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Type O Negative > The Least Worst of Type O Negative > Reviews
Type O Negative - The Least Worst of Type O Negative

Hey, it could be worse - 55%

Napalm_Satan, June 27th, 2019

(Note: I am reviewing the unedited version of the album, which features 'It's Never Enough' as track 4 and 'Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity' as its penultimate track, with the edited version swapping the latter for 'Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 x 10⁻⁸ cm⁻³ gm⁻¹ sec⁻²' and dropping the former altogether. As this means the unedited version has more new material, this is the one I recommend.)

This compilation released about a year after World Coming Down is a bit of an odd beast, as far as compilations go. At best this sort of release compiles rarities such as demos, b-sides and outtakes and if pulled off correctly can function as unique albums in their own right; while at worst they have nothing new on them at all and instead present material that has already been heard before on past albums. The Least Worst Of straddles a line between the two, as it mostly offers up alternate versions of past material, with a few rarer or exclusive tracks in the mix as well.

A significant chunk of this album's running time is devoted to edited versions of songs we've heard before, that have either been released as b-sides or are unique to this album. All of them are shortened radio edits, and they all suffer from the same problems. While most of these songs still function, retaining some of the atmosphere and getting the same basic ideas across, they lose a lot of the larger-than-life quality the originals had as they do not flow nearly as well, with transitions from section to section feeling much more abrupt and sections being omitted entirely. The edit of 'Black No. 1' in particular is truly terrible and entirely skip-worthy - it doesn't flow or listen like a complete song at all, sounding more like various sections of different songs stapled together with no rhyme or reason. There's also the matter of the remix of their version of 'Cinnamon Girl', which changes the song for the much worse. The drum machine used previously sounds much more like a sampled electronic kit now, and the guitars and vocals sound similarly processed and electronic due to being slathered in effects. The guitars cut out abruptly at points, particularly for the verses, but otherwise the song remains structurally unchanged. It's an interesting edit but I feel like removing the spacey, atmospheric sounds of the original album does nothing to help the song at all.

This album only really falls into the best of formula on two occasions. Both versions feature a track from Slow, Deep and Hard as their penultimate song, and while both of these are great, we've heard these before. In addition, songs almost always work better in the context of the album from which they came, and as such there's no real reason to listen to these tracks as presented here; they are inferior due to the context they are in. The other is a 'remix' of the track 'My Girlfriend's Girlfriend' - I guess it is a remix but it barely qualifies as it is very nearly the same song; the only alteration I can hear is that the beat during the first few seconds of the song is removed, leaving only the organ before the drums come in anyway followed by the guitars. It's otherwise identical to the original and therefore totally pointless for the same reasons that the songs from the debut are.

There are however, a few songs that are of more interest. The main draw for me on this album is the three World Coming Down session outtakes, as that is in my eyes one the greatest metal albums ever released. The songs in question are 'It's Never Enough', '12 Black Rainbows' and the closer 'Stay Out of My Dreams'. All are great representations of that album's sound, with dreary and ugly stretches of riffing being broken up by occasional moments of sheer beauty, sparse but effective keys contributing to these and uniformly hopeless and negative lyrics. '12 Black Rainbows' is a shorter, catchier number with an explosive chorus that could have been a single, while the other two are more expansive and progressive tracks, combining crushing doom metal riffs with more atmospheric sections and frequent changes of pace - particularly in the case of 'It's Never Enough', which contains thrashy up-tempo sections that hearken back to the days of Slow, Deep and Hard.

Also of note are two alternate takes of covers from earlier in the band's career. 'Hey Pete (Peter's Ego Trip Version)' is their version of the popular song 'Hey Joe', originally from The Origin of the Feces but without the faux live noise present on that album. The lyrics have been re-written lyrics to fit the theme of revenge against an unfaithful girlfriend present on Slow, Deep and Hard and its aforementioned 'live' counterpart. It's been turned from a laid back psychedelic rocker into a gloomy doom metal number, as is befitting of the new lyrics. 'Black Sabbath (From the Satanic Perspective)' meanwhile is their take on Black Sabbath's classic (originally from Nativity in Black and later on reissues of Bloody Kisses), albeit with lyrics that show the other side of the story told by the original. The song is a great deal heavier and slower than the original, bordering on funeral doom speeds during the verses, and Ozzy's agonised singing has been replaced by Pete's bass-baritone crooning. Both of these are great examples of covers, having been translated and built upon properly to turn the originals into different beasts entirely, ones that sound so natural and distinctly Type O Negative that they both could have been written by the band.

A heavily discounted purchase is recommended when seeking this album out. It is an incredibly mixed bag, coming out only slightly positive when factoring in the amount of inferior edits and redundant inclusions present. The radio edits are all inferior to the originals though they're mostly alright and not entirely disposable, but barring the two covers and the three new originals everything else here is skipworthy or redundant. This album is by no means essential as a whole and it certainly is not a good introduction to the band's career, but it does have some merit.

For what it's worth, I do appreciate the good humour needed to put absolute silence on a best of compilation; that alone is worthy of a chuckle.

Great Introduction For Newcomers - 85%

beardovdoom, May 24th, 2014

Type O Negative are one of my favourite bands of all time, to get straight to the point. I bought this album when I was beginning to explore this band and I still listen to it occasionally. What we have here are some edited versions of their most well known songs, a few remixes, covers and unreleased tracks. Usually these compilations are a horrendous cash grab by the record label (the 2006 'Best Of Type O Negative' being an example) but this one is an exception, the band were involved in the song selection etc and the title couldn't come from anyone but Type O.

Speaking of the album title, it's probably fair to say that you need a good grasp of irony, sarcasm and black humour to truly 'get' this band. Right at the start we have a remix of a track that originally consisted of silence, only Type O could get away with this! Throughout this album are moments of Peter Steele's twisted genius and morbid sense of humour which became a trademark of this band-check out the grim re-imagining of 'Hey Joe' (Hey Pete) or the undeniably glorious and unsubtle 'Unsuccessfully Coping....' Pete was truly a remarkable lyricist and he is sorely missed by many of us.

Song selection-a funny/stupid intro, 5 radio edits, 3 unreleased tracks, 2 covers with altered lyrics, 2 remixes and one almost untouched epic. The Sabbath cover sounds huge, adding just enough Type O style to make it their own while being faithful to the original. All 3 unreleased songs are great, I particularly like '12 Black Rainbows' but it was probably slightly too cheerful to be on 'World Coming Down'....only slightly cheerful though. The other 2 tracks are huge slabs of Type O gothic doom and would sit comfortably on any of their albums. The remixed tracks don't differ greatly and both are solid tracks to begin with.

Onto the radio edits, which are the most contentious choice here. To a long term fan cutting up these classics is blasphemy. To the newcomer, a 4-5 minute version of a song is more palatable than 7-11 minute originals. I'd obviously take the originals as a preference, but if I just need my Type O fix I can happily play the versions found on this album. A short version of 'Everything Dies' is better than no version and to be honest, 'World Coming Down' just isn't the right starting point for beginners. On the plus side, anyone who enjoys the abridged versions on here is more than likely to be mesmerized by the epic original versions.

Is this album an essential purchase for Type O fans? Not really, in the modern age of downloading and Youtube the rarer tracks can be easily located. However some of us still buy CDs and I still find a use for this album when I just need to listen to this band. It comes in a nice digipak with useful band/song information too. Definitely recommended to people curious about this majestic band.

Recommended: Black No. 1, Black Sabbath, Everything Dies, Unsuccessfully Coping..., all 3 previously unreleased tracks.

Unsuccessfully Coping With Radio Edits - 77%

hippie_holocaust, October 21st, 2011

(This be a rewrite.)

Ah, the drab four, undoubtedly one of NYC’s finest exports. As this is a compilation, the bulk of which comprised of sterile radio edits, I’ll get right to it.

If you don’t mind having to weed through these edited tracks, then what’s left are three previously unreleased originals, a couple covers, and something pretty close to the full version of “Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Infidelity.” I speak for all Type O fans when I say that amputating the beautiful 12-string passage of "Christian Woman" and trimming the 'Am I good enough?' ending of "Love You to Death" is absolutely FUCKED.

Among these previously unreleased tracks we find ourselves a heavy metal monolith in the form of “It’s Never Enough.” As Type O Negative matured, they developed a unique and formulaic approach to song writing. This is expertly demonstrated here beginning with a buzz-saw doom riff (this movement fittingly entitled “Hedgeclipper”) which flows quite liquidly into a glowing Sab-esque riff that will cut straight to the core of any metalhead. Now, this old school riffage leads us directly to the main refrain and point of the song, which I will proudly utter here: 'FUCK YOU GOD!' Oooh, it feels good! Let it be said that only a man of Peter Steele’s stature would have the balls to record this. I’m sure that this is the very reason that the song didn’t appear on the album for which it was intended, the bleak and hopeless World Coming Down.

The centerpiece and sixth (of course) track on this album is why I was compelled to purchase. Type O Negative offer what may be the finest tribute ever rendered by mortal men. “Black Sabbath (From the Satanic Perspective)” is to these ears the end-all in homage to Black Sabbath; no other band could have executed this with such class and mastery. Type O follow the golden rule of covers here taking the original concept and expounding upon it, nearly making it their own. Pete Steele’s reworking of the lyrics are a work of the darkest of poetry, making complete the feeling of doom and despair conveyed when Mr. Iommi first strummed the infamous tri-tone. We're not begging for anything from ol' Bog, Ozz-man, oh no, we're here for the gang-bang!

The other two originals, “12 Black Rainbows” and “Stay Out of My Dreams” are two solid slabs which were left off of World Coming Down. What can I say? If you already like Type O you will like this. For those who don’t get it, don’t get it. On that note, and for the initiated, these butchered radio-edited tracks are unlistenable, and honestly, quite offensive to the ears of fans of this band. I mean, when you're expecting a whole 'nother round of 'Am I good enoughs' and you're rudely ejected into the next track, well, it's like the fuckin blue balls blues dude.

For shits and grins you also get a humorous offering by way of “Hey Pete,” complete with alternate lyrics. All in all, and if you can deal with the edited tracks, this is worth it for the aforementioned songs alone. The artwork, included lyrics, and special packaging are pretty cool too.