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Submitted by A-Daamage on 6/12/2004
Ah yes, the track listing is now correct. On with the review.
Type O Negative has always been a dynamic band, but with "Life is Killing Me", they've really outdone themselves on the diversity front. Mixing in the punk/hardcore elements of their first album, the dark, goth-metal atmosphere of their later releases and even some not-so-subtle nods to the Beatles, TON have done a superb job of amalgamating all their previous works into one cohesive whole.
After the short intro, Thir13teen, "LIKM" moves into the single I Don't Wanna Be Me, a killer goth/punk/metal tune that has some great hooks. Following that are a couple more laid back songs, followed by a hilarious punk-metal song about Peter Steele's problems with gay guys hitting on him after his layout in Playgirl. The guitarist, Kenny, did some research and found out that about 78% of Playgirl's subscribers are gay men. The band of course roasted Peter for this and eventually the gay men started writing him letters and hitting on him at shows. The response, I Like Goils, has some of the funniest lyrics I've ever read. My favorite: "I'm quite flattered that you think I'm cute, but I don't deal well with compacted poop." Pure gold.
After this song, Type O falls back into their strongest musical style, depressing goth/dark metal. In this style, Type O Negative truly has no equal. ....a Dish Best Served Coldly, Life Is Killing Me and Nettie are all excellent, depressing songs, with Nettie easily being the strongest on the album. Following that is the most Beatle-esque song on the album, (We Were) Electrocute, another bittersweet, dark song with the ridiculously long title IYDKMIGTHTKY (If You Don't Kill Me, I'm Going To Have To Kill You), and another punk song, this one a cover of the song Angry Inch, which is a hilarious story of a botched sex-change operation. Read the title and think about it for a second.
Finally, the album ends with two more amazing, bitterly depressing goth-metal songs, Anesthesia (home to one of the most spine-chilling piano lines I've ever heard) and The Dream Is Dead, a great story of a lonely ex-lover on Valentine's Day.
Bottom Line: All in all, this album is a great representation of quite possibly the best band on Earth, almost solely based on the fact that after 5 albums, they have yet to write a bad song. A must-buy for anyone into sarcastic, bitter, depressing, goth/dark-metal. To quote Peter from Anesthesia: "Emotionally stunned; in defense I'm numb. I'd rather not care than to be aware. I don't need love."
Categorical Rating Breakdown
Originality: 9
Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Overall: 9
Rating: 9.6 out of 10 |
