The Origin of the Feces

The Origin of the Feces is the second studio album by the Brooklyn band Type O Negative, which was released in 1992.

The Origin of the Feces
Studio album by Type O Negative
Released	May 12, 1992
Recorded	October 31, 1991
Studio	Systems Two, Brooklyn, New York
Genre	Gothic metal, doom metal
Length	43:28
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	P. T. Barnum, Peter Steele, Josh Silver
Type O Negative chronology
Slow, Deep and Hard (1991) The Origin of the Feces (1992) Bloody Kisses (1993)
Reissue cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Q	[2]

Recording and production

The album was recorded in a studio but produced to sound "live" by adding crowd noises, banter with the fictitious audience, and even a song stopping because the venue supposedly had received a bomb threat. This was done to simulate some controversy the band had on tour in Europe for the Slow, Deep and Hard tour. The band is well known among fans for weaving this type of dry humor into their often gloomy music.

Album content

Some of the songs are fresh arrangements of tracks that had appeared already on Slow, Deep and Hard. Four of the song's titles have been deliberately renamed:

- "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity" = "I Know You're Fucking Someone Else"

- "Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 x 10-8 cm-3 gm-1 sec-2" = "Gravity"

- "Prelude to Agony" = "Pain"

- "Xero Tolerance" = "Kill You Tonight"

One song, "Are You Afraid?", is an original composition that the band played live but had never recorded in the studio. It points towards the gothic sound they developed on their next album, Bloody Kisses.

This album also started the tradition of Type O Negative including cover songs stylized in their distinct gothic metal sound. The album includes covers of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (which halfway through contains the main riff of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"), and Billy Roberts' "Hey Joe", which has been re-titled "Hey Pete" for frontman Peter Steele. The reprise of "Kill You Tonight" has a sample of the closing piano strike from The Beatles' "A Day in the Life".

P. T. Barnum is credited as a producer for the record.

Packaging

The original cover of the album has a closeup of Steele's anal sphincter.[3] This was changed for the re-issue two years later, to a green and black version of the 1493 painting by Michael Wolgemut, The Dance of Death. The album's title is an obvious pun and a reference to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

In addition to the re-issue's cover, other artwork included in the album's sleeve/liner notes is the famous 1498 woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Track listing

All lyrics and music by Peter Steele, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Know You're Fucking Someone Else"	15:02
2.	"Are You Afraid?"	2:13
3.	"Gravity"	7:13
4.	"Pain"	4:41
5.	"Kill You Tonight"	2:17
6.	"Hey Pete" (Billy Roberts, new lyrics by Peter Steele)	5:10
7.	"Kill You Tonight (Reprise)"	7:08

Bonus track (album repressing)

No.	Title	Length
8.	"Paranoid" (Black Sabbath cover)	7:20

Credits

• Peter Steele – lead vocals, bass guitar
• Kenny Hickey – backing vocals, co-lead vocals (on "Hey Pete"), electric guitar
• Josh Silver – backing vocals, keyboards, sound effects
• Sal Abruscato – drums, percussion
• Johnny Kelly – drums, percussion (on "Paranoid")

Notes

1. Huey, Steve. "Type O Negative - The Origin of the Feces". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
2. "Type O Negative - The Origin of the Feces". Q: 128. April 2001.
3. "The Greatest Album Covers in Roadrunner History. #1 - Type O Negative Bloody Kisses". Roadrunner Records. YouTube. March 25, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2016.