HIM - Razorblade Romance

Even though H.I.M.'s main goal seemed to be gaining attention from the female audience, Greatest Lovesongs 666 was artistically, but maybe not so musically, a success. The contrast between Razorblade Romance and their debut, however, is quite insurmountable. While Greatest Lovesongs 666 has a truly pressuring atmosphere all the time, Razorblade Romance’s melancholy and angst, although a little artificial here, forgets all about that. The whole concept of gothic rock and so-called love metal repeats itself many times during the album but the songs themselves are actually very good; when ignoring the implementation. Hit songs like "Join Me in Death" and "Right Here in My Arms" work really nicely and the horrendous clichés in lyrics and playing don't really matter. The slightly over-produced sound may distract for a while, but after all, the song material is of a kind that is hard to fit, because H.I.M. recycles it so well, into a demanding format.

HIM - Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666

After my Hanoi Rocks post from last year, I suppose you could have expected this. Well, who am I to challenge your expectations?  

Now you wouldn't expect a lot from a band whose debut album is entitled Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666, but H.I.M. surprises in a very positive way. H.I.M.'s stigma of so-called "love metal" is actually undeserved and relates only to Ville Valo's love-oriented lyrics; the music itself combines metal with '80s rock and some goth influences, and the album as a whole has a very diverse sound. Songs such as "The Beginning of the End" and "It's All Tears" especially prove that H.I.M. can do a lot better than their poor single track "When Love and Death Embrace." Two cover songs on a nine-track debut album might be too much, but Ville Valo seems to beg the difference. In fact, H.I.M.'s versions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" are very idiosyncratic and fit very well on Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666. "Wicked Game," especially, is somehow even better than Isaak's original version, or at least it proves that H.I.M. does have a sense for dynamics instead of playing just quiet or loud, which is pretty typical of H.I.M.'s contemporaries. "Don't Fear the Reaper" intriguingly reduces the volume at the end of the album and the female vocals and piano add hopeful tenderness. Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 succeeds in pleasing everyone, whether they're into rock or pop.