My two cents on HIM music and releases
Hey sweeties. Since things have been going pretty slow lately and I’m getting depressed because of the lack of HIM related news (and everlong absence of Ville), I wanted to share with you some more joyful stuff such as what I think about every HIM era and what my HIM journey has been like. Please feel free to comment and give feedback on that matter!
Disclaimer: I am no music specialist but I believe I am entitled my opinion. Since we all like (and sometimes dislike) HIM music for different reasons, I just thought it’d be an interesting topic to share about on this community. Legality isn't mine.
666 Ways To Love : Prologue
I’ve never liked the EP too much. “Wicked game” is cool but I prefer the RR version. The video for that song is really odd in my opinion, the “grey” one with some goth chicks and snow I mean. I’ve always thought funny the part where Ville is singing and waving his head in a miserably failed attempt to get his hair out of the way.
Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
I’m obsessed with “For you” and the acoustic version is just as good as the original. “When love and death embrace” is another one of my favourites, although the video bores me a little. I like how deep Ville’s voice is in the chorus of “Your sweet 666”. I am in love with Ville’s clumsy accent back in that era. There’s an expression for that in French, that he speaks like he has a potato in his mouth. That must be because his pronunciation used to be sharp rather than smooth.
Razorblade Romance
“Gone with the sin” has touched me more than any other song. I love the videos but I like the Andy Warhol colored-like one the best. The orchestra version is great as well but of course I’m biased since I used to play in one for a while. I’ve heard “Bury me deep inside your heart” is not as positive as it might seem. I’ve always liked the slow pace and rough guitar in that song. And it looks like a nice song to dance a slow to! “Heaven tonight” has always reminded me of Bon Jovi because it’s similar in sound to “Living on a prayer”. “One last time” is dear to me as well, probably because it sounds so soft and gentle. I’ve always thought hilarious that a verse in that song (Is it so hard to believe our hearts are made to be broken by love) is exactly the same as one in the “9th circle” (Is it so hard to believe the hearts are made to be broken). I really love Ville’s deep voice in “I love you (prelude to tragedy)”. Of course I like “Right here in my arms” because it’s one of the few songs I remember I had heard years ago before I really got into HIM. Overall there are a lot of songs I like in RR because it sounds very different from anything I’ve ever heard. Weirdly enough though it’s not an album I listen to casually very often, probably because the melodies are so catchy that I got a bit tired of them.
Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights
That’s an album I go back to all the time. There are a lot of songs I really love in there. To give you an idea, my iPod tells me I’ve raped the repeat button more than 20 times in a few months while listening to “Close to the flame” (The kiss sweetest / And touch so warm / The smile kindest / In this world so cold and cruel // The arms safest / And words all good / The faith deepest / In this world so cold and cruel), “In joy and sorrow” (Oh girl we are the same / We are young and lost and so afraid // We are strong and blessed and so brave / With souls to be saved / And faith regained / All our tears wiped away), “Pretending” (Trust is a word all lovers know / The glorious art of staining souls, my darling) “Love you like I do” (great weepy voice and guitar playing) and “Please don’t let it go”. And I wasn’t listening to all of these in a row ;) I never get tired of these and the acoustic versions are just as addictive, particularly the two first ones and “Please don’t let it go” (amazing guitar playing). Again the songs are unusual and experimental as opposed to most rock bands. You know I can’t think of any other rock band playing bongos or whatever like in “Please don’t let it go”. I love that album because it’s the only one that has a softer sound full of melancholy without being really poppy (referring to RR or Screamworks) or commercial sounding (referring to Dark Light). I’m also fond of the imagery in that era because of the jacket and the rings. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t many interviews in that era. I’ve heard the making of this album was really tedious and that some cat fights happened within the band around that time.
Love Metal
That’s an album I feel a bit puzzled about. While it’s my favourite era as far as Ville’s look and behaviour in interviews go, I don’t really love the songs (keep in mind I like everything HIM does nonetheless). None have really caught me besides “Sweet pandemonium”, “The funeral of hearts”, “The sacrament” and the lyrics in “The path”. I think the chorus in “The funeral of hearts” is one of the best Ville came up with. It really stuck in my head and the video is great.
And Love Said No
I don’t really care for the two original songs so the album doesn’t appeal to me since all the songs are the same and I don’t have a copy to look at the booklet or anything.
Dark Light
It’s my least favourite album besides the ones prior to RR. I like “Under the rose” (lyrics are great), “Vampire heart” (intro is lovely) and “Venus (in cold blood)” is my favourite out of the whole album but that’s about it. “Rip out the wings of a butterfly” is another song I knew of before I got into HIM but that’s probably because HIM got big in America at the time and I’m from Canada so... That era annoys me a little because Ville was hanging out with Bam and drinking a lot so once you’ve seen the messing around, there is not much interesting stuff left to watch in my opinion. I just don’t like the way the American vibe in Dark Light reminds me of flavourless bands like Linkin Park and Nickelback. I don’t know, I feel like it’s missing an edge or something. It’s faithful to HIM in sound, but it’s not catchy like DSABH is to me.
Venus Doom
It’s my favourite album. It’s full of great riffs and it lacks all the bubbly poppy stuff from RR and Dark Light. Linde is after all a very talented guitar player so it’s nice to change things up a bit and make him play rougher and more elaborated stuff for once. Ville described it all right in my opinion when he said : “We wanted [Venus Doom] to have more of a My Dying Bride slow, doomy, a lot of fuzzy guitars, and you know kind of sludgy production as well. Something a bit more spooky, less to the center, kooky, more sound-tracky, fucked up. Just a weird, eccentric album.” I love every song in the album but I’ve listened the most to “Sleepwalking past hope” (the intro will forever be close to my heart) and “Cyanide sun” (Should have known how hard it’s to stop tearing each other apart / Separating souls entwined with all these labyrinthine lies // The emptiness I’ve made my home / Embracing memories of dreams long gone / One last caress from the corpse of love / Is all I want underneath the cyanide sun). I’m a little disappointed in the videos in that era since the “Bleed well” one is so simple that it only leaves me with “Kiss of dawn”. Every time I see that video, it’s with a more sensitive feel because I remember it was shot a day or so after Ville came out of rehab. And since it’s about Ville’s friend whom committed suicide, it sounds more personal and endearing to me. The only downside to this era is that Ville looks depressed obviously before the album was released and after that as well. He looks completely drained and demotivated in the last interviews. I’m talking about the ones where Ville’s face is emaciated and pale, he has dark circles, his hair is in a bun, he’s wearing old school hats, he’s covered with layers and layers of clothes, he looks really absent-minded and he’s constantly alternating between drinking something (coffee or a cup of tea usually) and smoking a fag. These interviews make me sad.
Screamworks : Love In Theory And Practice
It’s a really catchy album. I like the videos for “Shatter me with hope” and “Heartkiller” a lot. However the latter has traumatized me because Ville was so sickly skinny and frail-looking. Fortunately enough it’s the one and only video I watch while constantly thinking “He needs to be fed ASAP”. Besides that, I don’t really care for the other videos. Most of them bore me. Overall “Acoustic funeral (for love in limbo)” is the song that catches me the most because I like the rhythm in how Ville sings the chorus and the lyrics are lovely (On the verge of a vow to kill all reason locking that door / To a nightmare within a nightmare we are bound to adore / Let the pleasure in the shape of a heart lie to me and finally confirm all fears to be so real). I’ve been a bit obsessed with “The foreboding sense of impending happiness” because again, it’s very catchy. I like the synth stuff and the lyrics, although I would have liked more verses. I think Screamworks is an album you need to be in the mood to listen to because it’s faster in pace and poppier than the other ones - and it does sound a bit 80s like Ville mentioned. His interviews in that era always feel good to watch because he looks healthy and usually well-rested and he’s cracking some jokes. He looks in peace with himself and in a good place in his life.