The Album Review Club - Week #216 (page 1412) - Together Alone - Crowded House

I genuinely thought Nirvana had put its Timberlands on the throat of music like this more than a decade before Love Metal was released, but everything old is new again and nothing ever really dies. And that’s not a bad thing. As I noted earlier, since they’re Finns, pretty much any cultural reference points go out the window — first because I know nothing of Finland, but second because I don’t expect them to care in the least about any cultural reference points I might have. Talented musicians from Finland who write and sing in English are simply going to emulate what they like and/or create what they think will sell, otherwise they’d sing in Elvish . . . errrr, Finnish. With that grounding, listening becomes a fairly simple exercise in whether or not this sticks in my ears and head, because any other dynamic is devoid in every way, shape and form of meaning.

As such, this is competent pop metal, produced as one would expect, with lyrics (and especially song titles) that appear to have been written by AI some years before AI was invented. The overhang of darkness in said lyrics, titles and the band name is more like a 10-year old drawing a picture of scary ghosts and devils and witches in crayon rather than the music painting a picture of evil and despair. Once again, I can ignore all of this. I don’t expect anything different. Death and despair sell; why not shove one’s chords and backbeat into this envelope?

As for sticking in the ears, sure — there’ll always be bits. I listened to this initially (twice) as I was on a long drive on a highway with very few turns and little traffic. At the time I was trying to make mental notes of spots where I found myself digging the groove. It wasn’t easy, yet at the same time, there was nothing that made me cringe either. And I as I sit here and write this whilst listening again, there is little I remember from my first listens five days ago. So much for my mental notes, albeit at my age, this could be operator error.

I do think the opener works okay, and that “Sweet Pandemonium” and "Fortress of Tears" are a struggle to get through. The highlight for me is the dynamic chord set of “Soul on Fire”, though the slow bits and the dreamy, wafty bits that back it up remove some power from the tune overall. The piano bit on “The Sacrament” works too. But these distinctions are hair-splitting. I could take or leave any of this — there’s not a single tune that I need to hear again, nor a single one that if you put it on I’d roll my eyes to. This entire record is a tapping foot with a blank stare.

But there’s something to be said for this. 24 years ago, I saw this LA band called The Exies open for Everclear. Like HIM, they were pretty bog standard stuff (save for their one lightning bolt — “Hey You” — which I think was on Guitar Hero). But I’d just quit my job for a better one, in a fine and celebratory mood, and drunk and raring to go. So I put all my energy into their set. And for a good 45 minutes, I thought they were the best band I’d ever heard. I knew they weren’t, but in the moment, it didn’t matter. And given the story offered by our intrepid @southamptonblue my sense is his experience was similar.

Ah, music — where would we be without it? 6/10.
 
I expected not to like this. Which I think is not quite the same as saying I didn't expect to like it. There's a balance. Perhaps I'd not mentally attuned myself that this wasn't going to be heavy metal as I understand it. Even my wife when I apologetically told her we had to listen to it on a trip at weekend was reasonably undistressed by it.

I've not paid much heed to the lyrics to be fair, but the singing voice is fine. No stand out tracks but reasonably melodious. I did find it too long though at an hour and while not finding it hard to tolerate I did find it eventually bored me a bit. A 40 minute album wouldn't have been better.

Very unlikely I'll listen to it again but oddly found myself teetering on the edge of giving it a 7. As it is though for being too long I'm knocking .5 off and will give it 6.5. Strange
 
Love Metal - HIM

Apologies to @southamptonblue because I’ve not had time to listen to this enough for a detailed review.

I was going to say that my feelings are very similar to Foggy, but I’ve just seen journolud’s review and I’d say that that sums it up even better. “The singing voice is fine. No stand-out tracks but reasonably melodious” sums the album up perfectly for me.

I like a bit of rock/hair metal/melodic rock, and this was a good listen. I was waiting for the moment where there was a hooky chorus or memorable guitar solo but that moment never arrived. It’s definitely too long at one-hour-plus, but it definitely passes the real band with real instruments tests and there are no gimmicks. In the short write-up (more like an explanation than a write-up), southamptonblue explains that he saw HIM as a support act. I think that sums up their level. 6/10.
 
This is proficient 21st Century Metal. I don’t find anything to really dislike and there are a fewer bits on almost interesting colour from keyboards. However, it inevitably lacks originality and there’s no distinctive personality or identity. Some “modern” Scandi metal bands can be quite fun. Obviously - at least to me - the kings of Finnish rock and roll are Hanoi Rocks, who did have their own personality.

A bit unfortunate for H.I.M. I had been playing Oasis’ “Masterplan” shortly before giving them a first spin and while it seemed almost rough exegesis compared to to H.I.M. it sure has personality in spades.

Anyhoo, “Love Metal” is one of those albums I wouldn’t rush out to buy but would keep if I had bought it so given I love metal, I’ll stretch to a 6.5/10.
 
Some good riffy metal, what’s not to like? As others have said though, it’s not particularly inspiring, and for me the vocals are little on the bland side.

That said, despite not be the best example metal, it’s still heavy enough to be enjoyable for me.

No tinny saxophones is a huge bonus, 7/10
 
My initial response to this was it's more melodic and poppy that I expected. My second response was the lyrics are risible.

However I was informed by my tame goth interpreter that I was missing the point by not just listening to them in the context of the overall aesthetic. The point they made was everyone knows the lyrics are tosh but they're there to add to the overall tone and feel, not to be disected on their own. Fair enough I thought, I regularly cite NO as a band whose lyrics are mostly sonic accompaniment.

However the Whitby botherer then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by saying something 'age appropriate' for me along the lines of "after all you wouldn't have taken the Sisters of Mercy's lyrics seriously back in the day". At which point I thought about the Sisters of Mercy stuff I could remember and it all unravelled for two reasons.

Firstly I thought about Andrew thingy's vocal delivery and the explicitly melodramatic and knowing style and compared this to Ville Valo's approach which seemed to be singing almost earnestly. VV's earnestness was then cited to me as proof that actually this is more sophisticated cause he's not camping it up. The less dramatic delivery didn't mean he meant the words, it just meant he was committed to the overall aesthetic in a more subtle and therefore meaningful way? Simple chap that I am this argument did my head in. If he's camping it up by not camping it up then how do I know he's camping it up at all? It began to feel like 'if a tree falls down..' territory.

But the second reason was really the deal breaker; when I compared their music. In theory HIM have the more melodic songs and hooks, arguably more 'sophisticated'. Except when I compared them to the swooping, hypnotic feel of the Sisters of Mercy songs I could call to mind, it sounded in comparison completely formulaic and unmemorable. Even from a distance I could remember the identify of TSOM but nothing of these guys that I'd just been listening to.

I played a bit of both back to back and my fears were confirmed. HIM sounded like nice kids singing juvenile lyrics to generic songs and TSOM sounded like big daft rock stars. Oh and their lyrics whilst not exactly Shakespeare were nowhere near as inane. So ultimately either the HIMs intended tone is something so subtly ironic that personally I am unable or unwilling to tune into it or that is an excuse for them being a bit generic or even worse generic and sincere. Either way I don't care enough to find out which.

All that said I suspect this would come over much much better live and in the moment, so if I was listening to it live I might score it significantly higher; but unfortunately I'm not which is why I'm giving it 4/10.
 
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threespires said:
My initial response to this was it's more melodic and poppy that I expected. My second response was the lyrics are risible.

However I was informed by my tame goth interpreter that I was missing the point by not just listening to them in the context of the overall aesthetic. The point they made was everyone knows the lyrics are tosh but they're there to add to the overall tone and feel, not to be disected on their own. Fair enough I thought, I regularly cite NO as a band whose lyrics are mostly sonic accompaniment.

However the Whitby botherer then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by saying something 'age appropriate' for me along the lines of "after all you wouldn't have taken the Sisters of Mercy's lyrics seriously back in the day". At which point I thought about the Sisters of Mercy stuff I could remember and it all unravelled for two reasons.

Firstly I thought about Andrew thingy's vocal delivery and the explicitly melodramatic and knowing style and compared this to Ville Valo's approach which seemed to be singing almost earnestly. VV's earnestness was then cited to me as proof that actually this is more sophisticated cause he's not camping it up. The less dramatic delivery didn't mean he meant the words, it just meant he was committed to the overall aesthetic in a more subtle and therefore meaningful way? Simple chap that I am this argument did my head in. If he's camping it up by not camping it up then how do I know he's camping it up at all? It began to feel like 'if a tree falls down..' territory.

But the second reason was really the deal breaker; when I compared their music. In theory HIM have the more melodic songs and hooks, arguably more 'sophisticated'. Except when I compared them to the swooping, hypnotic feel of the Sisters of Mercy songs I could call to mind, it sounded in comparison completely formulaic and unmemorable. Even from a distance I could remember the identify of TSOM but nothing of these guys that I'd just been listening to.

I played a bit of both back to back and my fears were confirmed. HIM sounded like nice kids singing juvenile lyrics to generic songs and TSOM sounded like big daft rock stars. Oh and their lyrics whilst not exactly Shakespeare were nowhere near as inane. So ultimately either the HIMs intended tone is something so subtly ironic that personally I am unable or unwilling to tune into it or that is an excuse for them being a bit generic or even worse generic and sincere. Either way I don't care enough to find out which.

All that said I suspect this would come over much much better live and in the moment, so if I was listening to it live I might score it significantly higher; but unfortunately I'm not which is why I'm giving it 4/10.
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Tsk tsk. You have fallen victim to the fundamental error I pointed out of attempting to discuss this music in the context of its genre. They’re Finnish, mate. They aren’t trying to be better than Sisters of Mercy; they are trying to sell records by creating music they like playing. In that sense they are very much children but they have no choice — again, they’re Finnish. It’s not fair to compare them to anyone else, unless there’s another Finnish pop metal band you know.
 
Love Metal - HIM

Well, I typically don't as the album title (verb noun) implies, but there were enough parts of this I liked.

The strangest thing to me on this Spotify selection on the Deluxe Remastered Edition was the final track 11, "Love's Requiem" comes in a "Backwards Version", which to put it mildly, was unlistenable. I could do as Gornik once suggested and listen for the secret message(s), but after a minute of that, I was out.

Wiki later clarified that the original album had 10 tracks with "The Path" ending that. I'd think that was the better closer too.

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Throughout listening to much of this, I was trying to think of who HIM reminded me of, but after the 2nd listen, despite their being inspired by Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, I realized it was Muse that this band reminded me of in spots, especially on "The Path". That was a nice closer and one of my favourites here, and this is when I made the connection.

There's only one band that I've gone to see live that I ended up over time liking over the headliner being unfamiliar with prior. Thus far, that band is only The Maccabees, but I get it when seeing a headliner and the opener has stunned live - that's a great experience I can relate to.

Other standouts for me was the second track and single "The Funeral Of Hearts", which in places reminded me musically of +Live+ in their heyday, and given the existence timeline of these comparative bands I've mentioned, they're not too far off. "Beyond Redemption" also some good keys melodic moments as well underneath of the guitars.

"The Sacrament" piano opening was a welcome change too with that melody being adopted by the instruments that came afterwards. The vocals on this track were also a standout on this album, and the piano melody that continued throughout was a great touch as many songs would just have it as a token segment at the beginning, but this tune smartly stuck with it throughout to give it the strong presence it needed.

I will say this album has grown on me through the listens, and by the 3rd, the tracks I've highlighted really stood out. Even on a track such as "Soul On Fire", the heavy riffs weren't predominant on the track and there were some good flows throughout the verses before the heavy chorus would somewhat formulaically pile on. I really enjoyed those verses segments, though I suspect most fans of theirs would prefer the hard driving chorus.

While a few of the songs before the strong closer of "The Path" were a bit rinse and repeat, they were still enjoyable all the same. I can't find any fault with the guitar solo in "Endless Dark" or the a cappella vocals that follow it. I seemed to enjoy this a bit more than others here, with strong enjoyment of the bands I've already compared it to. It was a satisfying seven (7/10) for me, so thanks for @southamptonblue for picking another enjoyable selection.
 
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HIM LOVE METAL



I’ve never heard a Finnish rock band before, but this band sounded like I imagined they would ,with shades of Spinal Tap. I agree with most of the comments on here and I found it inoffensive but nothing that would make me want to listen to them again.

Brave choice SB


5/10
 
I listened to this album back in the day, and some of HIS (HIM's?) other stuff around that time. A girl I was wooing was into him (pun) so I had a right good go too. This nomination was a nice throwback. But ultimately, made me realise, at least per today's me, that the album really wasn't all that, and neither was she. Could have maybe snuck in a HER pun.

Musically, all else has really been said, but very valid observation by Fog that timing and context is very important in music. A 5.5 overall.
 
It's not for me this, it's not bad for it's genre but it's a genre where I find that you have to be very good for it to stick with me.

The riffs are the usual riffs you get in this style, the lyrics are the same, the production is clean. There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of it but it's a plodder - there's nothing new to say, it sticks to a well trodden path. That's great if you're Ac/DC or Status Quo etc but this music is very meh to me I'm afraid.

4/10
 
I think I approached this with amusement....what? A Finnish HM band! But then you have to give them credit as someone else said, for writing and singing in English. Musical and a reasonable voice so it has to score at least a 5.
However, then you come to lyrics and creating their own symbol..... There is perhaps a trend here from our dear proposer?
There was a small element of Spinal Tap there, but then I imagine that goers down well with the madness of midnight sun or 2hrs of daylight.
A tad to long really but certainly yet another experience provided by this thread.
Its an interesting 6 from the Derry jury
 
Coatigan said:
I listened to this album back in the day, and some of HIS (HIM's?) other stuff around that time. A girl I was wooing was into him (pun) so I had a right good go too. This nomination was a nice throwback. But ultimately, made me realise, at least per today's me, that the album really wasn't all that, and neither was she. Could have maybe snuck in a HER pun.

Musically, all else has really been said, but very valid observation by Fog that timing and context is very important in music. A 5.5 overall.
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That's a thread on its own, what's the worst music you've tried or pretended to listen to in order to woo a would be partner? I won't be starting that thread cause I listened to some right crap in my, mostly futile, attempts to endear myself back in the day.
 
Perhaps predictably, a Finnish metal band finished low in the table, 13 votes for HIM's Love Metal giving a nice, round average of 5.50. Thanks to @southamptonblue for another oddball selection.

This week, it's over to @FogBlueInSanFran who has promised an album that I won't like. Preparing the "Sucks donkey balls" stamp now ........
 
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