” from “Hail and Farewell to Britain” OR that scream (you’ll know it when you hear it) that comes around the ten-minute mark in “These Three Things”
3. OCTOBER RUST (1996)
I want to say October Rust is my favorite Type O Negative record. Most days, it is. After all, this is the album that made me a fan for life, and it remains the band’s best-sounding record by a wide margin: lush, layered, and enveloping in a way almost nothing else from the era can touch.
So, was October Rust an artistic culmination, or a calculated attempt to double down and cash in on the success of Bloody Kisses? It kind of depends on who you ask, and for their part, the band has tended to point toward the latter. Of course, you could say the same thing about the Black Album. The truth is it’s kind of a mix of both, and I’m not all that sure it really matters.
The bottom line: October Rust is the peak of this version of Type O Negative. If your point of entry was Bloody Kisses, this was probably the next logical step. If you were driving around blasting The Origin of the Feces, well, this was a stretch. Either way, it’s easily on of my favorite albums of all time, and I think it really captures Peter’s best studio vocal performance.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
The album initially feels frontloaded, with the first three songs (“Love You to Death,” “Be My Druidess,” “The Green Man”) easily ranking among the most accessible, radio-friendly moments in the band’s catalog. But the truth is this thing is simply stacked from top to bottom, with late-album highlight “Wolf Moon” and the obligatory cover (“Cinnamon Girl”) enduring as some of Type O Negative’s most recognizable material.
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
“My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend” is yet another example of breakout singles that I just don’t ever need to hear again (a list that includes “Creep,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Enter Sandman,” etc.). Judging by the interwebs, this song remains hugely popular to this day, but the joke wore a little thin to these ears decades ago.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“In Praise of Bacchus” is easily in contention for my favorite Type O song. Everything I love about this band can be found in this seven-and-a-half-minute opus. You’ve got Hickey channeling a Cure-esque guitar performance in the opening minutes, Steele delivering what might just be his best ‘broken heart’ lyric, Silver dropping all sorts of atmospheric keys, and Kelly…well, I mean, the drums are programmed, so I guess he did a good job mapping them out??? The guest vocals from Val lum are a nice touch, as are Hickey’s backing vocals. Yeah, this is just such a good song!
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
Toss up between that huge climax in “Haunted” (right after the spoken word bit) and that amazing drum fill that drops right before the ultra-deep chant at the end of “Bacchus.”
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical Moment)
A new boyfriend’s just bought her this new car / I say, “I know” – “In Praise of Bacchus”
2. LIFE IS KILLING ME (2003)
Life Is Killing Me arrived in the summer of 2003 and promptly took up permanent residence in my car stereo. I still remember driving late at night with the windows down, “Anesthesia” blasting at an obscene volume. For a band that is so associated with all-things-autumn in my mind, this is the outlier.
This always felt like the capstone record to me, touching upon all of the band’s prior releases. You got the punk (“I Like Goils”), mid-tempo melodrama (“Life is Killing Me”), and a handful of multi-part epics that stand among the band’s best material “Anesthesia,” “…A Dish Best Served Coldly,” and the gloriously titled “IYDKMIGTHTKY (Gimme That).” There’s even an obligatory head-scratcher of a cover (“Angry Inch”) and the Beatles-tinged “(We Were) Electrocute.”
On paper, it might sound all over the place, but the result is anything but. In fact, this might be the record I hand someone if they want to get a taste of what Type O Negative is all about.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
“I Don’t Wanna Be Me” got the music video treatment, and is probably the song casual fans remember most (if at all). Still, it was a the show-stopping “Anesthesia” that ultimately became a crowd favorite on subsequent tours.
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
Playing like an updated take on “Kill All the White People,” “I Like Goils” is about as close to filler as this album gets. Also, “Angry Inch” is probably my least favorite of the band’s covers.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“…A Dish Best Served Coldly” is just brilliant, and might just be my favorite thing on this record. Honorable mention goes to “IYDKMIGTHTKY (Gimme That)” and “(We Were) Electrocute,” another entry in the band’s long tradition of putting a gothic twist on their Lennon/McCartney influence.
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
“The Dream is Dead” is probably my favorite album-closer (by a hair) from the band, and that majestic outro is a huge part of the reason why.
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical Moment)
“I don’t feel, anything, anything, anything…” – “Anesthesia”
1. WORLD COMING DOWN (1999)
World Coming Down arrived in the fall of 1999 and absolutely leveled me. More than twenty-five years later, it still does. If October Rust is the band’s best-sounding record, this is probably their best performance. There’s a raw, live feel to most of this that just fits the material so well. Sure, the record still ‘sounds’ good, and there are a fair number of production tricks (tons of back-masking on the vocals), but this feels way less ‘radio-ready’ than its predecessor.
Which is fitting, of course, given the heaviness of the lyrical themes. This is an album about death, addiction, and loss, written by a man staring all three directly in the face.
Musically, World Coming Down finds the perfect midpoint between the heaviness of Bloody Kisses and the atmosphere of October Rust. It might not have the thrash and punk edge of Slow, Deep, and Hard, but to this fan, World Coming Down is the heaviest thing they ever made, in every sense of the word.
Love You to Death (Highlights)
World Coming Down produced a pair of modestly performing singles (“Everyone I Love is Dead” and “Everything Dies”), but it was ultimately the title track (a strong contender for the band’s finest hour) that endured as a live staple during the band’s later years. Frankly, most of this record feels like a highlight.
Bad Ground (Lowlights)
With a record like this it’s always going to be a matter of slim pickings, but the interludes (“Skip It”/”Sinus”/”Liver”/”Lung”) are the obvious pick here. The first is harmless fun (anyone else still have ”Sucka!” as a permanent fixture in their day-to-day vernacular?), but the final three are kind of, well, disgusting.
Can’t Lose You (Best Deep Cut)
“Pyretta Blaze” is just all sorts of amazing and criminally under-discussed. The way the band explodes out of that Sabbath-tinged opening riff is just so good (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go listen to this right now).
Hail and Farewell to Britain (Favorite Musical Moment)
Take your pick: that incredible chorus in “White Slavery,” the huge riff midway through “All Hallows’ Eve” or the gang chorus chant (“I like vitamins” – allegedly) that kicks off “Everything Dies” Yeah, this one is a masterpiece.
It’s Never Enough (Favorite Lyrical Moment)
Tossup between “I could easily start pointing fingers, Since the blame is mine it always lingers” and the final “Bring it on down” – “World Coming Down”
Parting Thought
When it comes to music, it’s difficult to say that anything is ever truly over. Farewell tours are a running joke at this point. The most venomous break-up is only a major anniversary payoff away from becoming a reunion. Even death itself can’t stop a band from moving forward with replacements (or, Lord help us, holograms) and a set-list that promises nothin’ but the hits.
It’s actually kind of depressing.
That all said, Peter Steele’s death in April 2010 ended Type O Negative in the only way it could have ended, and I’m all but certain there will be no reunion, no comeback record, no legacy-act victory lap. And even if the remaining members opt to go with the touring-tribute treatment at some point, it will be little more than a reminder of what was and will no longer be.
What remains is six studio albums from a band that never sounded like anyone else and never will.
The Accomplices Weigh In
I’m hardly the only person in my orbit with strong opinions about Type O Negative. So before closing this thing out, I handed the ranking over to a couple of friends who have been listening, debating, and playing this music alongside me for decades.
Name/Alias: Carl
Relation: Lifelong partner in crime
Credentials: Musician, killer bassist
His qualifying statement:
Ive given it a lot of thought. The problem with ranking the Type O albums is those 4, October Rust, World Coming Down, Life Is Killing Me and Dead Again are all near perfect in my opinion.
So i really nitpicked some preferences.
His ranking:
1. Life Is Killing Me
I just like the poetry with which he speaks about himself and the topics.
“Less Than Zero” – a deconstruction of himself
“The Dream Is Dead” – a deconstruction of his midlife crisis
“Todd’s Ship Gods (Above All Things)” and “Nettie” – processing his feelings about his parents, one dead and one aging out
I feel like Life Is Killing Me is the most autobiographical.
2. October Rust
I don’t lyrically connect with this album but I heard the first two first and didnt think anything of them, this album made me shift from thinking [Robert] Deleo was the only bassist I ever cared about. After October Rust all I wanted to do was be either Deleo or Steele.
The production and atmosphere are unmatched. Life Is Killing Me, imho, sounds the best from a rock perspective, but October Rust‘s production has this opened up feel that the others don’t. Its lush, its grand, not just dark and dank.
3. Dead Again
I kinda wanted this at two because its a nice 1 2 punch with Life Is Killing Me. One is the unveiling of his mid-life crisis and the other comes off as a ‘reckoning’ of his life with a side of coming to terms.
Even “The Profit of Doom” and “Hail and Farewell to Britain” come off as a sort of ‘well, here we are, this is what this is’ but truly, Dead Again, “September Sun,” “These Three Things” drive the point home.
4. World Coming Down
Not truly less than any of the top 4, its an honest album, of the top 4 this is the most opposite in production to October Rust. Its dry, the tones are thin but crunchy, but there is this poetic acknowledgment of all the shitty things about life that are shitty, without really reckoning with any of them.
Everything does die, many of the ones we love will die, and Peter’s life is kind of just coming down.
His thoughts on the early albums:
The first 3 I really have a hard time ranking. I remember when Bloody Kisses came out, I thought it was okay, I didn’t really love it but I didn’t care really.
The first two I kind of just appreciate for the novelty of a big joke that never took itself too seriously.
Name/Alias: Tim
Relation: Friend since freshman year
Credentials: Guitarist and MASSIVE Type O fan
His qualifying statement:
I’m not sure. I honestly haven’t thought much of my favorite albums. It’s not a surprise that my #1 is either October Rust or World Coming Down.
The battle for #1:
Musically I’ll go with October Rust. Both have great atmosphere with October Rust getting a very slight edge. While I do like the romantic/victorian lyrical content of October Rust, it’s a little over the top on the fornication subject for me.
Songs about sex are lame and low hanging fruit but Steele makes it interesting, lyrically, at least. But still, whatever. The lyrical content hurts the music and melody. Overall weakens the songs in my opinion.
World Coming Down isn’t quite as layered musically as October Rust but better lyrically. With only some jokes being forced that kind of take me out of the song a bit.
I can’t decide between these two but I will say that October Rust is Steele’s masterpiece musically. World Coming Down is basically there musically as well but I really think he reached peak modern song writing on October Rust. World Coming Down is his best overall album as far as music and focused lyrical content and atmosphere.
3. Life Is Killing Me
I think Life Is Killing Me might be a clear three because it is fairly focused. Good songs and coherent; and has elements of both October Rust and World Coming Down.
4. Bloody Kisses
I’m putting Bloody Kisses fourth because it was so unique at the time and began what really became the spirit of the band. Again, don’t care for lame lyrics about sex even if full of innuendos and euphemisms. Amusing at first listen but then hurts the song and melody forever after, for me.
This album would be better if it was less disjointed. It goes a lot of different directions and had too many releases. Too many songs on these releases seem like filler tunes.
5. Dead Again
Dead Again would be next. I would probably put it higher if I didn’t think his singing was subpar (for him) on the album. I know he was going through things but there are times he sounds drunk in the recording. I know he isn’t but he had done so much damage to himself he just started slurring his speech around this time. You even hear it in interviews at that time.
This isn’t a criticism on him or a judgement. I think it hurt the sound of the album is all.
6. Slow, Deep and Hard
Slow, Deep and Hard is next mostly because it has more hardcore elements than I care for and, again, fornication lyrics. 😂 I’m looking for more in lyrics than things like this. Lyrics do affect how I hear a song because it contributes to the spirit of it. There are ways to sing about lost love that’s less ostentatious.
His thoughts on Peter Steele:
This is all just of the top of my head observations. Nothing too deep. They are top five in my favorite bands all time even given the criticisms I have.
I do believe his lyrics are existential in nature and that he was a decent man who didn’t know how to cope and therefore, turned to what he became to try to build a fortress around his emotions and soul for protection.
The song “World Coming Down” revealed this more than other songs. He was a sensitive man who acted tough to protect himself and he created a larger than life persona to do it and it, ironically, is what slowly killed him.
It would have been interesting to see his progress with his newly acquired faith. He wasn’t acting the way just yet before he died but he was speaking about it. Sometimes integrating your habits and perceptions take time but he was open to the fact that he had turned back to it.
At any rate, these are my top of the head thoughts.
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