HIM - For You

I always thought it was bold of HIM to have their debut album titled “Greatest Love Songs Volume 666.” Unless they were implying that, there were six hundred and sixty five other albums before theirs that qualified as the other collection of the greatest love songs ever, then they must have been declaring themselves the pioneers of this feat. Of course, the number choice is obvious, it relates to the beast of many names, the devil.

I talk about Satan a lot on this blog, it is not intentionally but I do.

The devil is not exactly a major influence on Finland’s HIM, rather death and darkness are, and with that it is only natural to include the presence of demonic and hellish themes and references. HIM’s big thing is love and death, most of their songs are about both, but all of them are about at least one of those two things. An intense love song by HIM requires some elements of death and darkness and invoking the number of the beast is a fine way of going about doing that.

Like most debut albums “Greatest Love Songs Volume 666” is raw. A lot of emotion and a lot of fresh imagination is poured into HIM first album and with it the invention of love metal. There is a charm to albums like this and the songs there within. Oftentimes the message will lack symbolism or poetic depth in such albums but the blunt forwardness of these new imagination and new sounds of expression will be such a thoroughly enjoyable new experience that they endear themselves to us more so than later works which prove to be more refined in structure but less powerful in delivery. The emotions and overall content of a song like “For You” does not get much more direct or raw.

Of all the songs on “Greatest Love Songs Volume 666” the two songs that always captured the theme of love metal the best are “When Love and Death Embrace” which is very perfectly about love and death, and “For You,” a demanding love song that either willing or unwilling with be until death to us part.

There are a lot of love songs, and thanks to HIM there are a lot of dark love songs, but there are very few, even in HIM’s repertoire, that are as grim as “For You.” “For You” is not, the utterance of those to words meant as a request for love or even a simple declaration of devotion, in HIM’s song it is a statement of equal parts joy and misery. The very first line says just that:

“In the grace of your love I writhe, writhe in pain.
In six hundred and sixty-six ways I love you and I hope you feel the same.”
Only HIM could make love seem so wonderful and agonizing at the same time. It is in this opening piece that we hear the nice mention of the three digits of the beast. There are not a lot of lyrics in “For You,” the only verse is also only two sentences:

“I'm killing myself for your love and again all is lost.
In seven hundred and seventy-seven ways I love you 'til my death do us apart.”

The rest of singer Ville Valo’s contribution is to repeat, “I’m for you,” and “I’m dying for you love.”

I believe “For You” falls comfortably into the scenario of unrequited love, a topic I happen to know a lot about. The thing about requited love is the higher than usual sense of selflessness exhibited by the unloved, and in the example of “For You” Valo has gone so far to literally offer up his life and any ounce of happiness he might have enjoyed between now and than, the end.

Furthermore, there is something aggressive in the voice of Valo in this song that removes any choice in the matter. Valo loves this woman, whoever she is, no matter what, and she will be loved by him, no matter how she feels about it. It a foreboding and intimidating love, something perhaps darker than simply an unwanted attraction, rather an endless source of admiration and misery both embodied and projecting from his gothic man, for nothing can change the reality that he is for her.

It is difficult, nigh impossible, to think of, or even conceive a love song quiet like or similar to “For You.” Even in HIM now long discography no one song runs totally parallel to the deep dark dimensions of this song. While not my favorite HIM song “For You” is one that I find myself going back to listen to all the time. It is captivating for all the reasons explained above, and a gripping song that has let go of me, or anyone else who volunteered to listen.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

The 69 Eyes - Lost Without Love

Love Metal is a sub genre invented by Ville Valo and his band HIM. HIM for the most part has had a monopoly on the genre they invented but not quite entirely. Fellow Finish metal band The 69 Eyes have something a similar sound to HIM and seemingly fit into the ultra specific subgenre of love metal quite nicely.

As stated a moment ago The 69 Eyes are from Finland and formed in 1989 which is interesting to me because this means The 69 Eyes formed before HIM who I would have thought inspired them. This is additional interesting because the gothic dark metal sound of modern day 69 Eyes is nothing like their original 1989 sound which is much more like hair metal. Twenty-five years is a long time and change can be the key to success and in the case of The 69 Eyes their gradual metamorphism into one of the premiere goth/love metal bands of the world might prove to be the key to their legacy in metal.

The 69 Eyes self identify as “dark metal” but whatever, “words.”

On a quick side note it is rather charming that the line up of The 69 Eyes has only experienced one change in their twenty-five years together.  Singer Jyrki 69, bass player Archzie, and guitarist Timo-Timo and Bazie have been part of The 69 Eyes this whole time and in 1992 the original drummer was replaced with Jussi 69.  None of those are their real names and I do not believe Jyrki and Jussi are actual brothers.  The point is way to keep the dream alive 69 Eyes.

So I guess The 69 Eyes were not inspired by HIM. Still I feel the HIM 69 Eyes comparison fairly apt. The first 69 Eyes song I fell in love with was “Still Waters Run Deep” and I very nearly mistook it as a HIM track and I was not the only one.

Still Waters Run Deep

Furthermore Ville Valo has had some influence on The 69 Eyes. Ville has guest sang “Wasting the Dawn” and also “Beneath the Blue,” which indicates to me they are at least friends and why not they are both awesome rock stars living in Finland. “Wasting the Dawn” could have been a HIM song as far as I am concerned.

Wasting The Dawn

So I basically feel justified in saying The 69 Eyes are HIM’s best compatriot in the sub genre love metal.

Now enter modern day.

It is always something special when a band that has been around for over a decade can prove they still got it and The 69 Eyes still got it, which is something of a reoccurring topic on the Music In Review. In 2013 The 69 Eyes released their new single with Nuclear Blast Records “Lost Without Love,” and it is easily one of their best songs ever.

“Lost Without Love” is a fairly straight forward song, from the title alone you know what it is about. The lyrics are simple but rich. The atmosphere is dark but energetic. The message is obvious but powerful. A nice, tight, catchy love ballad, rock song. A perfect example of what love metal is all about and a great showing of creativity and quality production even after twenty-five years of hard work.

I was waiting for the studio album to come out that contains “Lost Without Love” only to realize just recently there is no studio album coming. Instead The 69 Eyes released a new compilation album “The Best of Helsinki Vampires” in Halloween of 2013. “The Best of Helsinki Vampires” is a double album consisting of The 69 Eyes greatest hits, which for some reason is missing “Still Waters Run Deep,” and the only original track is “Lost Without Love,” which is incentive enough for me to pick it up.

When I look past over 2013 I feel that “Lost Without Love” is one of the best songs of that year.  Also when I look over my music collection, bands like Nightwish, HIM, and The 69 Eyes strongly suggest that Finland kind of kicks ass.

- King of Braves

HIM - One Last Time

In July of 2007 I reviewed HIM – Right Here in My Arms. It was the seventh music in review ever did, and HIM was a band I was really excited about.

HIM - Right Here in My Arms review: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/july-2007-him-right-here-in-my-arms.html

I was always concerned that HIM may have been a band I was getting into just because it was the right music at the right time. HIM is a band with one narrative message consistent throughout all their albums, love and death, and haunting combinations thereof. I got into HIM when I was twenty-two, or so, and like any young man I was thinking a lot about girls/love and of course death; of course. So HIM really reached me, but I was concerned that I might one day look back upon 2007 with some reproach. I thought perhaps one day I would out grow HIM.

Change is in the air always and forever. Fortunately I never did grow tired of HIM, and truthful I cannot imagine myself ever growing tired of HIM, just as I cannot imagine myself ever tiring of the two most prominent themes in all human creativity; love, the prelude to the happiness and creation, and death, the end. However there is cold comfort that forms in time with familiar things and sounds, and I am certain I have grown desensitized to the things that made HIM once so powerful a metal group.

When it began the HIM song the really won me over was “One Last Time,” a softer metal song, and one of HIM’s songs that full under the love category. Also “One Last Time,” struck a chord with me... well perhaps it is more appropriate to say “One Last Time” struck a slide with me since the song is almost entirely composed of slides. Regardless, the chorus lyric, “oh at least you could try,” about sums up my entire love life. One sentence, one lyric, pretty much says everything I need to say to every girl I have ever loved. This is not a complaint or a criticism, but a statement of understanding, there is no malice in my words, I understand. But understand this, no one has tried, and it seems to me that that is the least someone could have done.

Five years ago when I was really into HIM I wanted to do a review on “One Last Time,” but I made myself a promise not to do the same band more than once, so quickly or rapidly. Obviously with the double music in review per month I have been doing as of late that opinion is somewhat changed, and I feel it is time to revisit HIM.

Around their sixth HIM album I decided I had heard enough of their new stuff. The creative spark that made HIM special had burned out, and the raw emotion of their early years is unlikely to return. They can still make good music but they appear unable to make anything truly new anymore. Also I look at myself five years ago and some of the passion... some of the bitterness and dismay has faded in me. The song “One Last Time,” is still very beautiful to me, and I think it says a lot about a lot of people in a highly poetic way, but I feel the precipice of change, and my “One Last Time,” has either passed, or become indefinite and I am not sure which it is yet, and before that changes, or before I do, I want to sing this song to open skies, and I want you to know why.

It’s hard not to get personal when I think about songs like “One Last Time.” The song is a timepiece that captures an entire part of my life. I should be rambling about the slides in the song. I should be talking about how it’s one of HIM’s songs where Ville’s echoing voice is used perfectly accompanying those slides. I should be talking about the lighter themes of loss and death that the song hints at, and how this one song plays a part in the bigger art piece that is the rest of the album “Razorblade Romance.” I should probably mention that “Razorblade Romance,” is like the most badass name possible for an album about love and death. When a song makes me forget about the many attributes and parts that make up its whole and drags me inward into my soul leaving me struggling to say anything, as I am lost in the emotions I usually prefer to hide... there is something beautiful about that. It is such a simple request, “at least you could try,” do I really ask too much? It still gets to me.

Until later this month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

HIM - Right Here in My Arms

Anyone who has talked to me about music in the last four to five years has probably heard me mention a band out of Finland named ‘HIM’. So it should come as no surprise that I was going to talk about them eventually, and I meant to do so last month, but this month is just as good.

In 1997 HIM’s first album “Razorblade Romance” would hit that stands, and they would become a success in their home country of Finland, other Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, for those of you who don’t know your European geography), somewhat in England, and they are HUGE in Germany.

The title of the album says it all, “Razorblade Romance.” This was one of those albums for me that when I put it into my CD player and began playing the album I sat down and did nothing but simply absorb the music. I sat there deeply thinking about the lyrics and studying the album art. Nothing on my mind at all except analyzing the songs and how they blended together in a haunting and almost epic symphony. It was probably the first album of modern music that grabbed me so since my high school days and my love of ‘The Tea Party’.

Let me be blunt for a minute and simply point out the overall message of “Razorblade Romance.” Well what do you think of when you hear the term ‘razorblade?’ Maybe I’m warped but one of the first things I think of is suicide via slitting of the wrist. I am not wrong in my interpretation in this example, suicide and romance, love and death, are the prevailing themes of this album and pretty much all of HIM’s work.

Basically HIM is by far the best Goth metal group ever, and that may not be saying much. I think my darker side, which has a tendency to come up now and then, was just waiting for a group to be as enthralled with romance and death, as much as I am. However I did not discover HIM through a moment pessimistic brooding, no, I heard two of their tracks by chance through the Internet and quite enjoyed them. Upon further investigation I was surprised to find out just how extremely and often lamely over the top the group really was, and it took time for me to get used to songs of such nature. I mean come on, one song is titled “Join me (in death)”, that is way, way, too over the top. However once you get used to the corniness of it all and begin to enjoy the excellent keyboard among other things you begin to realize, “shit these guys are really into this.” There is an awful lot of conviction in the voice of Vilo Valo, and there is something being said about how horrible a tragedy has taken place when the final solution to any meager form of happiness is to ‘let death bless me, with you.’

By this point in the ramble that is July 2007’s music in review I suspect I have lost about half of you. HIM is way too Goth, way too weird, and clearly suffering from something of a second language barrier to alienate at least half of you. Nonetheless bear with me for a few more paragraphs.

The first song I ever heard, and probably HIM’s best, was “Right Here in My Arms.” This is in my mind beyond a shadow of a doubt HIM’s biggest ‘pop’ song. It a simple hard rock song that is more or less a love song, admittedly many might consider the song too aggressive and subtly too dark to really be a love song, but that is what it is. The song is completely non-offensive in any way, is really catchy, and is really, really a rocking song. It is one of those songs I can hardly imagine anyone not enjoying; it is very universal and enjoyable no matter what your taste is.

If you had never heard of HIM, never seen them, and heard “Right Here in My Arms” would you realize they are a Goth metal group? I doubt it.

HIM is one of the few bands these days I truly enjoy, and they were one of the first groups to give me faith in the future of the music industry when I was completely begining to doubt any real progress for the recent decade. I suspect most of you will not enjoy HIM on the same level as me, but I’m willing to bet “Right Here in My Arms”, will be enjoyed by pretty much everyone. It really is simply a great song.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly