I didn't pepper spray anyone at Wal Mart and I didn't buy any Christmas presents, but Black Friday was great fro my record collection. It was however, cruel to my wallet. I woke up and headed straight to The Record Store an hour before they opened to wait on line. There were about 5 people when I got there and by the time I was let in the line had grown to 15 or so. Everyone there was cool, no one wanted to take the last copy of something that someone else really wanted if it could be avoided. I promised the guy behind me that I wouldn't take the Doors box set(I didn't want it anyway though). The guy who was first in line took almost all of the releases that the store only got 1 copy of, well except for a really cool one(more on that below). There were a ton of nice releases; box sets, reissues, special releases, and various other cool shit.
The first of my finds is something that I'd been very interested in after hearing one of the songs from it on the radio! Those that know me know that this is very rare, I usually don't listen to radio at all. Two weeks ago though, I just happened to be driving and put on 95.9 the WRAT and heard "Cleaning my Gun".
Chris Cornell's "Songbook" is a live album record on his most recent tour, in which the entire stage show comprised of him with an acoustic guitar and his legendary voice. The album features songs from Cornell's solo albums and his other bands; Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, and Audioslave. Two covers are thrown in as well, Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" and John Lennon's "Imagine". These performances are intimate, emotional, and make you rethink songs you've heard a million times. Needless to say it's awesome! My favorite tracks are Soundgarden's classic "Fell On Black Days" and Audioslave's "I Am The Highway". This is really a lesson in how a live show can be completely captivating with nothing but stripped down, pure music.
The record is pretty standard fare, nothing gimmicky. Two LPs come in a nice gatefold jacket with some cool shots from the tour. Oh and the liner notes are written by Josh Brolin. If you don't know who that is go out and immediately watch the movie "No Country For Old Men"! Brolin praises Cornell's voice and gives other compliments; on some level its really cool that one of my favorite actors is friends with one of my favorite singers.
On to the next(or next 6) finds!
The first of my finds is something that I'd been very interested in after hearing one of the songs from it on the radio! Those that know me know that this is very rare, I usually don't listen to radio at all. Two weeks ago though, I just happened to be driving and put on 95.9 the WRAT and heard "Cleaning my Gun".
The record is pretty standard fare, nothing gimmicky. Two LPs come in a nice gatefold jacket with some cool shots from the tour. Oh and the liner notes are written by Josh Brolin. If you don't know who that is go out and immediately watch the movie "No Country For Old Men"! Brolin praises Cornell's voice and gives other compliments; on some level its really cool that one of my favorite actors is friends with one of my favorite singers.
On to the next(or next 6) finds!
Yes, Type O Negative's epic 12x LP boxset "None More Negative". I like to think the title is at least a passing reference to Spinal Tap. This set is definitely one of the coolest pieces in my collection, the entire Type O Negative discography is here. Well with the exception of their last album "Dead Again". Each album has new liner notes which contain quotes from various band members, as well as other commentary that really gives the listener a good understanding of the context for each. 6 albums on 12 LPs, and for not a terrible price! WARNING SOME PICTURES NSFW!
First up is the debut 1991's "Slow, Deep, and Hard". This is really more of a Carnivore(front man Pete Steele's first band) album, that is to say that this has more in common with that band's two albums than the rest of this band's discography. This album is thrash/crossover with patches of doom and a little bit of the gothic atmosphere that would become Type O's trademark. I like this album, but it's definitely not the best in their discography. With choruses like "I know you're fucking someone else!" how can you not have a good time listening to this?
Following the debut the band decided to record a new album. Except its not actually new at all, just the same songs from last time out; oh but this is live, except its not. Yeah wrap your head around that one! 1992's "The Origin of the Feces" is sort of number 1.5 in their discography, a fake live album. The band re-recorded much of the first album and added fake crowd noise, stage banter, and even a bomb threat to the fake show. Some of the performances here are quite good, others not so much. More often than not this album just makes you go "huh?". Oh yeah sorry for posting that nasty album cover.
Now we're getting to the good shit. The third(?) Type O album, "Bloody Kisses", released in 1993. Some might even argue that this is the first proper Type O Negative album. This was huge for the band and the single "Black No. 1" was all over MTV and radio. It seems that they sort of stumbled into fame and success here and never planned it, which is awesome. Slow, brooding, steeped in goth atmosphere and doomy riffs, this is an experience for the listener. Even the cover of Seals & Crofts sickeningly mellow song "Summer Breeze" becomes a harsh doom affair that I'm sure the original composers never felt possible. A really good, unique album.
First up is the debut 1991's "Slow, Deep, and Hard". This is really more of a Carnivore(front man Pete Steele's first band) album, that is to say that this has more in common with that band's two albums than the rest of this band's discography. This album is thrash/crossover with patches of doom and a little bit of the gothic atmosphere that would become Type O's trademark. I like this album, but it's definitely not the best in their discography. With choruses like "I know you're fucking someone else!" how can you not have a good time listening to this?
Following the debut the band decided to record a new album. Except its not actually new at all, just the same songs from last time out; oh but this is live, except its not. Yeah wrap your head around that one! 1992's "The Origin of the Feces" is sort of number 1.5 in their discography, a fake live album. The band re-recorded much of the first album and added fake crowd noise, stage banter, and even a bomb threat to the fake show. Some of the performances here are quite good, others not so much. More often than not this album just makes you go "huh?". Oh yeah sorry for posting that nasty album cover.
The stand out in the discography of this band is of course "October Rust", well at least for me. The band really had their shit together when writing and recording this album. From start to finish this is an intensely emotional, atmospheric album. One does not simply(tank cat into Mordor) listen, instead you feel this album in your very being. Sonically and lyrically, a masterpiece.
"Impossible" is how I'd describe the difficulty in living up to "October Rust", and 1999's "World Coming Down" is a shadow of its predecessor. That is not to say that when you drop the needle on this one you'll feel the urge to lift it right back up. Well unless you're one of the other 999 people that picked up this set you won't be listening to it on vinyl. A slow, crushing affair that never lets up on the depressing atmosphere, this album will attempt to destroy you.
The last album in the set is 2003's "Life is Killing Me". A slightly different Type O is found here; faster, less depressing, and frankly easier to listen to. I find myself not getting lost in this album like I do with "Bloody Kisses" or "October Rust", which is not really a bad thing. The big single, "I Don't Wanna Be Me" is actually really catchy and almost fun. This one ranks up pretty high in my opinion of the band's stuff, in no small part to nostalgia. It was at the end of my first year of high school when this album came out and I picked it up on CD. Having only heard a few of the band's songs before this, I was blown away and loved this album. Because of that I went back through their discography and discovered some great stuff. Later that year I saw the band play live which, to anyone lucky enough to catch them before Pete Steele died last year(RIP) knows, was incredible!
All the albums come on this translucent green wax, which is very fitting with the green motif going on throughout the whole package. Plus if you hold the record up and look through it, it makes everything look dull and almost moldy or something.
It came with these Type O slogan stickers too. I guess they're cool, I just never know what to do with stickers. I can't see myself putting "I KNOW YOU'RE FUCKING SOMEONE ELSE" on my bumper or something.
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