Razorblade Romance

H.I.M.

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 2003)
• Original Release Date: November 21, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B0000DJYO6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,247 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have a chance, you should definitely check H.I.M. out, March 10, 2004

By	George Dionne (Cape Cod, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIM is finally in the U.S.!, October 28, 2003

By	Sporadic (Here, at my computer...) - See all my reviews

HIM's second release is finally re-released in the U.S. (again). This version is a little different from the original European releases because it includes the classic Chris Isaak cover Wicked Game, and the song Your Sweet 666 both off of HIM's first CD (Greatest Lovesongs Volume 666)
So many people with different music preferabilities enjoy HIM. They are the perfect mix of metal and love ballads, (hence their musical label of Love Metal, which also happens to be their newest album released in europe) This CD has the perfect mix of fast catchy music to the slow love songs, and Ville Valo's voice is wonderful. He can hit so many notes...About this CD being parental advisory: Ignore it, the PA is on their because of song number 3. Join Me (In Death) which is metaphorical, but the label insisted it was a song hinting suicide. But if you are ready for a change, definalty check out this CD, and look out for HIM, because they are definatly going to blow up.

BUY IT NOW!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Decadent... like rock used to be, August 2, 2004

By	Michael J Harper "Luxuriate" (Covina, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is always something when a band works, especially where its band members have diffrent music taste can actually combine and create something unique.

The "goths" want dark, vampire-esotera and they want it now. The "metalheads" want screeching vocals and mechanistic, precision drumming and now. And the "glam rockers" want thier gutter elegance idols and trashy glamour now. The rest of us without the pretentious kiddy lable can do all of that and put each scene in a blender and be happy.

This all afforded HIM a great opportunity to smash some walls, unfortunately to the dismay of too many scenesters that cannot see beyond thier noses and evolve thier taste.

Then you end up in reality and without scenester polotics with HIM... HIM have a simple sound and driving rythems. They have tastes of glam/metal/dirgish-goth and they do this sound with such a pop hook catchyness its infectious.

Ville Valo sings with such vocal flair its like watching David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Stephen Tyler, Mick Jagger strut the stage with real rock and roll style.

If you like HIM at all chances are they will grow on you as time goes on. New crossing of music styles can be like tasting a new wine... you've never tasted anything like it and then you realize thats quite possibly the reason you want another taste of it.