Bloody Kisses is the third studio album by the American gothic metal band Type O Negative and the last recording with their original lineup, as drummer Sal Abruscato left the group in late 1993 to join labelmates Life of Agony. The album includes two of their best known songs, "Christian Woman" and "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)", both of which earned the band a considerable cult following. The album further established recurring motifs of the band's music, such as including cover songs recorded in their own unique style, sample-heavy soundscape interludes and lyrics replete with dry, satirical humor.

Bloody Kisses is notable for being the first album released on Roadrunner Records to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in November 1995. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA in December 2000.<!-- Slipknot's self titled album (1999) achieved RIAA platinum on May 2, 2000. Bloody Kisses did so on December 14, 2000. Therefore, Bloody Kisses is not the first Roadrunner platinum album. -->

Music and lyrics

The liner notes for the album includes the following dedication from Steele:

<blockquote> This entire opus is respectfully dedicated to all those who have loved unconditionally only to have their hearts unanesthetically ripped out: Base not your joy upon the deeds of others, for what is given can be taken away. No hope = no fear. — Peter </blockquote>

Considered a classic in the gothic metal genre,

According to Decibel, Bloody Kisses "featured infectious doom-pop epics ("Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)", "Christian Woman"), sarcastic hardcore screeds ("Kill All the White People", "We Hate Everyone")" and bizarre noise interludes ("Fay Wray Come Out and Play", "Dark Side of the Womb", "3.0.I.F.")".

"Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)" is "a sarcastic ode to goth girls (and their trademark, black hair dye) based on a narcissistic ex-girlfriend of singer/songwriter Peter Steele".

Bloody Kisses includes a cover of the classic Seals & Crofts' track, "Summer Breeze". Type O Negative's original recording of the song included alternate lyrics, written by Peter Steele, and was retitled "Summer Girl". However, original songwriters Seals & Crofts, found Steele's "Summer Girl" lyrics distasteful and the band was forced to re-record the vocals and remix the track with the song's original lyrics and title intact.

When played in its entirety, top to bottom, the album's songs and noise interludes constitute one seamless composition. The band would continue this tradition on the World Coming Down LP released in 1999.

The album features additional vocal performances from close friends of the band, including Keith Caputo, Joey Zampella and Alan Robert of fellow Brooklyn-based alt-metal band Life of Agony, who are credited as "Erasmus High School Boys Special Ed." in the album's liner notes.

The album artwork depicts several locations of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, photographed by John Wadsworth.

Critical reception

Bloody Kisses received mostly positive reviews. Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 and wrote that "though it sounds like a funeral, Bloody Kisses' airy melodicism and '90s-style irony actually breathed new life into the flagging goth metal genre". Loudwire called Bloody Kisses the best album of 1993, in addition to ranking it at number 42 on its Top 90 Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Albums of the 90s. Rolling Stone placed Bloody Kisses at number 53 on its Top 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time list, citing memorable songs such as "Christian Woman", "Bloody Kisses (A Death in the Family)", their cover version of "Summer Breeze", and "Black No. 1". The latter was cited by the author J. D. Considine as the band's signature song.

Releases / Track listings

All music and lyrics written by Peter Steele unless otherwise noted.

Bloody Kisses (1994 digipak re-release)

On May 17, 1994, Roadrunner Records reissued Bloody kisses in a tri-fold digipak that featured alternate cover art. This digipak reissue also featured an alternate track listing. The new track listing revised the running order, removed all of the soundscape interludes, and removed the two "hardcore" songs ("Kill All The White People" and "We Hate Everyone") replacing them with a previously unreleased, over eight minute long, slow and very "gothic" sounding track titled, "Suspended In Dusk". The intro track, "Machine Screw" and the first four seconds of the song, "Christian Woman" were also removed on this release, omitting Peter Steele's spoken intro to the track ("Forgive her..."). This slightly edited version of "Christian Woman" is exclusive to this digipak reissue. The digipak re-release and its aforementioned changes, were done specifically at the request of bassist/singer/songwriter, Peter Steele.

In an interview for the liner notes of the remastered, "Top Shelf Edition" reissue of Bloody Kisses in 2009, Steele said that although he hated ripping off the public (by releasing two versions of the album), he felt it was his opportunity to fix what he believed was a musical mistake. Guitarist Kenny Hickey, who was not a fan of "Suspended In Dusk", noted that the digipak version of the album was Steele trying to move into the vision of the band fully realized on 1996's "October Rust". "Summer Girl" remains unreleased commercially but it did appear on a Roadrunner Records 5-track promotional CD/cassette. Issued simply as "?", with no mention of the artist, this release was part of a Roadrunner Records contest promoting the upcoming release of Bloody Kisses. The first twenty-five fans who correctly identified the artist received "a special gift that only this artist could provide." "Summer Girl" has since circulated online.

Along with the new cover art, this digipak release also contained alternate internal artwork giving the layout more of a "gothic" look. The new packaging also included an amended booklet that reflected the re-ordering and changing of the tracks. Another change was found in the album's liner notes which contained the title of and lyrics for "Summer Girl" instead of "Summer Breeze". The recorded song is unchanged. The standard release of the album was pressed with the original "Summer Breeze" lyrics and title in the liner notes.

Bloody Kisses: Suspended In Dusk - 30th Anniversary Version (2024 reissue of "The Top Shelf Edition")

To commemorate the album's 30th anniversary, Roadrunner Records re-issued "The Top Shelf Edition" of Bloody Kisses on March 29, 2024. Titled Bloody Kisses: Suspended In Dusk - 30th Anniversary Version, this release features the remastered audio and bonus content from 2009's "Top Shelf Edition" with the exception of the song, "Christian Woman (Butt-Kissing, Sell-Out Version)" which is not included on this release.

Early pressings of this re-issue incorrectly note eight tracks on Disc 2 with "Christian Woman (Butt-Kissing, Sell-Out Version)" listed as Track 5. These misprints were eventually fixed and later pressings correctly list seven tracks on Disc 2.

Credits

  • Peter Steele – lead vocals, bass guitar
  • Kenny Hickey – backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare All)" and "We Hate Everyone", acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Josh Silver – backing vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, sound effects, electronic programming
  • Sal Abruscato – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

  • Paul Bento – sitar, tamboura
  • The Bensonhoist Lesbian Choir – additional vocal performance
  • Erasmus High School Boys Special Ed. – additional vocal performance
  • Bonnie Weiss, Karen Rose, Debbie Alter, Chris Zamp, & Life Of Agony (Alan Robert, Joey Zampella, Keith Caputo, & Mike Palmeri) – additional vocal performance
  • Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra (Verdigris Phlogiston conducting)

Production credits

  • Produced by Peter Steele/Josh Silver
  • Recorded at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY
  • Additional Recording at Sty In The Sky, Brooklyn, NY
  • Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, NYC
  • John Wadsworth – photography
  • Jeff Kitts – portrait photography

Bloody Kisses – The Top Shelf Edition (2009) reissue credits

  • Re-issue producer – Monte Connor
  • Project Coordinator – Steven Hartong
  • Re-mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, NYC, January 2009
  • Liner notes – J. Bennett
  • Design – Mr. Scott Design
  • Additional photography – John Wadsworth and Joseph Cullice

Charts

Album

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+1990s chart performance for Bloody Kisses

!scope="col"| Year

!scope="col"| Chart

!scope="col"| Position

|-

|1993

!scope="row"|German Albums Chart

|style="text-align:center;"|60

|-

|1995

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| style="text-align:center;"|166

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2024 chart performance for Bloody Kisses

! scope="col"| Chart (2024)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Croatian International Albums (HDU)

| 13

|-

|-

|-

|}

References

  • Type O Negative's official website