We spent many Friday and Saturday nites at this club with Peter -- whether we were seeing his band play or bands that he liked and supported.
Check out the details on the double base drums that Louie played. I tried to enlarge this photo so you can see Peter on stage. Enjoy ...
While I don't actually agree with the "archie bunker" reference below about Carnivore's political statements - you have to remember that this is when Peter's sense of humor was developing in his music.
Race War was a song about how historically different nations have fought about the same things. And if it doesn't end, we all lose. Remember how Peter says in the song: "This is the United States of America and you have the right to hate who you want. So let's start busting heads." It's a song that's supposed to make you think about how ridiculous hate is. What it does to people, countries, the world.
However, I must add, this song became an anthem for Hard Core lovers -- the mosh pit would explode when this song was played.
Peter was fiercely protective of and proud to be an American. He was outraged about 9/11. His father and uncles fought in wars and he was very sensitive to the devotion that American soldiers give to our country. Whenever he was on tour and a serviceman wanted to take a picture with him, he thanked THEM for their service to keep our country safe. He honored them. He asked them what it was like to fight for a war on enemy soil and then come back here. He wanted to know, learn, feel their stories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNTTzP6CPwI
Here is an excerpt from TG Daily that I saw and had to share with you all:
In fact, this is what a friend of mine always loved about Carnivore's "Retaliation," was that it was "anti-everything." Try to imagine Archie Bunker forming a hardcore band and you'll get the picture.
After Carnivore broke up, their leader, Peter Steele, who wrote all the music and lyrics, formed Type O Negative, and you could hear it picked up where Carnivore took off, but Steele also added in a lot more innovative elements like keyboards.
They stood out like a sore thumb opening for bands like The Exploited and Motley Crue, because there was nothing like Type O at the time, where there are innumerable extreme metal bands use keyboards today.
http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/56859-the-brilliant-madness-of-type-o-negative
Great story!! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteLyrics can be taken the wrong way by the public. I think you need to ask the writer what they mean before making a judgment because what the song means can be very different to what people think. Type O Negative songs pretty much explain themselves but I understand that some people may take Carnivore songs the wrong way. Love the teeth on the kick drums. Really like that picture of Peter.
ReplyDeletewow, the picture is amazing! Carnivore was such an interesting project and concept. Musically of course, it was so raw and yet such a textured, dense sound, with the guitars ripping through the songs and the bass&drums like a mallet hammering down on your ears. The mixture of Doomsday visions, belted-out musings on the inevitability (inevitable waste and pointlessness) of war and overall satiric outlook on Mankind's future evolution (?) in the lyrics are so revealing of how Carnivore was as intriguing and complex, statement or message-wise, as they were loud and impacting. I would have loved to have seen them live back in the day or even in their reunion tour in 2006. The footage from the Wacken performance on YT is so amazing in that all of the guys are so obviously enjoying the hell out of themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd the logo and stage costumes were SPOT ON! A perfect mix of irony, edginess and bad-ass. The butcher aprons kill me.
Peter was indeed a multifaceted musical talent - from Fallout to Carnivore to Type O to all his collaborations, his range and the sheer quality of his work was outstanding.
Thanks so much for sharing this.
Great story. I lost my cousin at the WTC on 9/11. As a huge Type O fan I would like to know where Pete and the band were on 9/11 and their reaction.
ReplyDeleteI love Peter's moustache LOL
ReplyDelete-Kristen
Peter looks good in this pic!!
ReplyDeleteThere has never been nor will ever be a band like TYPE O NEGATIVE. I think Pete made a genre of his own with this band and no matter how hard a band may try to sound like TYPE O NEGATIVE, nobody will come close to the masterpieces Pete created in TYPE O NEGATIVE.
Once again, Great story.
Weird that you posted this today. I just popped in my Carnivore cd yesterday for the first time in a while. My boyfriend and I were talking about how ridiculous it was when the public and press started accusing Peter of being a Nazi or being racist because of songs like Race War.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame how the press can manipulate art and music into something it's not.
I love Peter's hair and mustache. I have some catching up to do. I have to find this music from Carnivore and buy all of it. Thank you again for sharing. I also share Peter's respect for the military. Brave men and women. We owe them our lives. Thank you. Yes when 9/11 hit I was in Los Angeles (being from NY) I felt it deeply. I lost a cousin in 9/11. God Bless America and God Bless TON. Peter we will never forget you.
ReplyDeleteFriends, genuine friends, are attracted by a warm heart, not money, not power. A genuine friend considers you as just another human being, as a brother or sister, and shows affection on that level, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, or in a high position; that is a genuine friend. Dalai Lama
ReplyDeletePeter was a true real deeply committed friend.
Relationships are eternal. Not just permenent in this lifetime. Once you establish a relationship it is an eternal relationship. We will never abandon that friendship/love for Peter..NEVER....Blessings to you in Heaven Peter. We miss you.
Although I prefer Pete's work in TON, I do own both Carnivore cds and get kick out of listening to them every now and then. I love the fusion of hardcore and metal they were doing, brings to mind what Corrosion of Conformity were doing back then also, wondered if they ever did any shows together, now that would've been AWESOME!! Love the video, excellent quailty for the age of it. Thanks again. (-)
ReplyDeleteSo, lyrics. Seriously. Never take them seriously. Unless it's a self-professed political band. C'mon. It's all fun and entertainment.
ReplyDeletei always wanted to see them live in new york.my son lived in manhattan and then in bay ridge brooklyn and whenever i went there i would look to see what was playing where, but just never got that lucky. this is an excellent video,i enjoy both type o and carnivore,peter was extremly talented the first time i saw type o live i was mesmerized,never saw anything like it, never will again sadly.
ReplyDeleteHi Darcie--
ReplyDeleteI, too, have always wondered where Peter and the band was on 9/11 and their reaction(s) to it.
Keep up the great stories.
Love & Gratitude--Patty P
Thank you for sharing this - great story. And yes it's interesting how media can manipulate art - I mean I got into Carnivore when I was 17 yo and living in Europe but things like that this could be some kind of racist thing really never came into my mind & I remember so well the first TON tour over here - another story of it's own. Ridiculous as hate and all it's side effects itself what media can create. Peter was so talented - this shows off thru all his work so well - as stated so many times - unmatched..
ReplyDeleteRose - I love the post of the Dalai Lama - so true.
Much love & respect to all of you
-Sabine-
I loved the song Race War since I was a teenager and even then totally understood the connection, but nothing can properly convey my disgust when this song was played live, seeing a wave of skinheads, the very embodiment of ignorance and stupidity, rallying behind this song when Carnivore performed it at Allentown, PA in '06. The song being performed and the crowd receiving it was a paradoxical situation for sure; the same ideas Pete had written about was still very much active in the new millennium. Some things truly never change.
ReplyDelete