Him - Love Metal
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Free Music Notes for Love Metal
Free Music Review: One of the greatest albums by one of the greatest bands.
Hit: 5 Stars
H.I.M. are a very good group of musicians from Finland. After a great start in Europe, a couple of their cds, mainly Razorblade Romance, were released stateside. Now, in 2005, we have "Love Metal", as I call it, a mixture of soft tones and hard tones in a perfect "marriage" on one disk.
The step by step review:
1: "Buried Alive By Love" - A great opener, sort of a reminisce of "Your Sweet Six Six Six" or "I Love You (Prelude To Tragety). This song does not fit into the rest of the album though, but it is strong. 86/100%
2. "The Funeral Of Hearts" - The complete opposite of "Buried Alive By Love". Listen to Ville's absolute beautiful vocals dance side by side with the guitaring and Burton's drums. A perfect example of a ballad. 97/100%
3. "Beyond Redemption" - This song is more of a follow-up of the song before it. The lyrics are the star of the song. One listen of the chorus will have you singing along everytime you listen to it. 80/100%
4. "Sweet Pandemonium" - "Sweet Pandemonium" blends, yet again, beautiful lyrics while having guitar buildups by the barrels. The drumming does not change too much. The best parts are near the end of the song, where the entire band releases strong energy and provides a very exciting closer. 98/100%
5. "Soul On Fire" - This song is a small reminisce of "Buried Alive By Love". It is also good for listening everywhere. An absolute exciting package in this song. The chorus is argueably the best on the entire album. 93/100%
6. "The Sacrament" - The piano at the beginning instantly tells the listener what kind of song this is: excellent. The only word you need for this song is "excellent". 92/100%
7. "This Fortress Of Tears" - This song instantly tears up my eyes. Tears of joy, that is. The entire song, beginning to end, is a masterpiece. 100/100%
8. "Circle Of Fear" - The first thing that comes to my mind when hearing this song is a live concert, with the lead guitarist having several lights shining down on him at the beginning, then when he slows down and plays the incredible riff, the crowd explodes. Ville's vocals are not the best on this song, but they instantly match the supurb guitaring. This should of been a single. 99/100%
9. "Endless Dark" - After the incredible song on the track before it, the Finnish band presses out another showstopper, this one named "Endless Dark". I am not sure why this song is at the end, though. It could of been at the beginning. Oh well. 85/100%
10. "The Path" - This is it, the most perfect song of the 2004/2005 album release list. A modern masterpiece that should not go unlistened. A ballad one listen, a fan favorite the second, a love song the third. "The Path" is a title that is clear to the song, this song is a path into greatness. 100/100%
Free Music Review: Best of the HIM albums.....so far
Hit: 5 Stars
This is by far the best of the HIM albums. I bought it on import about a year ago, so it's had time to sink in, and i honestly believe they have never done better. "Buried Alive By Love" is a very strong opening, kicking things off to a rather fast start, much unlike anything on "Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights". The band then goes into "The Funeral of Hearts", one of the most beautifully written HIM songs ever written. Valo and co. then go into the faster paced "Beyond Redemption", another song similar in speed and heaviness to "Buried Alive By Love", but with more synth. We then go into "Sweet Pandemonium", which goes back to the slower tempo's of "The Funeral of Hearts". "Pandemonium" has somewhat of an old school rock vibe to it, and is a very enjoyable listen. In case you haven't noticed, this cd seems to have a fast-slow-fast-slow pattern, and the next track is no exception. "Soul On Fire" is probably the fastest, heaviest, most guitar oriented song the band has ever recorded. This is my personal favorite song on this cd. Next, we move onto "The Sacrament" which starts off with a beautiful piano intro, before lauching into one of Valo's most romantic songs ever. As we progress to "This Fortress of Tears", we see an end of the slow-fast pattern. This song is slower, and somewhat reminiscent of old 70's rock and roll. Overall, this is the worst song on the album in my opinion, and just sounds like a filler. As we leave the fortress of tears, we move into "Circle of Fear", the second best song on the album. This is a mid-paced rocker with a slight middle eastern influence on the guitars. Valo performs exceptionally well here, he really makes you feel his love for the nameless person of whom he writes about. Next, we have "Endless Dark", which is a typical faster paced song, and another exceptional performance by Valo. As this amazing album comes to a close, we have one last song, "The Path", a 7 minute epic, amazingly composed and performed here. This is probably one of the best closing tracks i've ever heard. So, all in all, this is by far the best album HIM has ever penned. Hopefully they can raise the bar even higher in October, when they come back with their first offical american release. I hope that this review will help you decide to pay the $15 to be blown away by this amazing album. Trust me, you won't regret it.Free Music Review: HIM's Latest Rocker
Hit: 5 Stars
Universal Music has been doing a great job of getting the music of His Infernal Majesty to the listeners in the U.S.A. They are also doing it in a manner that seems to keep the group in the public eye. Every couple of months a release that has been out in Europe arrives here. The latest addition to this list is "Love Metal" and clearly this is the band at their most polished. Fans who enjoyed "Razorblade Romance" will find a lot of the same type of driving material on this piece. It is a little more straight forward than "Deep Shadows Brilliant Highlights" was and makes for a good overall listen.
Kicking it right into gear is "Buried Alive By Love" which is a tune that brings to mind the killer tracks of early Idol and shows quickly how Ville has become the favored showman that he is. It is perhaps my favorite of the entire piece. "Soul On Fire" (often a concert closer) is a nice quick piece that ebbs and flows until its crashing end. The thing I enjoy most about the music of HIM is its use of these kind of feels, going from slow and moody to often a kicking piece. Sometimes this is employed together and for them it does the trick. "Sacrament" is a big fan favorite and I think this is one of the smoothest tracks on the CD.
As with many HIM releases there are a good amount of slower moodier numbers. "Funeral Of Hearts" and "Fortress Of Tears" best epitomize the gloom and doom side of Ville as he sings of love and loss (his oft recurring themes in his music). The enclosed booklet is full of the lyrics for the tracks (again done in apparently Ville's hand writing style). A little tricky to read and there are also photos of the members. The cover is interesting for it showcases in bright Gold, the famous "Heartagram" logo that they band is known for. I give the band credit for this instantly identifiable symbol because it very simply works.
The lineup has not changed with Burton, Gas, Mige, Linde and Ville still bringing you their stylish Gothic Music or "Love Metal" as its become known. I recommend this for new fans especially since it is very easy to enjoy the release.
Free Music Review: Surprisingly good
Hit: 5 Stars
I gotta admit I never been a big fan of HIM. I have heard samples of their previous albums and never been too impressed. I did love their song for the "Resident Evil: Apopcalypse" soundtrack "Join Me in Death". That was my first time I heard HIM's music which led me to listen to samples of their music. Unfortunately I wasn't too thrilled with what I heard..until I heard "Love Metal". I wasn't big on the opening track "Buried Alive By Love". It was ok but lacked a good melody. For me that was the weakest track on the album. The song that I did love at first listen was "The Funeral of Hearts". It eerily sounded like "Join Me in Death". I don't know if that really is a good thing because it shows the lack of originality when an artist takes a hit song and re-write it all over again but with different lyrics. Good song but it just sounded a little too much like "Join Me in Death". "Soul on Fire" is another favorite song off the album. I love the combination of acoustic and electric guitars with keyboards. Ville's vocals are intoxicating and is like liquid gold when I listen to this song. His vocals are so easy on the ears. It is so nice to listen to a male vocalist who doesn't scream and actually sings like Ville does. Too many guys in metal nowadays screams too much. The rest of the album is really good. Very melodic yet plenty heavy. Unfortunately the biggest flaw with the album is the silly song titles and lyrics. Songs such as "Beyond Redemption" and "Endless Dark" really sounds cheesy and could be part of some corny modern day vampire flick, then again Inkubus Sukkubus could be accused for writing cheesy songs as well. Nevertheless I really did enjoy "Love Metal". It is nice to be proven wrong by a band I didn't always have a high opinion of.Free Music Review: Sheer class.....Sheer Love Metal
Hit: 5 Stars
I would love to be able to admit to adoring HIM for years and to have discovered their genius by chance but sadly I can't as they were recommended to me by a friend. I asked her if I could borrow "Love Metal"-as she hadn't stopped talking about it for weeks- and she seemed particularly reluctant to part with it. Now I understand why.
Love Metal is a combined work of art and genius. Ville's song writing is brilliant as seen on track such as "Funeral of Hearts", "The Path" or "Circle of Fear". His lyrics are thought provoking, emotional and stir emotion in even the coldest of hearts. He can move you to tears with a verse, or provoke memories of lost love and lust. He has an amazing voice which is equally good live. The musicianship from Gas, Linde, Burton and Migé is brilliant.
For example on "Funeral Of Hearts" the lyrics are timeless and I challenge you to find more poetic and unforgettable lyrics than these "She was the wind, carrying in/All the troubles and fears here for years tried to forget/He was the fire, restless and wild/And you were a moth to that flame".
It is impossible on this album to pick out stand out tracks as each track is brilliant, my personal favorites are "Circle of Fear" and the epic closing track "The Path"
Please do not buy this album because the heartagram looks cool (which admittedly it does) or because Bam Margera is an obsessed fan (not too dissimilar to me in that respect). Buy it because it is brilliant.