TYPE O NEGATIVE
October Rust (1996)


Rating: 3/10
A sequel that loses the plot (humour, imagination, originality etc etc...)


I said in the review for BLOODY KISSES that even geniuses have their off-days. Well, OCTOBER RUST is just that... one long, dry, painfully booooring off-day.

When track #1 of an album is half a minute of total silence, and track #2 consists of the band members snickering and asking you if you enjoyed that "little joke", you know you're in trouble. And true enough, that ominously unfunny schoolboy gaff just paves the way for an album that sees Type O Negative totally devoid of the sly humour that made BLOODY KISSES such a perverse little masterpiece.

The keyboards on this album have turned all heavy, ambient and orchestral (a sure sign of soul-sapping banality) and the sound is altogether formulaic. Most of OCTOBER RUST in fact sounds like Paradise Lost spoofing Danzig, eschewing traditional satanic rock-outs for proto-primeval dirges with pagan, back-to-nature sensibilities. If it sounds ridiculous, IT IS. And while tunes like "Burnt Flowers Fallen," "Green Man," "In Praise of Bacchus" and the staggeringly bad "Be My Druidess" may prove of passing interest to professional gardeners and new age tree-huggers, one suspects even they may be driven mad by the remorseless monotony of the music. To sum up this thematic colouration, I have two words, if you'll pardon my horticultural lingo: Horse Shit.

The odd stabs at variety also miscarry. "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" sounds like an outtake from BLOODY KISSES rejected because of lyrics like "we must be quite a sight/in our meat triangle/all tangled/wow." And the clumsy attempt to repeat the success of the "Summer Breeze" cover on BLOODY KISSES by turning out one of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" simply shows that Type O Negative have forgotten one fundamental basic of comedy - a good joke is only played once, do it twice and not only is it not funny, you're basically just saying you've run out of ideas. Back to the drawing board, guys.


Gerald Tan 1997

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 Visitor's Comments:

FROM: flash@joymail.com (bill)
DATE: Thu, 1 Apr 1999
SUBJECT: moron
COMMENTS: you are a moron. October Rust is very good

FROM: BnanaJones@aol.com (Ahren McBurney)
DATE: Wed, 10 Mar 1999
SUBJECT: My opinion on the review
COMMENTS: Gerald Tan seems to have not seen the light. Not only is the album "October Rust" beautiful, but it brings out deep emotions that we all store inside and rarely let out. Not many bands are so honest with their fans. I have love and lost, no one has ever understood how I felt. The only thing that ever helped me feel better and understood was the music of Type O Negative. They understand love and they don't care if you have no heart Gerald!

FROM: TYPE O SNOW (DRUID)
DATE: 21/11/98
SUBJECT: MEN OF STEELE
COMMENTS: "OCTOBER RUST" is absolutely phenomenal.
With songs like "In Praise of Bacchus", "Red Water", and "WOLF MOON", how can you go wrong? The entire album is a masterpiece. Long live Type O Negative...the gods of all music. And they always keep it DARK AND NEGATIVE!!!!!!


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