Everything Dies.

I really like Type O Negative.

I do.

I remember seeing the Christian Woman video on Headbangers Ball on night on MTV and once I heard Pete Steeles voice and the sound of that bass guitar, Jesus I was hooked.

Around that time I was in the U.S. on holiday with my parents and I was in a record store and got Bloody Kisses on tape (YES TAPE!) along with Marty Friedmans Dragons Kiss, Weird Als Alapalooza and basically spent my entire holiday listening to Bloody Kisses.

Some of it I didn't get at the time, like the soundscapey stuff, all I had heard was Christian Woman.  What the fuck was this "Kill all the White People" shouting about?!?!
I grew up listening to everything from Megadeth, Jean Michelle Jarre, Queen, Sisters of Mercy, Duran Duran and 8 Bit chip music, so this was a bit of a departure.
I soon did.
I managed to get a copy of Slow, Deep and Hard but that was a different feel, much more hardcore rather than gothy.
I learned the bass lines, tried to mimic Petes voice.
Listened to it over and over.
Then October Rust came out.
I FUCKING LOVE THAT ALBUM!  Start to finish, it is an amazing piece of work.  
Love you to Death, Be My Druidess, In Praise of Bacchus, every sing track is well crafted and full of a weird, hippy, chilled out, gothy, doom.

It was around that time I started using the internet properly, fan sites and forums were discovered, the more I read about them the more I liked them.

I got a hold of Origin of the Feces which is a brilliant bit of work, there's rumours and talk about how it's not really a real live album and a bit of a piss take and everything but it's mostly rerecorded old stuff, which just sounds amazing.  "I Know You're Fucking Someone Else" is a tremendous bit of venom and the Hendrix cover is just a peach, go get it if you haven't got it.

Then we have World Coming Down which was recorded after Pete went nuts and a bit off the rails.  It's fucking dark dark album, dealing with addiction and death but it's phenomenal piece of work.
Lot's of soundscape parts again and listening to them on headphones really does convey a sense of panic and horror.  Some of it is quite unsettling.
There are lighter track on the album like Pyretta Blaze which is quite hippy and upbeat.
There's also a mad Beatles mashup that is just unadultarated madness (in a good way)

Life is Killing Me is a much straighter album, no soundscapes, just 70 odd minutes of music and my god what an album it is.
The title track is a near 7 minute epic and I defy any metal head not to get goose bumps listening to Pete screaming "I don't feel anything" on Anesthesia and the sheer depth of the mans voice on Nettie.
All this mixed with the cover of Hedwigs Angry Inch is fucking marvelous. 

Dead Again was the last Type O Album and seeing the video for September Sun (which is a beautiful track, I used it as an alarm clock track for a year) let me see how old Pete had gotten.  He looked weathered and tired.  
Honestly I was a bit taken aback by it.
The album is good though and has so many of Type O's trademark sounds.  Bass lines that carry a song, that big ass bass drum punching and slapping away.  Kenny's sustainer/ chorused chords.  Pete's voice pulling out some really really made ranged choruses and Kenny picking up a lot of the vocals too  It's a really good album.  It's not my favourite by them but it's good.

On April 14th 2010 Pete Steele died from heart failure.

The big romantic goth died of a broken heart. :)  
Pretty fitting.

I was gutted for days and I still get a bit sad when I think that there will never be any more Type O tracks.

I met the guy once at a signing and it was one of only 2 times in my life when I've actually been so awe struck I couldn't speak.
The only thing I could muster was when he stood up in front of me and I said "Jesus, you're a big bastard!" to which he graciously said "Thank you" and signed my album.
I mean I'm 6 foot and a chunky guy but he was a giant.

I only saw them live once, on the October Rust tour and was blown away by the sound.  I'd never heard a bass so prominent in a song live.  It was like motown but goth :)

Anyway, enough of this go listen to Type O Negative:
I Don't Wanna Be Me
Bloody Kisses
The did a cover of Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath and redefined Black Sabbath for me.  I listen to Sabbath now and think, what would Pete have done :)
The finest cover/ remake ever!
And of course:
Everything Dies

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BE TOLD!!!!!