Being a long time fan of Type O Negative and their unique style of music, I was a little skeptical about getting the remixed version of Cinnamon Girl, in the past remixes of Type O Negative’s music have either been stellar or a complete waste of my time. After hearing so many people talk about the remix and how I needed to hear it I finally broke down and ordered it from an online site that advertised a new copy for $5.99. I should have known it was too good to be true. When it arrived it wasn’t a new copy, in fact, the CD was so scratched up that it skipped through both tracks. Calling their customer service department resulted in a headache, 20 minutes of my life I’ll never get back and the p*ss-poor answer, “It wasn’t listed as a new item, you purchased a used CD and we aren’t responsible for scratches. Clean your CD player and see if that helps”. After that little ordeal I called my credit card company, explained the situation to them and they said they would argue the charges for me. It’s still up in the air whether or not they will replace the CD with a new one but I’ll be damned if I am going to pay for a CD that doesn’t even play.

Fate must have been following me that day, as I explained all of this to a friend who works at a used CD store someone came in looking to sell off about 50 CD’s for cash. Yeap, you guessed it, this was one of the CD’s in the stack. Not being one to challenge fate, I offered to purchase it from him for $5.00 providing that it was in good condition and didn’t skip. Now I am kicking myself for not picking this up sooner, from now on I’ll listen to what the hard-core fans of Type O have to say … even if it means having to scour the used CD shops to get my fix. Now, on the same token, if you are just a “casual fan” of the group chances are this single won’t really appeal to you. That’s usually the case with remixes, maxi singles and import versions – they just aren’t worth the price if you aren’t a die-hard junkie of the group or artist. If you already have the parent CD, October Rust, you already know what you are getting with this single ….


Tracks

Cinnamon Girl [Depressed Mode Mix]
Love You To Death [Edited Version]

The Music

As I mentioned, I was a little hesitant about purchasing this. Some of the remixes of Type O’s music are excellent and others do nothing more than ruin the song. Cinnamon Girl starts off strong and you get the impression that the entire track is going to be hard-core, sadly, it isn’t. That’s doesn’t mean that it sucks – not in the least, but it loses a lot of the intensity that you get from the initial impression. This is definitely better than other covers they’ve done [cough Black Sabbath cough] but not as impressive as others. It’s rumored that Neil Young didn’t really care for their take on the song but for all we know, Neil could have been rocking out to it. The one downside to this is that it’s a short track – about four minutes from start to finish. I really expected a little more from a remix version and the next time I see Peter Steele I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind about it. The song itself has a dark feel to it but it combined with a strong, consistent beat – sort of like the old White Zombie music before Rob went all weird on us. I really wish the track would have retained the attitude it gives of in the introduction but as a whole, it’s a great track and Steele’s vocals are exceptional as usual.

A dreamer of pictures I run in the night …
You see us together … chase the moonlight

Love You To Death is simply a phenomenal track, even in its slightly edited form. To me this is one of the few songs that captures the true essence of the band and what they are capable of. Also taken from the October Rust release, this is by far a song that has really grown on me over the past year or so. It takes equal measures of obsession, sensuality, pain and pleasure and combines them into one hell of a haunting track. As I’ve mentioned on more than a few occasions, I never really gave other Type O Negative releases the credit they were rightfully due and this song was one that was overlooked on more than a few occasions. You can read the lyrics and come up with your own take on it – but any way you slice it – it’s a celebration of the pleasure one can derive from giving or receiving pain. I’ve you’ve never given this song an honest chance and own the parent CD, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Trust me, the freak, you won’t regret it.

I beg to serve … your wish is my law
Now close those eyes and let me love you to death


Things To Know

If you are a true Type O Negative fan this will make a great addition to your collection but if you want something a little special try hunting down the European release of this. While this alternate version lacks Love You To Death, it does have four different versions of Cinnamon Girl including an extended version of the remix. Your best bet on getting this is to contact an overseas music broker or try to find a local store that can order it for you. You’ll probably end up paying about seven or eight dollars more for it but it is well worth it if you consider yourself an extreme fan of the group. Make sure you are getting an official copy and always ask about the cover art [should be red and orange flame with a silhouette of a naked and rather well developed woman].

The Bottom Line

This is a must have for extreme fans of the group but unless you really love the group, you won’t get much from this single. I was really impressed with the remixed, albeit a little on the short side, version
of Cinnamon Girl and hold it in the same ranks as their other covers like Summer Breeze. After the aggravation I went through to get the first copy it seemed to me that the second one was literally dropped in my lap. While I have a few personal issues with the track length of Cinnamon Girl and why they chose to feature the edited version of Love You To Death, I have to highly recommend this to fans of the group. Be sure to keep an eye out for the import … it’s well worth the few extra bucks!


As always, thanks for the read!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369


Singles
Black No. 1, Summer Breeze, Love You To Death, Christian Woman, My Girlfriend's Girlfriend, Everything Dies, Cinnamon Girl

CD's
October Rust, Bloody Kisses, Life Is Killing Me, World Coming Down, Slow, Deep And Hard, The Least Worst of Type O Negative, Life Is Killing Me – Import Version

Video
Type O Negative: After Dark
Symphony For The Devil

Editorial
Blood. Sex. Fire. Lust & Immortality
The Best of Type O: Peter Steele Naked










Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Romancing