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Greetings again all! I certainly hope everyone is enjoying the fine weather - unless you happen to live in the UK of course, and then, it's questionable at best! :o) Not been a typical summer here, but never mind! Ok, for this month, I have an old fave in the form of Type - O Negative. As many of you know, they put forth "Life Is Killing Me" last year - "so why the delay in reviewing this album then, Silver"? Ahhh, good question. I can only say that there have been so many other bands on the forefront of late that I wanted to review and get out of the way, that TON was very effectively put on the back shelf for awhile. As many of you know, I am a die-hard TON fan, I have all their albums bought and paid for outright, so I saw no reason why I shouldn't fork out the £17.99 for this one, even though I had only heard one track off it before I bought it, courtesy of a pal of mine.

Now, I won't go so far as to say this album sucks - it doesn’t. It’s just not one of their better recordings. I guess it's that there are a few tunes on here that just hit me the wrong way (shrugs). And besides, isn't that what they attempted to do with "Least Worst Of", anyway? The one great thing about it, is for £17.99 you get 2 discs, as one is a bonus disc with some old favorites, which have been remixed and repackaged for your dark listening pleasures. This album kind of reminds me of "Bloody Kisses, October Rust, and World Coming Down" all mixed together with lashings of Carnivore-esque highlights - I'm not a fan of Carnivore. It is my considered opinion that Pete's voice is much more suited to slower, darker anthems than attempts at loud screaming. Songs in which he can really go for broke with his exceptionally deep bass voice, for which TON's music has become so legendary.

At any rate, like their past albums have shown, there are several tunes on this album - 15 to be exact. So you are definitely getting your money's worth in that respect. And most of the songs are what you have come to expect from Type - O Negative - thoughtfully written, and having gone through the very experiences that the songs were penned for in the first place. Ok, time to move on to the music so you all can have a taste and a feel for what I have endeavored to describe to you here. The first song is "Thir13teen", which is a heavy - ish opener and launches straight into "I Don't Wanna Be Me". And then we move onto a fascinating little ditty, very much along the lines of something out of "October Rust" called "Less Than Zero". It's somewhat autobiographical, but in song form, about Pete and his depression issues, which seem to run very deep.

So many women throw themselves at this huge handsome man, but maybe it's just not enough to have a regular choice of pretty toys decorating your bed, when your heart has no one dwelling within it. He seems to think himself too toxic for anyone to get properly close enough to him to see what the real Steele is like - have a look.

"Snot and cum, piss and shit
Of this I am made -
Like a taste of it?

Vomit, pus, sweat, tears, blood
The scab removed, revealing what was..

Of this man of Steele
Nothing is real
The truth be scant
Lord of idiots..

The punishment?
Eternal Lent
Victims be clear -
You're all volunteers"..

It sounds pretty cut and dry to me. He warns those who would get near that they are seeking from him what he does not have within him to give, hence, "victims" and "volunteers". They are just a temporary solution to a long term issue which may never be addressed. And as most of us know, Lent is the holiday in which one gives up some sort of habit, such as smoking or sweets, for a certain amount of time, but in Pete's case, his time is forever rather than temporary, or so he seems to believe..

Ok, next song I wanted to point out for several reasons, is "Todd's Ship Gods". This is one of those songs in which an adult corrupted a young child by attempting to bleach all "sissyfied" emotions out of him. I can see, as you will, that the scenario painted within this song has had a long lasting effect, and it's very sad how adults pass on their badly conditioned ways to children, and how much the children become corrupted as a result. Maybe this song would have been better named "vicious circle".

"Grease, sweat, coffee, faded shipyard pictures
Giant living there I used to know
Author of testosterone scriptures
Where did you go?

Now I remember what he told me that time
Falling from my bike, scraping my knee:
"If you're gonna weep, keep it from sunshine,
So no one sees".

I won't cry - "Above all things boy, be a man".

See little boy hiding amongst shadows
Ashamed of tears exposing ancient pain
From the storms predicted by the Tarot:
"Pray for rain".

I won't cry - "Above all things boy, be a man".

This is also about the now adult man recalling old memories, feeling the pain they bring out, and releasing some of that pain, but secretly. The emotional burdens he carries around on his shoulders like Atlas, must weigh an absolute ton. I wish he could walk free of them and be tormented no more. Pete, if I could, I'd give you the "get out of jail free" card. Ok, next song. You’ll notice with this next song, the guitar lines sound very familiar :o) But like most of the songs on this and previous albums, this one is just as dark and gloomy, and hate - filled. It's called "A Dish Best Served Coldly". This was written about a relationship in which the female counterpart strayed away with several others, and was written in the attempt to get out the anger and pain. Though he states he doesn't care and isn't bothered, it's very plain that he is.

"In this bleak world of absent laws
One in which the just are whores
An honor to die for the truth
Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth.

How many times must I say I'm not sorry?
And how many ways can I show
I don't care"?

The next song kind of has me stumped as to what it's really about - see, he has used all kinds of names of female television stars from over the years in a very "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" sense as far as the singing goes. It seems as though he laughingly fell "in love" with these characters, and knowing they are not real, ponders why they don't return his love :o) Perhaps it was that he, like many of us old aged vampires :o) grew up watching programs like "I love Lucy, I dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family", etc, became addicted to TV, and then "mourned" in a sense when the majority were discontinued - I don't know! Have a look and see what you all think.

"Wilma Flintstone, Marcia Brady
Alice Kramden, Gladys Kravitz,
Laverne and Shirley, Jeannie,
Morticia Addams, Aunt Esther,
Sweet Polly Purebread, Natasha,
Mrs. MacGillicuddy

How could she?

Ginger, Mary Anne, Mrs. Howell,
Samantha Stevens, Lieutenant Uhura,
Judy Jetson, Olive Oyl, Ethel Mertz,
Edith Bunker, Marilyn Munster,
Rhoda, Penny Robinson

How could she?
Why won't you love me anymore?

Quite upset, angry, just plain annoyed
No recourse except for celluloid
In my heart, I know you are not real
Though in my mind, suspect you still can feel

Walt Disney or Hanna-Barbera
Black or white, stunning Technicolor
Warner Brothers and the A.A.P.
I've become addicted to TV

Chrissy Snow, Catwoman,
Creepela, Weezie Jefferson,
Betty Rubble, Little Cindy Who
Penelope Pitstop, Lois Lane,
Wanna White, Wonder Woman,
Ellie May, Maude, Witchiepoo

How could she?
Why don't you love me anymore?
How could you?

Ok, I added the whole of the song simply because it's very unusual, or, I thought it was anyway :o) The next one is equally unique and is the title song for this album, "Life Is Killing Me". I think what it's saying within this song is, no matter what you may have learned in med school, no matter what vows you took to preserve life, sometimes the best thing a doctor can do for a patient is allow them to go in peace, instead of keeping a useless, non - animated shell living, when the life has pretty much gone from it. We do this for our animals when they are terribly sick or in so much pain that we know it will be impossible to save them, so why isn't there the same choice for people if they choose it? Many people hold doctors as being one down from God - able to work miracles. And sometimes that happens, but maybe it has a lot to do with luck, or perhaps just a healthy, strong will to live on behalf of the individual patient, more so than the treatment the doctor and pharmaceutical companies are providing.

"Like a Jew in ancient Spain
And for Christ's name did pay with pain
Modern day inquisition
What is the link between these crafts?
Doctors and thieves, they both
Wear masks
Overpaid meat magicians.

Life is killing me

Your doctorate and PhD
Would wipe my ass etched in feces
Will not cure your affliction
Doctors Jekyll or Mengele
And your face too, they're just a blur
Can't improve my condition.

Life is killing me

Appointment made, waited 3 hours
Did not realize you had such power
I'd rather see a mortician
Your parents saved or had the bucks
Your education stems from luck
Future corpse:death by physician.

I have no choice: devoid of rights
So pull the plug, it's my damned life
Keep me alive to increase your bill
A Red Cross hell? The hospital

Just let me die with dignity
It's not suicide, simply mercy

Just who do you think you are?
Medical school don't make you God
Now I don't care what you've been taught
Just get me off this life support

Just let me die with dignity
It's not suicide, simply mercy

Life is killing me".

The next song that struck me was "Nettie", for a couple of reasons - one being, Pete really shows off the extent of his bass range by going utterly deep and then pulls himself from the depths to hit low to upper baritone notes, and two, because the song is about a woman with vast empathic capabilities who has been hurt more often than not because she got too close. That's the thing with those who are very empathic - we form bonds, and though our gestures begin as altruistic, they inevitably change into needing something more. Much of the time though, within such situations, it is the empath who gets hurt every time. They want to pull out of the stifling suffocating relationship, but find they cannot because the tie is too deep. There are 2 parts to this song I want to share with you..

"In the dark bathed in Cathode ray blue
Miss Red Hook of 1922
Weeping silently for the pain of others
Every night a tearful rosary
A victim of the curse of empathy
Her reward for compassion is to suffer.

Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those teardrops from your eyes.

My shortcomings I know caused her grief
Still she loves me - This I can't believe!
Responding not with anger but a prayer
Heaven's just southwest of Cobble Hill
True, I am the son of an Angel
Maternally, not one woman compares".

And then ~

"Thank you for saving me from myself
Your compassion became its own hell
Unequivocably beautiful inside and out
Without a doubt.

Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those teardrops from your eyes"..

It even sounds as though he who authored this song has regrets about the pain he caused someone who simply wished to care for him. As he said, "still, she loves me, this I can't believe"! as if this was an impossibility his mind couldn't comprehend. I believe that those people (of which there are so many) who have had the capacity to be able to open up and both give and receive love and compassion bleached out of them from a young age, have a very hard time comprehending what it is that people on the outside could possibly find something about them to love. But inevitably, we all find ways to love others whether or not those others can understand our reasons for being able to do so. Many people have been told all their lives just how unlovable they are, and so they come to believe themselves to be, and the very idea that someone else can and does love them is a great mystery. And a great fear.

Alright, the next song I want to feature, I am only doing so because I'm not pleased TON covered it.. I am a fan of the movie "Hedwig And The Angry Inch" from which this song comes from, and there was a reason Hedwig did it - I can't imagine Pete and co. having the same reason for singing it, especially because of what the song is about. It's called "Angry Inch", and it's about a guy called Hansel who grew up in Germany, sexually abused by his father, and eventually he was seduced by an American soldier whom Hansel fell madly in love with. The soldier decided to marry Hansel, but could not do so as a male, hence the need for a pseudo - sex change, or rather hack job. Hansel then took on his mother's name Hedwig, and off to the U.S. Hedwig went. Eventually, he formed a band and they played in all sorts of little hole in the wall places, singing and playing very controversial music. That movie has an excellent soundtrack, and is just plain good anyway, so I suggest watching it. As for the song "Angry Inch", I'm sharing the following ~

"My sex change operation got botched
My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch
Now all I got is a Barbie doll crotch
I got an angry inch.

Six inches forward, five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch!

I'm from the land where you still hear the cries
I had to get out to sever all ties
I changed my name and assumed a disguise
I got an angry inch!

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch!

Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I'm tied to the track
I try to get up but I can't get no slack
I got an angry inch, angry inch, angry inch!

If you heard this song the way it went in the movie, it's very hard hitting, and since the character Hedwig was the one who went through it in the movie, it's simply better suited to his singing style than it is TON's. Just my personal opinion - you all may not agree, which is kewl :o)

Next tune is the last on my list and is called "Anesthesia", and it's about just what the title implies - being numb. This is about the attempt to have a close relationship with someone and it went very bad. The lyrics make it seem that being in love is nothing more than a game or an illusion - something not real, or maybe a cruel trick of the mind. But of course, that's not what love is about. The words even go on to suggest that being dead is more preferable to living with the torment of a bad relationship - again, we know this isn't true. Just that for this person, the pain is THAT unbearable that he knows of no way to let go of that pain, and so chooses to carry it around like dead weight, eating away at his soul, and keeping him a prisoner within himself.

"Like a flash of light in an endless night
Life is trapped between two black entities
Cause when you trust someone, illusion has begun
No way
Did one say so cruel: "Tis better to love than lose"
Ignorance is bliss - wish not knew your kiss
So many times been burned, this lesson goes unlearned
Remember desire only fuels the fire - liar".

And then follows with ~

"Are a thousand tears worth a single smile?
When you give an inch, will they take a mile?
Longing for the past but dreading the future
If not being used, well then you're a user and a loser.

World renowned failure at both death and life
Given nothing ness, purgatory blight
To run and hide, a cowardly procedure
Options exhausted, except for anesthesia - anesthesia

I don't feel anything"..

Ok, now on with the technical stuff - Of course, you're going to want to hear sound clips and check out info on the band (for those who don't already know every little thing about them!). A very good place to start is by hitting their official website at http://www.typeonegative.net/. This site has all the current updates, images, discography, etc. that you require. There is also a page which features some sound clips of one or two tunes from Life Is Killing Me, plus other albums at http://www.typeonegative.net/sound.html - feel free to give these a listen. You'll have to be content with the clips on this site - unfortunately, both Amazon stores blow - no clips on this album at either store, more's the pity! Ok, once again I hope you all enjoyed the review! I'm hoping to bring another favorite your way next month. Until then, continue to enjoy the heat and the kiddies :o)

All the best ~
Silver

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