Type O Negative recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of their iconic third full-length Bloody Kisses. Released in August 1993, Bloody Kisses proved to be a game-changing record for the goth-metal icons, who became the first Roadrunner Records band to go gold in the USA in 1995, before being certified as platinum in 2000. The record's unlikely race up the charts was powered by classic singles Christian Woman and Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) each of which affirmed the band's trademark sound.
An indisputable goth-metal classic, Bloody Kisses is a showcase of the band's still unique take on the genre, saturating late frontman Peter Steele's baritone vocals and dark, often erotic, sometimes inflammatory lyricism in foreboding soundscapes. Bloody Kisses also set the bar for the band's incorporation of interludes and injected dry, satirical humour into their already darkly humorous, yet deeply impactful compositions. The record also features one of their most infamous and celebrated covers in the form of their take on Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts. That cover was itself a source of controversy, with the band originally intending to release a version called Summer Girls with altered lyrics that Seals & Crofts blocked due to finding it "distasteful".
Played from start to finish, the album's songs and noise interludes constitute one seamless composition, which over 30 years since its release, continues to be an undeniably immersive experience. To celebrate the ongoing legacy of Bloody Kisses, and the exclusive vinyl re-issue of the record we've done a deep dive on Bloody Kisses to bring you a list of five things you might not know about Bloody Kisses.
Five Things You Might Not Know About Bloody Kisses
1. A priestly fetish inspired Christian Woman
Christian Woman was based on a real relationship with vocalist Peter Steele. Speaking on the song to media, Steele recounted the following about the song's muse "She was a Roman Catholic, much as I am, but she would get off on breaking the rules a little bit. She would ask me to dress up as a priest and, well, I guess you can just imagine what would happen after that. So, I guess you could say I have a bit of a priest infection."
2. Peter Steele wrote Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) while working as a Garbo
Frontman Peter Steele infamously worked for the NYC Parks Department before Type O took off, so the idea of him driving a garbage truck at the time he wrote one of the band's signature hits isn't perhaps that much of a stretch to imagine, but it doesn't make it any less fun to think about. Talking to Revolver in 2008, Steele revealed "I was waiting in line for three hours to dump 40 cubic yards of human waste at the Hamilton Avenue Marine Transfer Station, and I wrote the song in my head. I'm not kidding you."
3. The alternate lyrics they wrote for the Summer Breeze cover were vetoed by Seals & Crofts
The iconic cover of Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts that appears on Bloody Kisses was intended to feature completely different lyrics and be called Summer Girl. The alternate version was to include the lyrics "See her smile lead me to the bedroom/Fire burning and there's wine for two/Feel your legs spreading out to take me/Just can't wait to get inside of you" but these were blocked from release by the song's original writers. The demos of the sessions did leak onto YouTube a little while back, however, so if you're bold and curious enough, you can check them out below.
4. There is a hidden message at the end of the record
The release was self-produced which gave the band the freedom to do things like incorporate a lewd secret message into the end of the final track Can't Lose You. If you listen closely you can hear the words "Everybody smokes pot, Monte Conner sucks cock" being chanted. Conner was the band's A&R rep and has confirmed that he wasn't at all offended by the message, instead stating "That was kind of surprising, but I wasn't offended, I was really good friends with the band and I knew it was a joke — a joke of love. It wasn't meant to be mean." See if you can hear it for yourself below.
5. Bloody Kisses (A Death In The Family) is about a cat
This one is pretty well known but it doesn't make any less enjoyable to think about. Steele wrote one of the band's most intensely mournful songs following the passing of his pet cat Venus. Commenting on why that wasn't particularly apparent within the song, Steele offered "No one wants to hear a guy who's six-foot-eight with long black hair and fangs crying about his fuckin' cat, so I had to make it extremely metaphorical, I have a huge problem with abandonment and loss, so I took it very seriously. I love animals. She used to sit on my chest while I was doing bench presses."
Bloody Kisses is available to preorder in a variety of limited-edition formats, alongside a selection of fresh merch in the Maniacs store now. The pick of the bunch is arguably the exclusive 2LP D2C edition of Bloody Kisses - Suspended In Dusk which offers the unique sequence and alternate artwork on vinyl for the first time. Pressed on an exclusive and very limited blue and yellow vinyl.
Buy Bloody Kisses -Suspended In Dusk 2LP Vinyl
Listen To Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
