World Coming Down

For the song by Billy Idol, see Devil's Playground.

World Coming Down
Studio album by Type O Negative
Released	September 21, 1999
Genre	Gothic metal, doom metal
Length	73:58
Label	Roadrunner Records
Producer	Peter Steele and Josh Silver
Type O Negative chronology
October Rust (1996)October Rust1996 World Coming Down (1999) The Least Worst Of (2000)The Least Worst Of2000
Singles from World Coming Down
"Creepy Green Light" Released: 1999 "Everyone I Love Is Dead" Released: 1999 "Everything Dies" Released: 1999

World Coming Down is the fifth studio album by the Brooklyn band Type O Negative. It is considered to be the darkest of the band's releases,^[1] having been written after a series of deaths in frontman Peter Steele's family. It was also the band's first album to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard 200.

Music and lyrics

As with the band's previous album, October Rust, this album also has a "joke intro": in this case, "Skip It", 11 seconds of staccato band noise, meant to sound as if the listener's CD player is skipping. Cassette versions had the noise of a tape being "eaten" by the tape player. The track ends with what is presumably the band's guitarist, Kenny Hickey, shouting, "Sucker!"

The first song, "White Slavery", deals with cocaine addiction. Two other songs, "Everyone I Love Is Dead" and "Everything Dies", touch on the difficulties of watching family members and loved ones die. Another track, "Who Will Save the Sane?", which deals with mental illness and psychiatry, incorporates, among other oddities, Peter Steele reciting the number pi to 9 decimal places (3.141592653).

The album contains three "soundscape" tracks, which are named after internal organs, as segues between songs. Each of these songs is intended to suggest the possibilities of the deaths the members of the band may have suffered at the time: "Sinus" as death from cocaine use, "Liver" as death through alcohol abuse and "Lung" as death from smoking. In an ironic foreboding, Steele once told a close friend that he could not bear to listen to "Sinus" after it was mixed and completed, because the sound of the heartbeat escalating to its furious pace after the cocaine-snorting sound effect actually drove him to the point of an anxiety attack because of its realism.

Also included at the end of the album is a cover song, a medley of three Beatles songs. An additional song recorded during the album sessions, "12 Black Rainbows," was issued as the B-side for the "Everything Dies" single;^[2] later, it was included on the compilation album The Least Worst Of with two other unreleased tracks from the same sessions ("It's Never Enough" and "Stay Out of My Dreams").^[3]

The reversed vocal technique of backmasking is used in several places on the album; some segments are more audibly apparent than others. In particular, backmasking during the intro section of "Creepy Green Light", which was originally titled "Spooky Green Light", refers to a third-person "spell" of a friend's intention to be reunited with a dead spouse.

Following its release the members of Type O Negative had mixed opinions about the music on World Coming Down. Keyboardist and producer Josh Silver felt that the music was strong, while vocalist, bass guitarist and principal songwriter Peter Steele said the songs were too strongly connected to an uncomfortable period in his life. Live shows performed since the initial tour to support World Coming Down usually had very few, if any, selections from the album in the set list. However, the band often played the song "World Coming Down" in its entirety during the Dead Again tour.

The album cover features a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Chronicles of Chaos	(10/10) [5]
The Daily Vault	B[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]

World Coming Down received mostly positive reviews. AllMusic critic Steve Huey gave the album a 4-out-of-5 star rating.^[4] Adam Wasylyk of Chronicles of Chaos gave World Coming Down a very positive review: "An album that won't be ignored, it's my favourite album of 1999. Hands down."^[5] Christopher Thelen of The Daily Vault called the album "a great listen" and wrote that "for the most part", World Coming Down "suggests that" Type O Negative "is doing things right".^[6] The Washington Post's Mark Jenkins wrote that Type O Negative "...shows some unexpected warmth" on the album, adding that "Much of the album thuds and growls, but the refrain of "Pyretta Blaze" is genuinely catchy."^[8]

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Steele, except where noted.

Credits

• Peter Steele – lead vocals, bass guitar, additional electric guitar & keyboards
• Kenny Hickey – backing vocals, co-lead vocals (on "World Coming Down" and "All Hallows Eve"), electric guitar
• Josh Silver – backing vocals, keyboards, sound effects
• Johnny Kelly – backing vocals, drums, percussion

Charts

References