Type O Negative
After Dark
Roadrunner
I am tremendously grateful to Roadrunner for putting Type O Negative’s video catalog together, until now, I hadn’t a chance to see the awesome videos from Bloody Kisses nor October Rust. Although only five songs are featured in video (“Black No. 1,” “Christian Woman,” “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend,” “Love You To Death,” and their cover of “Cinnamon Girl”), they’ve included nearly an hour of candid interviews, live performance, and road pranks.
Of course, unless you’ve been in a coma for the last five years, you know all about Type O Negative, the soft-spoken yet big “stick” wielding goth-metal band fronted by 6’7” uberbassist Peter Steele, who, in 1995 posed for Playgirl. We get to meet Pete up close and personal. He’s actually pretty quiet, but is in possession of a keen wit and brutal sense of humor. And true to form, we get to see him in action pushing a broom! (Before becoming an international rock star, he was a garbage man for the New York City Parks Department.) Well, he knocks over what appears to be various members of Pantera with a broom during a performance, and proceeds to sweep up the mess, including the fallen Pantera guitarist… Mind you, he sweeps like he really knows what he’s doing, too!
We get to meet drummer Johnny Kelly, who would much prefer living on a horse farm in Wyoming or North Dakota and listening to bluegrass music all day long. Well, John, it might come true, with all the rock stardom money rolling in!
Guitarist Kenny Hickey is the most gregarious member of the band, as he actually appears happy to be on the road or frolicking with his infant daughter or drinking beer for breakfast with Dave Vincent or tying up his manager with duct tape…
Keyboardist Josh Silver, however, is an enigma. Josh, who really isn’t the “quiet one,” that’s Pete, when he isn’t singing, clearly is not capable of enjoying himself. When asked if there was anything he’d do to make things better, he said, “I’d quit.” Throughout the course of the entire video, we’re given scenes of a very constipated Josh, and we’re shown the scorecard as well (“2 days and still hasn’t shit,” “4 days,… “ etc.). Poor Josh! His entire body comprises one tattoo, he doesn’t like people, he can’t find decent toilet paper in Europe, the cops don’t have any drugs, and besides, oh, just leave him alone to be miserable…
In addition to the fascinating lives of the band members, we get to meet a few of the fans, and, as I would expect, the interviewers found the stupidest fans possible. They’re all dressed up in “goth” makeup and just loooove the band, at least those are the female fans; the male fans universally agree that the band “sucks.” Which, of course, it doesn’t, they’re just being cool. Of course, Pete Steele would be the first to agree with his male fans. However, Pete, Josh, Kenny, Johnny: I believe in you and, I am proud to say so!
This video is for everyone who needs to understand who is in Type O Negative and what they’re all about. A masterpiece of important rockumentary work. Roadrunner, 536 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10012
