A couple of weeks back we told you about a tribute compilation to Peter Steele being released through MetalUndeground. That compilation, which features 12 covers of Pete’s work in Type O Negative and Carnivore, is out now and available for download here; the $3 it costs will all go towards recoup the costs of securing the licenses for the songs. Check out the tracklisting below.
In case you missed it, our own Anso DF produced a stellar writeup that looks back at Pete’s life and features interviews with his former band members, family, and friends: Part 1, Part 2.
All For None, None For All, A Tribute to Peter Steele tracklisting after the jump:
I’m not gonna do a regular worst week this week, because I wanna ramble for a minute. I’m sure no one will be too disappointed.
I really can’t believe it’s been a year since Peter Steele died… I also can’t believe he’s really dead. If you haven’t already read Anso’s two-part rememberance of the man, featuring interviews with bandmates, family members, and friends, you absolutely must do so — it’s amazing. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.
But I’d like to take a moment and pay tribute to the guy in a way that I know might seem weird — by discussing the song “Enemy of the State” from the Roadrunner United album. Steele didn’t write the music — Joey Jordison and engineer/mixer/producer Matt Sepanic did — but the keyboards and samples are by his Type O Negative bandmate, Josh Silver, and Steele did write the vocal melody and lyrics, and those contributions from Steele make the song really special.
See, the entire track is sung in a made-up language. And it sounds pretty authentic — I didn’t know it was made up until I read an interview with Jordison. I honestly thought, “Oh, Peter Steele is fluent in some cool Eastern European language. Awesome.”
Singing words that don’t actually mean anything might seem crazy, but I get the distinct impression that they meant something to him. I mean, check out his vocal delivery, the way that he laughs after certain moments — he was most certainly telling a story. He conveyed that narrative purely through sound and the tone of his fantastic voice — maybe he was making a commentary on how lyrics don’t matter, maybe he was just trying an experiment, or maybe he was just fucking around. I just find the fact that he even thought to approach the song this way so brilliantly weird. Even if it’s not necessarily the definitive Peter Steele song, the way he made it is definitively Peter Steele.
Vince and I will be away most of next week, but we leave you in the competent hands of Anso DF and Corey Mitchell. Try to take it easy on those dudes and not miss us too much.
True story: when I was a kid, I thought the lyrics to “Black No. 1″ were “You can’t go out ’cause your boobs are showing.” I was confused about what the song’s title meant, but otherwise, the words made perfect sense to me. Oh, misheard lyrics. You never cease to amuse.
Even if you weren’t a Type O Negative fan or a Carnivore fan, you have to admit that Peter Steele had one of the most distinctive voices in the history of metal. You never heard the guy and thought, “Gee, who is that?” And because my mother used to work with Josh Silver’s (now sadly also departed) dad, Type O Negative always felt, somehow, more tangible to me; Steele was iconic and often seemed larger than life, but I knew he wasn’t superhuman.That he passed away so young was a very unfortunate reminder that he wasn’t The Man of Steele. But he made his mark and left something to appreciated behind, and in the end, that’s all any of us can really ask for.
Here are some happier things that happened in the world of metal this week:
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 3:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Thanks to Rob Pasbani from Metal Injection for bringing this interview with Type O Negative’s Peter Steele to our attention. If you skip to roughly the fifteen minute mark, Mr. Steele starts to talk about… God. As in, he is now Saved, or a Believer, or whatever you’d call it.
Now, if Peter Steele wants to believe in God, that’s his right and who the fuck am I to judge him? As long as he doesn’t start preaching at concerts, I really don’t care one way or the other. But I do think it’s funny that (as Rob pointed out) this man is famous, at least in part, for this song:
A couple of weeks back we told you about a tribute compilation to Peter Steele being released through MetalUndeground. That compilation, which features 12 covers of Pete’s work in Type O Negative and Carnivore, is out now and available for download here; the $3 it costs will all go towards recoup the costs of securing the licenses for the songs. Check out the tracklisting below.
