Him - Razorblade Romance
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Free Music Notes for Razorblade Romance
Free Music Review: Absolutely Stunning
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm a recent fan, but Razorblade Romance is by far their best album. To me, these songs grasp me and I find myself humming the melodies over and over. Ville's voice is haunting but beautiful at the same time, and he sounds different in every track, in my opinion. Wicked Game was a great cover for Chris Isaak's original. It made the song sound so much more haunting. I also think Linde and Mige, the guitarist and bassist deserve a round of applause. They make the melodies look so easy to play. I have to say that the best songs are Join Me in Death, Wicked Game, and Your Sweet Six Six Six. You won't be dissapointed with this album!!!
PS: I really have to say that I am EXTREMELY insulted by the immature reviews on other pages saying that HIM is for preteens who were sucked into "this garbage because they have nothing else to listen to" and "Goths are just satanist wanabees." I know that's your opinion, but please take others into consideration. I'm 13, and yeah I admit, I am the stereotypical goth, but I do not love Satan. Please refrain from calling the way people live sucky. This is the definition of a Goth, and I believe that this is what makes HIM "gothic."
"The central Ideal that characterizes Goth is an almost compulsive drive towards creativity and self-expression that seeks to reach out and ensnare its audience using our current society's covert but deeply rooted fascination with all things dark and frightening. This act can be either subtle and seducing or nightmarishly terrifying, but it must play on what society secretly knows but can not acknowledge to itself about its duality. The mediums of self-expression and creation can be anything from a mode of dress to novels or music. Imagination and originality have always been key elements in Goth.
As a lifestyle, Goth is as diversified as its adherents. There really is no true unifying stereotype or dress code as it were. Not all Goths are depressed, nor do they all wear black, listen to the same music, or employ the same modes of self-expression. This tends to make Goth-spotting a little tricky and creates part of the tangled confusion over what it is to begin with, but this diversity also is one of the defining factors."
So before you critizise HIM, read that.
Free Music Review: So far the best HIM has offered us
Hit: 5 Stars
After reading quite a few of the reviews for this album, it became painfully clear that music can never please everyone. When you write a review, I feel that the minimun requirement would be an objective viewpoint. If you don't like an album or a movie, take a step back, look at where you are coming from(culturally) and from where the album is coming from. I agree on the fact that some albums suck, no matter what your viewpoint is, but seeing that there have been plenty of favorable reviews toward this album, one should understand that maybe its not the only truth that an album sucks.
I rate this as the best album HIM has made. Its full of songs that could be used as singles, and still it maintains a certain balance between heavier and softer songs. This might not be Metal in the traditional sense, but Love Metal is the genre for this. Right now "Gone With The Sin", "Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart" and "Wicked Games" stand out as the best. Earlier it was "Poison Girl" and "Right Here In My Arms", so its quite obvious that this album has hit material. So much has been said about the songs, I wont bother repeating it once more.
There is a strong melancholy around HIMs music, which obviously is problematic to some of the american listeners. Someone when as far as calling it "cheesy." It might sound cheesy to you, but you have to understand the cultural differences. Finland is a Protestant Country, which means there is a strong understanding of "duty and dedicating yourself for your family, community and country." Finland is also in North Europe, which means winter is long and dark there. These two with other reasons develop a very melancholy and quiet society. The positive and cheerful attitude towards life is strictly a foreign(an american) thing for Finns. So if HIM sounds fake to you, its only because of your background; many american artists sound fake and indifferent to Finns also.
I don't believe HIM can ever reach the larger american audiences simply because it is too far away culturally. Its too "pessimistic", "dark" or "melancholy" to get universal understanding, but to us, who are able to understand the mind-state where these songs are coming from, Razorblade Romance is the album right now.
And this is coming from a guy who normally listen to Jazz and Soul...
Free Music Review: If you have a chance, you should definitely check H.I.M. out
Hit: 5 Stars
What's Good About It?Remember when Billy's chocolate bar fell into Sally's peanut butter? Get you're mind out of the gutter, it's an old Reese's commercial. H.I.M.'s combination of glam and goth are a similar sweet treat. H.I.M. may brandish their music as "love metal," but their not talking about healthy relationships. "Your Sweet Six Six Six" is about an attraction with the spawn of Satan that our singer cannot turn away from. Ville's vocals are seductive and somewhat creepy.
The bass line driven hook of "Poison Girl" delves into the seductive powers of a woman's kiss. If you can't see where these relationships are going yet, you will on "Join Me In Death." Ville transforms into a sinister monster vocally, as the group adds eerie piano to their dark rhythms. My favorite track is a pumped up reworking of the Chris Isaac classic "Wicked Game." You don't know the song? I'll bet you remember the black and white video with the half naked brunette running down the beach. This song about a painful love fits the group's style to a tee. This time around it's darker and heavier.
"Razorblade Kiss" has a rock radio feel to it. It's loaded with razor sharp riffs, a melodic chorus, and a silvery solo section. "Death is in Love With Us" has a more breakneck rhythm to it and we find Ville a little more cocksure in his vocal delivery. How does one end a tortured relationship? "Sigillum Diaboli" answers that question. This track finds the group mixing it up with a little punk rock flow. If you can call it a love ballad, "One Last Time" is an acoustic track with distant, melancholy vocals, which propositions a final affair before these lovers go their separate ways.
Anything Bad?
Could they print the lyrics any smaller?!
Bottom Line
H.I.M.'s combination of deep, seductive, melodic vocals and dark gothic rhythms are a unique twist in the rock genre. Their guitar tone is simply awesome. It's the main reason I liked this CD so much. I can forgive Ville for his brief falsettos. They seem to fit the sinister, tortured love theme he's creating.
Free Music Review: I really like this album
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, I heard HIM a while ago, my ex got it for me about 6 months ago. ****Just a disclaimer, I don't watch TV (Don't have any cable or anything) and I hadn't even HEARD of Bam until I got into college and people that I mentioned HIM to mentioned Bam, I don't even care about skaters or MTV or anything, so my love of this album is not related to the Bam phenomenon or whatever it is*****
Overall, I really like this album. I don't really consider them hardcore because...I duno, it takes a lot for me to think something is hardcore, so if you're looking for some hardcore metal or really 80's sounding glam rock, this probably isn't for you. There are some songs that kind of mesh together and don't sound like much, but give them a break, it's their first album anyway.
1. Sweet 666 - good track, fast song, a personal favorite.
2. Poison Girl - I like this one, fast song.
3. Join Me (In Death) - beautiful melody, slow song, very nice, goth sounding (if you couldn't guess from the title)
4. Right Here In My Arms - fast song, a bit over-hyped, it's still pretty good though
5. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart - semi-slow, pretty good
6. Wicked Game - this is a cover, a fast song, I really like this one, its an awesome cover.
7. I Love You - decent song, not a favorite, fast song, his voice is funky in the chorus
8. Gone With The Sin - a slow one, pretty, fairly goth-sounding
9. Razorblade Kiss - very good song, a favorite, fast song
10. Resurrection - fast song, a favorite
11. Death is in Love With Us - a decent song, fast, they start sounding a bit more meshed, meaning not much sticks out
12. Heaven Tonight - semi-fast song, really good, I like it
13. Sigillum Diaboli - decent, not a favorite, but okay, fast song
14. One Last Time - I like it a lot, good song, slow
If you like this album, check out their others - they have even more awesome songs.
Free Music Review: slit my heart!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
this album is beautiful, a word i use a lot with great great albums. first time i heard of HIM was on this MTV show "Viva La Bam." i didn't know what they were, or who they were, so i went asking around. apparently a lot of people are idiots and slap on a HIM sticker but don't listen to them. so, w/e. i went to a record store the other day, saw HIM, and said what the hell, can't be that bad. bought it, LOVED it. from the reviews i first read before i even bought the album, i knew i was going to like them, but i love them. this goth-rock/love-metal is an excellent mix of everything. you can't really call them metal, you can't really call them goth, you can't really call them punk, thrash, grind, or anything of anything. to be honest, HIM has a very unique sound, not to say there isn't anything else like it, maybe there is, but not to my knowledge. the closest thing i find to HIM overall is this band "The Sins of Thy Beloved", which is a goth-metal band that sings about love, but comparing those two is like comparing apple and pineapple. sure they are both fruits, sure they both say apple, but they are TOTALLY different things. favorite line from this HIM album "will you die for love tonight? won't you die." i love this stuff, it gives metalheads like me a way to sing about love without sounding like a wuss. but it's not all love, HIM is pretty dark lyrically. break down and analyze the songs and you'll probably start finding satanic messages...or not. this album is beautiful, the vocals are seductive, demonic when it is needed, beautiful orchastrated sounding when that is needed. the lead singer is amazing, no vocalist has done the type of thing he does, i like HIM. each song is beautiful but hard enough for you guitar guys to appriciate. after this album, i will for sure shell out those extra 5-10 dollars to catch their import albums. great job, overall, i say buy it whether you like lostprophets or nightwish. you'll like ti.