The 73 Minute Cathartic Type O Negative Acid Trip ... World Coming Down
Written: Oct 03 '05 (Updated Dec 23 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Interesting lyrics, dark and depressing content, Day Tripper medley.
Cons: Peter and his use of Roman numerals ... arg.
The Bottom Line: ....be spiderwebbed and glazed in frost...she wears death beautifully...more stunning now than in her life...on a bed of autumn leaves into her eyes and quite surprised I whispered...don’t you leave...
Freak369's Full Review: World Coming Down by Type O Negative
When ever the topic of Type O Negative comes up I tend to get a little defensive. After I heard Bloody Kisses for the first time I was hooked on the group. They have always been my guilty pleasure - something that I can put on when I am in a wick mood ... a friend that never judges me but is always there when needed. As I mentioned in a few other reviews, music to me is something that I keep guarded and private. There have been way too many groups and CDs that I shared with other people and when the relationship soured I would be reminded of them when I would listen to it. Now I keep my music to myself and that includes Type O Negative. As much as I hate to say it, I dont think theres a soul wandering this earth that could make me feel so in love that Id risk sharing ToN with them - well, thats a lie, there is one person [wink wink] and he knows who he is.
Even though I am a huge Type O fan, I can admit when they just arent up to snuff. World Coming Down is a nice sampling of what the group is all about but it doesnt have the continuity of October Rust - theres no common thread or bond that brings all the music together. Thats not to say that this CD sucks - as Stephen Baldwin said in the movie Threesome in a reference to sex ...Sex is like pizza, even when its bad, its still good. Thats how I feel about this release; its a nice collection of songs but it doesnt really feel like its complete. Sort of like there is something missing from it. And damn it, if Peter pulls another Im gonna screw everyone up by using Roman numerals for the tracks I swear, I am going to hit La Bella the next time he orders a pizza and personally deliver it ... just so I can toss it at him. It wouldnt have been bad if the songs were listed on the back of the jewel case but they arent ... so Pete, stop messing with me and just list the freakin tracks in order.
The Tracks
Skip it
White Slavery
S I N U S
Everyone I Love Is Dead
Who Will Save The Sane?
L I V E R
World Coming Down
Creepy Green Light
Everything Dies
L U N G
Pyretta Blaze
All Hallows Eve
Day Tripper
I am sure the one song that everyone wanted to get from this was the Day Tripper Medley that appears at the end of the CD. I came across this on Napster a while back; I listened to it once, was less than impressed and deleted it. Must like their other cover versions [Smells Like Teen Spirit, Summer Breeze, Hit Me One More Time, Cinnamon Girl] - you have to really give them a chance to grow on you. If you are expecting anything even remotely close to the original tracks you are going to be in for a real shock. I am not a huge Beatles fan [gasp] but after listening to this a couple more times it did start to grow on me. Oh holy hell, I get a real kick out of hearing Pete verbally stomp out the title of the song at the beginning and middle ... yeah, Im sick like that. And speaking of sick [sick in a good way that is], All Hallows Eve is a stellar track that really breaks away from the normal sound of the group and most of that is due to Kennys guitar work. Instead of the usual grinding and sultry licks, these are more in your face and let Kenny do what he does best [well, second best ... if your mind is in the gutter then its there rightfully so].
One of the biggest hits from the CD has to be Everything Dies; this is a different version that what appears on the CD single and The Least Worst but its still an intense track. While the title might lead you to think that this is completely about death, it serves as a subtle reminder to take notice of everything and everyone around you while you have the chance. If you know anything about Peter and his family life you will get the many very personal references that he added to the lyrics. Musically this has to be one of the groups best efforts but it isnt something that sums them up completely when it comes to their creative side. Some might argue that Creepy Green Light is the stand out track from this release; fans of October Rust will more than likely fall in love with this due to the content and earthy feel to it - for me it is something that gets played when the seasons change, the night air turns crisp and Halloween is on the horizon.
If you are looking for the dark, decadent and sinfully wicked side of Type O Negative then look no farther than Pyretta Blaze. I wonder how many goth girlies went out and stocked up on candles when they heard this track. Ill take it a step further than that - I am sure that more than a few of them experimented with candle wax on their bodies hoping to get a rush from it only to realize that hot wax in the hands of an amateur is nothing more than a scar waiting to happen. Even so, hearing the words ...pinch, bite, kiss, suck, lick and sear is enough to make almost everyone lose it a little but I really wish he would have tortured us a little more with them. World Coming Down, also the title of this release, comes off like ego masturbation to me. That might sound harsh but how many times can we hear about how crappy Peter feels about his station in life before it gets old. Gosh, I might have to edit that before I post it but at this point in time thats what Im feeling about the track. Musically its drawn out and languid, the lyrics are what save this - once Pete gets over the whole I hate myself and so should you attitude, there are some great lines in there.
How quickly the days pass
Long is the night ... lying in bed awake
Bathed in starlight ...
Better to live as king of beasts
Than as a lamb scared and weak
S O U N D B Y T E S
Scattered in between the tracks are three rather bizarre sound bytes; most of these are relative to the title however trying to figure them out will leave you confused, cracking a sweat and wondering what the hell they were consuming when they came up with the concept - let alone how they created them. Some of the people that I talked to about these felt that they were put in as intentional filler to break things up, others said that they were part of the greater plan. What does the freak think? You know how much I love Type O but even someone thats as fanatical as myself has a limit. While these are interesting as hell to listen to with headphones, without some kind of a preface, it just seems like they were added to make up slack time when other tracks were edited.
The Bottom Line
I dont regret getting this nor do I have any plans for getting rid of it [sacrilege!] but on the same token I have to say that this gets played the least of any of my Type O CDs. If you are a fan of the group then you have to check it out at least once just to see what its all about but unless you are a fan, you can skip this and go for something that better represents what the group has to offer. Songs like White Slavery and Pyretta Blaze were songs that really gave the group a bad reputation because people took things out of context or felt that Peter was some pyromaniac iconoclast - thats what happens when people read one or two lines or listen to twenty seconds of a song - things get all screwed up. But hey, just like all the bad press they got for songs like Kill All The White People and We Hate Everyone - the real fans knew what the deal was and after all... there is no such thing as bad publicity because any publicity is good publicity.
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