184. Type O Negative – Bloody Kisses
[This one is from the suggestion box]
Many years ago, I saw Type O Negative at (I think) Irving Plaza. The guy I was dating at the time was working for Roadrunner Records and we were able to sit upstairs in the VIP section. At the table next to me was Peter Steele’s family, including his grandmother. I wanted to be mortified for her when Steele came out on stage and started slinging his usual slew of profanity and vulgarness, but when I looked over at Grandma, she seemed to be beaming with pride.
And that’s the beauty of Peter Steele. He’s so self-deprecating and so utterly charming in his offensiveness that I couldn’t help but smile along with Grandma. But the same things that he uses to charm me, are the things that make me not take him seriously.
I love Steele’s voice, especially on Christian Woman. But there’s something so over the top about it, as well as Black No. 1, that I had to question every goth queen who took these songs to heart. The thing I love most about Type O – that over-the-topness – is the very thing that a lot of people miss. Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m supposed to take it seriously. What made those girls decked out in black lace and combat boots at their show swoon over lines like “feel her god deep inside of her” is what makes me almost giggle. I say almost, because the quality music that backs up the hyperbolic lyrics – that driving bass and the way the song picks up as they go into the “Jesus Christ looks like me” chorus – keeps me listening to them. There’s also the seductive bass line of Black No. 1, the punk speed of Kill All the White People, the chorus of Set Me on Fire, the obvious pain of Blood and Fire and the way they take Seals and Croft’s Summer Breeze and turn it into something heavy and sinister – all things that make me look past lines like “For her lust/she’ll burn in hell/her soul done medium well,” or at least see the humor in them.
It makes me wonder what went on when they created this album. I have to think some of these lyrics were written with a wink and a nod. I bet Grandma Steele thinks that, as well.
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March 7th, 2009
What’s wrong with the lyrics?
And I can’t take Peter Steele seriously, because he’s so easy to use… First he makes songs against Christianity and then suddenly he converts to them. o0
March 10th, 2009
It’s hard to take them very seriously, when they don’t even take themselves seriously at all! The goth’s probably haven’t been interested in them since this album. They’re impossible to categorize as they go from the usual life issues to campy fun. But they sure aren’t boring.